Young the Giant and Fitz and The Tantrums brought their co-headlining tour to Pittsburgh on Thursday, June 27, and their concert was unlike any other I’ve seen. Accompanied by opening act COIN, these groups put on a stellar event.
These bands all have one very important thing in common: an energetic frontman with great hair and an even better voice. And it is for this reason that this was the most logical tour lineup I’ve ever witnessed.
COIN took the stage first, with lead singer Chase Lawrence sauntering on stage while eating an apple and drummer Ryan Winnen being helped to hop to his drum set (he sprained his ankle before the show and was promptly rushed to the hospital afterwards).
If you don’t know COIN, you need to remedy that ASAP. They have a stage presence unlike any other band, and their discography is comprised of only hits. As far as opening bands go, you can’t ask for more.
And to be honest, I went to this show for COIN. I’m a casual fan of both Young the Giant and Fitz and The Tantrums, but COIN has had my heart since 2015. I haven’t been able to catch them on tour since their last Pittsburgh headliner in October of 2017, so there was no way I was going to miss this.
And after seeing their set, I can confidently say that it is never a waste to go to a concert just for the opening band. Those 8 songs were enough to sustain me for months, years, however long it takes for them to roll back into my city. It doesn’t matter if they’re an opening band, they’re headlining, or they’re playing a festival. If COIN is there, catch me there.
Standouts from their set include singles “Growing Pains” and “Cemetery.” Both are absolute bops and did a perfect job of getting the crowd hyped up. The crowd also went wild for COIN’s 2016 breakout single “Talk Too Much.”
COIN’s latest single “Crash My Car” was definitely a highlight of the night. Let me just say that this should be your song of the summer. Forget any other song because “Crash My Car” is it. I literally lost my voice singing along to this song and was not able to fully rally until the end of Young the Giant’s set.
My favorite part of their set was when they unexpectedly closed with “Fingers Crossed,” a staple for COIN headlining shows. I scoured online for setlists for this tour, and I hadn’t seen them play this song on the tour before, so I absolutely lost my mind when they played it, as did the other COIN fans in attendance.
This set really just proved to me that COIN should be the biggest band on the planet, and it’s only a matter of time before that thought becomes reality.
After a brief set change, Fitz and The Tantrums took the stage.
I’ve been following Fitz and The Tantrums’ meteoric rise since 2010 when their song “Moneygrabber” was featured on an episode of Criminal Minds, which, in hindsight, was the weirdest placement of that song ever. I have no idea how that song fit with the serial killer moment happening in the show, but I can’t really complain because it brought my attention to this killer band.
Fast forward nine years and I am in the presence of one of the most entertaining bands I’ve ever seen singing the song I heard on Criminal Minds way back when.
The stage presence of singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs is incredible. They have so much energy, and they never took a break during their entire set.
Standouts from their set of course included their major singles “Moneygrabber,” “Out of My League,” “HandClap,” and “The Walker.” I expected the crowd to go off to these songs, and I’m glad we were all on the same page. The energy in the pit was insane.
New releases “123456” and “I Need Help!” along with “Roll Up” from their 2017 self-titled record were a few other amazing moments.
And right after Fitz and the Tantrums’ set, the rain decided it needed to make an appearance, and the night was put on hold for about an hour, which was honestly very upsetting.
But the storm finally passed and Young the Giant graced us with their presence and all was right with the world.
To be completely honest, I was entirely caught off guard by the awesomeness of Young the Giant. Like I said, I’m a casual fan of the band, and I’ve really only listened to their self-titled album extensively. But this band has some unappreciated bops in their catalogue that I’ve been sleeping on.
Aside from the classics “Cough Syrup” and “My Body,” I was really impressed with “Heat of the Summer,” “Mind Over Matter,” and “Mirror Master.” I am now straight up obsessed with “Tightrope;” it has the grooviest guitar riff/bassline combination I’ve ever heard. It’s sick.
As with the previous bands, I was just in awe of Young the Giant’s stage presence. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia was running all over the stage and seemed to never get tired. For the encore, he appeared on stage wearing a bedazzled cloak, and I wholeheartedly expect this to become the fashion statement of concerts for years to come.
What I think is particularly commendable about all three of these bands is that they sound exactly the same live as they do on their records. Their talent is incomprehensible, and the crowd definitely responded to that. I kind of expected a mellow show, and I thought that my pop-punk concert energy wouldn’t belong at an indie-rock show. Although there was no moshing or crowd surfing, the crowd really showed up for these bands and danced through the whole night.
All in all, this concert was amazing from start to finish, and you need to catch this tour if it rolls through your city. It’s the can’t miss event of the summer.
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