Young the Giant's concert performance well worth braving the cold to see live

“Young the Giant”
Saturday, Feb. 26
The Roxy Theater

I am not built to handle the cold. I lived in Southern California all my life, so I’m equipped to survive in sunny 70-degree weather. The 40-degree weather I encountered Saturday night while waiting outside the Roxy to see Young the Giant headline a show was nothing short of torture for me, so by the time I got to the door, I was more than willing to pay the extra $3 I was charged because I do not meet this country’s ridiculous standard of drinking age.

I got into the show just in time to defrost to the sounds of the first opener: Kitten, a young Los Angeles-based quintet led by 16-year-old singer/guitarist Chloe Chaidez. There’s nothing quite like seeing a girl who is three years younger than I am rock the stage at The Roxy to remind me how little I have accomplished in life.

My first impression of Kitten was that it would make a perfect American Apparel or Urban Outfitters advertisement. After it launched into the first two gritty and powerful songs of its set, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was nothing more than a Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover band. However, Chaidez went on to prove that she could channel not only the screeching of Karen O but also the sultry vocals of Cat Power and the raw intensity of Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna. When combined with her spastic and somewhat terrifying stage presence, she made for a pretty good front woman. Kitten’s hard-hitting dirty rock was balanced by the constant presence of synth lines, creating a sound that was both energetically driving and undeniably catchy. The highlight of its set was a stellar cover of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry,” which I liked just as much, if not more, than the original.

Kitten was followed by Long Beach’s We Barbarians, a three-piece groove-centric rock outfit which I’m guessing probably accounts for a large percentage of local hair gel sales. The band started its set off pretty poorly, playing a series of non-memorable songs heavily rooted in the bass, many of which involved the singer being off-key. After a rousing cover of the Brian Eno and David Byrne track “Strange Overtones,” the band seemed to really hit its stride. It finished out its set with a renewed energy and much better sound, though still nothing that was terribly memorable. The band itself wasn’t necessarily bad, but it was a bit of a letdown following the energy and intensity of Kitten’s set.

Saturday marked my third time seeing Young the Giant in concert, and it solidified its status as one of the best live bands out there today. From the first song of the Newport Beach-based quintet’s set, it delivered, with the guitarists and bassist dancing around the stage in reckless abandon, and the lead singer smacking his tambourine and jumping around like there was no tomorrow. The only thing better than the band’s stage presence was the quality of music it was making. Young the Giant’s brand of guitar-driven indie garage rock sounded as tight as ever, and the emotion-tinged vocals were spot on. Its live version of “St. Walker” ranks among the greatest live performances I have ever experienced. The band kept up the insane physicality of its stage movement throughout the show without sacrificing a single ounce of its musicality.

From the moment it took the stage, Young the Giant was an instant crowd-pleaser. I took a second during the show to look at the sold-out crowd, many of whom were jumping around and screaming or, even more surprisingly, singing along to every lyric. In that second, I realized that Young the Giant has made it.