Young the Giant brings vocal prowess, reflective tone to Pappy & Harriet’s set

When I learned Young the Giant — clearly one of the better indie rock groups of the last 15 or so years — would be playing a relatively small show at Pappy and Hariet’s in Pioneertown, I was delighted.

Although it’s been a few years since the band released most of its biggest hits, the group is still big enough to play most shows at significantly larger venues than the high desert’s 850-person capacity gem, including a recent show at a not-so-little spot called Fenway Park (an opener gig for The Lumineers).

But I must admit to tempering my excitement when I learned the show would be part of an “acoustic tour.” Acoustic sets are almost never my preferred way to see any band, and while I assumed quieter favorites like “Apartment” would translate pretty well, I worried some of the power and exuberance of more instrumentally-potent songs such as “Superposition” and “Heat of the Summer” would be lost in an intentionally simplified presentation.

But I needn’t have worried. This turned out to be less a true acoustic set and more of an attempt by the bandmates to capture the ethos of the concept — essentially, playing more stripped-down and improvisational takes on their songs while still allowing the guitarists to sometimes trade out their acoustic guitars for electric ones.

That method turned out to be a pretty special way to appreciate the magnetic talent that is frontman Sameer Gadhia, who inflected the 18 songs the band performed with such a power and energy that I now worry firing them up on Spotify will pale in comparison.

Gadhia certainly brought the goods when the Irvine band, making its debut on the Pappy’s stage, played hits “Superposition,” “Mind over Matter” and “Cough Syrup” (during which he still got the crowd jumping up and down despite the generally laidback vibe). But some of his most impressive vocal work came when the band launched into a series of lesser-known or newer tracks I was mostly unfamiliar with, particularly the intensity of the unreleased “Ships Passing” and the powerful, haunting finish to “Tonight.”

The singer was clearly invigorated by the show’s intimacy and that feeling felt infectious, especially during the breaks between songs that he would fill with charmingly philosophical — and often poignant — soliloquies.

In one such moment, he explained how the stripped-down vision for both the tour and the accompanying recently released EP, “In The Open Volume One,” came out of the joy the bandmates have gotten from setting up their instruments and playing in the open on their treks across the US. Gadhia recalled one particularly fond memory of pulling out their instruments to play a song atop the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Before launching into “Firelight,” he explained that the song was dedicated to the people and ideas we wish to bring back.

There were also less eloquent but still beautiful moments, such as when Gadhia paused to acknowledge how [expletive] beautiful the moon was as it shone brightly over the venue.

But the most memorable monologue came before “Mind Over Matter,” when Gadhia spoke about the feeling of failure he and his bandmates felt at the lack of positive reviews of the title track from their sophomore album. In a moment of raw vulnerability, Gadhia expressed his pride for the members’ refusal to apologize or change course from their artistic vision, and his gratitude for how it all worked out.

The singer explained that a decade later, thanks to social media, the song has reemerged as one of the band’s most popular, which he said is a testament to the reality that when you put something new into the world, you might not find your people at first, but you will eventually if you stay true to it.

The wisdom of those words soon proved true as what had sometimes been a fittingly chill crowd roared to life to sing along to the “ooh oohs” that punctuate the “Mind Over Matter” chorus.

“Holy [expletive] this is awesome,” Gadhia had said moments earlier as he reflected on how thrilled the bands’ 19-year-old-selves would be to see the scene unfolding in the desert — at one of their favorite venues to see concerts — on this early September night.

In that moment, I don’t think anyone lucky enough to be there could disagree.

Young the Giant setlist

Check out the full setlist from the band’s Pioneertown show here:

More: Young the Giant Pioneertown setlist: Everything the band played at Pappy and Harriet’s

Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development, and, sometimes, concerts in the Coachella Valley. Email him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Young the Giant delights fans at stripped-down Pappy & Harriet’s show