Fitz and the Tantrums + Young The Giant @ The Santa Barbara Bowl
Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums pack the
Santa Barbara Bowl on the co-headlining tour
Fitz and the Tantrums
With summer nearly approaching its end, music lovers made their way to Santa Barbara Bowl to enjoy a night of good entertainment curated by Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums — two bands who have made a name for themselves. That’s right, what these two bands produced together is not just another night of concert; it was a production made to entertain their supporters.
First band headlining the night was Fitz and the Tantrums. Despite the fact that they had an early show starting at 7:00 pm, the entire venue, both assigned seating and general admission, was packed with people who refused to miss the first headlining artist.
The lead singer Fitz and Noelle Scaggs impressed the crowd with their impeccable harmony and melodious notes joined by their full band consisting of drums, keyboard, guitar, and saxophone. This dynamic band has produced many hits we hear on the radio such as “Hand Clap” and “Out of My League” which the audience had the opportunity to hear live. Not only were we able to enjoy them musically, but we also were entertained by the mini-choreography that Fitz and Noelle had performed on stage. No one can stay standing or seated while watching the Fitz. With every song, the beat and melody was so exciting that made it absolutely irresistible to dance.
The band took this tour as an opportunity to share their latest upcoming tracks like “123456” and “I Just Wanna Shine”. They plan to release their newest album “All the Feels” on September 20th which includes their newest single “I Need Help”. We can already tell from the few songs that have been released that this album is going to consist of another fun dance along tunes. By the time the band ended their set with "The Walker", the energy in the venue was palpable and ready for the night to end strong with the next co-headliner, Young The Giant.
Young the Giant
Like Fitz and the Tantrums, Young the Giant has come a long way in their pursuit of music. Since their debut album released in 2010, they have had numerous hit songs, some of the fan favorites which they performed at the Santa Barbara Bowl included “Cough Syrup”, “Silver Tongue”, and “Heat of the Summer”. Energy radiates from Sameer G. Whether that be in seeing his facial expressions, body movement, or passion in his voice, the man has got true talent for giving it all that he’s got.
The moment the first melody of the guitar echoed through the venue, we instantly knew that it was going to be a night to remember. Sameer Gadhia in his yellow jacket wearing loafers stood at the top of the mirrored stage that they had set up. “Oblivion” was their first song, a track from their newest album released in October 2018 and fitting for an opener since the song starts off slow and gradually builds up. Sameer’s slouched posture in the beginning and his aggressive head banging synched with the song’s progression dramatized the beginning of the set.
As the night progressed, the band turns the tempo down by performing “Titus Was Born” followed by “Firelight”. In between these two songs, Sameer talked about the importance of sharing their story in one form or another whether that be through music or something else. He quotes “It is a constant reminder for us” showing that lyrics that we hear are more than just something to perform for them. It is his story. He asked the audience to shine their phone lights and immediately the entire venue turned into a sea of sparkling lights, an intimate moment for the band to see. The night ended with four encore songs which included “Superposition”, most played song on Spotify for them, and “My Body”, a perfect song to conclude the night. The crowd jumped in unison as they sang along to the last song of the show, testifying to how much fun they had throughout the entire evening.
Santa Barbara was lucky to host these two bands in one night. With Fitz and the Tantrum’s album coming out soon and Young the Giant hopefully releasing another, we can only hope for another amazing line up like this tour!
(5 / 5)
Review and photos by Shion Uza
