Review | Thinking, Sounding Big, Young the Giant Livens Up the Santa Barbara Bowl

It was not just another concert night out at the Santa Barbara Bowl when Young the Giant boldly took the stage on Friday, August 18. Instead, the show unfolded as a dynamic and dramatic return to touring action, a triumphal occasion after COVID interruptus and a celebration of a band — with roots going back to 2004 — which manages to be both somewhat adventurous and accessible.

Led by charismatic but relatable front man Sameer Gadhia, the concert felt epic, despite its falling shy of 90 minutes, part of a four-hour, three-act concert also featuring Rosa Linn and Milky Chance. Each band member was bedecked in a different color, Gadhia seizing the spotlight in white garb (like white-wearing Godhead John Lennon on the Abbey Road cover), and the stage set had the look of an elaborate and exotic, mirror-flecked parlor with Indian overtones (American-born Gadhia is of Indian heritage).

Interspersed with short, quasi-philosophical film segments tying in with the semi-cinematic nature of the band’s latest album, American Bollywood, the concert itself came equipped with a loosely narrative structure set into four acts — “Origins,” “Exile,” “Battle,” and “Denouement.” Off to the side of the band’s electro-rock-pop palette, a cellist and violinist were perched on a riser, although they served as window dressing — seen but rarely heard.

But minor quibbles faded into the margins of appreciation, as the band roared with precision over a setlist culled from its now five-album discography, including the anthemic earworms of the timely “Heat of the Summer” and the relevant “Cult of Personality.”

Following their best-known hit and title track of their 2014 album Mind Over Matter, the “Battle” section of the evening was capped off by the emotional downshift of the arena ballad “Firelight.” For the occasion, Gadhia tipped his hat to the sense of having survived the pandemic — collectively and within his traveling circus of a band — and invited the audience to engage in a classic “lighter moment” with cell phone illumination. They/we were more than willing, and the sparkling sea of phone lights spread over the crowd of 4,500 synched up beautifully with the savory sentimental glow of the tune.

Returning to the stage after a break in the action, the energy level bumped up a notch or three in the “Denouement” section, including “Superposition” and a finale of “My Body.” As if channeling a spirit of renewed fervor, Gadhia belted out its finalizing lyric, “My body tells me no but I won’t quit / ’Cause I want more, ’cause I want more / And it rides out of town.”

Friday’s opener Linn possesses a big, impressive voice worth keeping track of. Here, she was limited to a duo format, with prerecorded band tracks, which made for a quasi-karaoke setting. But clearly, she’s onto something big.

A full-hour-long set the stage for the Giant in the electro-eclectic-rock format of German band Milky Chance, whose career-launching hit “Stolen Dance” gave the band an international platform starting in 2013. In one of Milky Chance’s signature elements, a generally taut, slick band sound is offset by the rough and sometimes reggae-tinged edges in lead singer Clemens Rehbein’s vocal mode.

In a proud proprietary civic moment, Rehbein gushed about having obsessively watched the legendary concert video of Bob Marley’s 1980 concert in this “house.” He effused to the crowd, “It’s crazy that we’re now playing here.” His dream has come true, and we were there to witness it, in groove-ular action.