Young the Giant
May 27, 2026
Jacobs Pavilion (Cleveland, Ohio)
By Rob McCune
A late-May outdoor concert on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, was an unmistakable kickoff to the summer concert season for a sold-out crowd of thousands.
The full blaze and penetrating rays of the sun emanating from Jacobs Pavilion surely must have been felt for miles as Young the Giant kicked off its Victory Garden Tour. (Cleveland is technically the second stop on this tour, but Vegas doesn’t count.)
The Irvine, California-originating alt-rock band fronted by Sameer Gadhia is touring its sixth studio album, “Victory Garden,” released just this spring and verifiably blooming with hit after hit. Boosted by fan enthusiasm and along with the themed staging, with swirling spotlights as pistil and stamen of a lush flowerbed, this tour feels like a real “Eras” moment for YTG.
A 22-song set included nine of the 11 tracks on “Victory Garden,” all destined to dominate mainstream radio, starting with “Evergreen” and “Bitter Fruit,” during which Gadhia crooned on a cover snippet of The Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
YTG’s other five records also were well-represented, with earworms like “Cough Syrup” off the 2010 debut and fan favorite “Mind Over Matter” rounding out the set.
Gadhia’s on to something with his “we’re tired of encores” rule, and here’s hoping that catches on, but it’s not every band that can play for 90+ minutes nonstop at full energy.
There was a brief interlude a little more than halfway through the set, when Gadhia stopped the music while arena staff took care of a front-row fan who was overcome, overheated, or otherwise in need of medical attention. Ironically, this happened during the song “This Too Shall Pass.”
Bringing more of that penetrating California heat on this tour are Cold War Kids, blues-tinged indie rock out of Long Beach with 10 albums since forming in 2012. With the sun still up, CWK sizzled with road-trip rockers like “Miracle Mile” and “Run Away With Me.” Two songs made their live debut in this show: “Push My Luck” and “There Goes the Night,” signaling a new album in the making.
For “We Used to Vacation,” frontman Nathan Willett sat for a piano solo before the full band joined in. The set ended on a very high note with “First,” off the band’s 2015 album “Hold My Home” and their biggest hit with a U.S. Billboard top-5 run.
The evening started with a stellar set from young indie pop rock band Almost Monday out of San Diego, bringing a very sunny disposition with surf-town charm. Curly-mop-topped lead singer Dawson Daugherty danced with the crowd to tracks off the band’s debut album “Dive,” including “Can’t Slow Down” and “Enjoy the Ride.”
It was a summer night to remember, and one of many as this YTG tour winds its way back through the U.S. before heading to Europe in the fall.
Follow Rob McCune on Instagram (@Every_Thing_After_Photo) and listen to the “Every.Thing.After Podcast” on Spotify.
