<\/p>\n
When I learned Young the Giant \u2014 clearly one of the better indie rock groups of the last 15 or so years \u2014 would be playing a relatively small show at Pappy and Hariet\u2019s in Pioneertown, I was delighted.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 850-person capacity gem, including a recent show at a not-so-little spot called Fenway Park (an opener gig for The Lumineers).<\/p>\n
But I must admit to tempering my excitement when I learned the show would be part of an \u201cacoustic tour.\u201d Acoustic sets are almost never my preferred way to see any band, and while I assumed quieter favorites like \u201cApartment\u201d would translate pretty well, I worried some of the power and exuberance of more instrumentally-potent songs such as \u201cSuperposition\u201d and \u201cHeat of the Summer\u201d would be lost in an intentionally simplified presentation. <\/p>\n
But I needn\u2019t 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Gadhia certainly brought the goods when the Irvine band, making its debut on the Pappy’s stage, played hits “Superposition,” \u201cMind 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 \u201cShips Passing\u201d and the powerful, haunting finish to \u201cTonight.\u201d<\/p>\n