I’ve got to say that I was pretty impressed this week  with the Young the Giant’s last leg of their California tour at SOMA, San Diego.

Los Angeles’ Tapioca and the Flea started the show off by playing a couple of songs from their self-titled EP, including new song, “Take it Slow.” Lead singer, Sam Lopez, ended the set by saying that this was their last gig opening for Young the Giant and thanking them for the opportunity.

Santa Monica’s Cayucas came out next, keeping the good vibes coming with their singles “Cayucos”, “Bigfoot”, “East Coast Girl”, and “Will “The Thrill””. They dedicated “High School Lover” to all the high school kids in the crowd, and those high school kids, including myself, yelled back  pretty loudly.

Twins Zach (lead singer and bassist) and Ben Yudin (bassist) joked about getting some tacos after the show and about actually liking San Diego.

After Cayucas did their thing, the stage lit up as Cayucas and Young the Giant roadies and SOMA personnel helped pack and unpack the two bands’ equipment.

When they were finally finished, the stage was still lit up as music played in the background. Every time a song ended, the crowd went crazy at first, hoping to see the guys of Young the Giant come out, and every time they didn’t show I could just feel the disappointment. It went on like this for 30 terrible minutes.

Then, just as it seemed like Sameer and the good old boys weren’t going to show and all hope was lost, it happened. The lights fell low and the crowd roared and the intro of YTG’s sophomore album, “Mind Over Matter”, began, a telltale sign for second track, “Anagram”.

The band walked in from the side and began the show, with lead singer Sameer Gadhia doing his little jigs, Francois Comtois banging on the drums, and Payam Doostzadeh, Jacob Tilley, and Eric Cannata hunched over a bass and two guitars.

I can honestly say that I had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

The first time I heard the band was on the radio in early 2011, but I would never find out their name until later that year at the 2011 VMAS in August. It still is one of my favorite live performances.

Flashback nearly two months earlier at the San Diego County Fair, I had just gotten off my shift at a fried chicken booth right across from the Grandstand West stage, where Young the Giant was performing. This was the first time I missed catching them live.

Almost a year later, I was getting ready to catch them live in Costa Mesa, but disaster struck and I missed them. Summer of 2013, they performed at The Outside Lands Festival and I missed my chance once again. Later that year they were at UC Riverside, but it was a student only event.

All of those memories sat in the back of my mind as I stood in the crowd, not 15 feet away from Young the Giant.

Sameer gave it his all, dancing and shaking his little tambourines and maracas and cowbells.

They performed songs from their self-titled album, such as “Cough Syrup”, “I Got, Apartment”, and Strings. They also played all of their songs from their most recent album, “Mind Over Matter”, except for “In My Home”.

For their encore, they went with Camera, which was a good way to calm the crowd down, then finally ended with “My Body”, which pumped the crowd all the way back up.

I just wish that they had played more songs that got cut from “Mind Over Matter”, like “I Wanna and That’s What You Get”. I would’ve liked to have heard “Shake My Hand” or “Lullaby” from the back in the day when they were still the Jakes. It would’ve made the concert so much better.

But what really would’ve been awesome if they did more from their “Young the Giant EP” like “St. Walker, Islands, Typhoon, or Every Little Thing”.

In the end, it really was a great concert, and I hope they come back to California soon