Young the Giant • Cold War Kids • Little Image • July 30, 2026 • The Lot at The Complex
Reviewed and Photographed by Ava Dalton
Young the Giant brought their Victory Garden Tour to The Lot at The Complex. They invited special guests and headliners in their own right, Cold War Kids. little image joined and opened things up. It was a deeply talented roster that brought a highly anticipated tour to downtown Salt Lake City.
Little Image
Little Image spent their 14th show on tour with Young the Giant at the Complex, and we are so glad they did. Wrapping up their headline tour, “The Kill the Ghost Tour” in June 2026, Little Image turned right around to join the “Victory Garden Tour.” If I could only describe their sound and their performance in one word, it would be “impressive.” Little Image packed a punch in the best way.
Their style of music contrasted with Cold War Kids and Young the Giant in all the right ways. Their heavier, alt-pop style shocked everyone when they started playing. Only a three-piece band, I was shocked by how full their sound was. It didn’t sound like anything was lacking, and it definitely sounded like there were way more than just three people on stage. Singer and guitarist Jackson Simmons had incredible vocals, and they had the crowd focused and moving, which is incredibly impressive for the first of two openers. Overall, their set was truly memorable and primed the stage perfectly for Cold War Kids and Young the Giant.
Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids took the stage between the initial opener, little image, and the headliner Young the Giant. There’s a version of an opening set built to grab a crowd by the collar, and there’s a version built to simply hold a room steady until the headliner arrives. This was the latter. The band’s stage presence stayed level from the first song to the last, staying measured, controlled, and collected. While they were very in tune with each other, visually, there just wasn’t much to hold onto. However, their performance was still incredibly impressive.
Cold War Kids’ frontman Nathan Willett sang with a power that was leveraged by the control of the rest of the band and the rest of the set. While many songs were performed with a full band, there was one particular song performed with Willett and the piano. And that was beyond enough. His vocals were raspy and raw and perfectly accented the rest of the set. Cold War Kids did have great crowd work. Willett was warm and easy between songs, climbing onto the monitors to get closer to the audience, and frequently talking about the meaning of songs and the meaning of the moment.
While Cold War Kids may not have a typical energizing appeal, how calm, collected, and connected to each other was just as impressive as if they were running all over the stage. Having been active for 20 years, as Willett stated, they create a bond and connection where the music they make comes effortlessly. Forging a sound and a connection like theirs that has lasted two decades is truly beyond impressive. I loved their overall sound, and I appreciated how down-to-earth their set felt. There were constantly new instruments, vocals, and styles being introduced throughout the whole of their set. They primed the stage well as the audience prepared for Young the Giant.
Young the Giant
The Victory Garden tour rolled into Salt Lake City with a 21-song set that barely even felt like a setlist because of the level of performance we received. Opening with “Evergreen” into “Superposition,” the band wasted no time establishing the night’s real thesis: connection. Frontman Sameer Gadhia returned to that idea again and again between songs. The only time that he took a real break in the entire 21-song set was to emphasize the importance of creating and being present and true to ourselves before introducing “Different Kind of Love.” Gadhia also shared how pivotal Salt Lake City was to the growth of Young the Giant, and how playing at Kilby Court was a treasured memory.
Gadhia’s voice was the center of the evening, and not just because it was beyond incredible, but because of how it moved the audience. His vocals are incredible over a simple Spotify recording, but they are truly unreal in a live performance. He came out strong on “Bitter Fruit,” and then pulled the end of the song into a beautiful rendition of the beloved “Blackbird” by The Beatles. By the middle of the set, somehow, something shifted. While most vocalists lose vocal capabilities throughout a set due to the typical wear and tear of live performance, Gadhia’s vocals continually improved throughout the set. I’m still wondering how it’s possible.
Most singers spend a 21-song set managing and maintaining their voice, but it felt like the first half of the set was just his warmup. What made the pacing notable was how little pacing there actually was. Across 21 songs, there was really only one true break in the entire set, where Gahdia gave a speech about kindness and how important Young the Giant was to each other. He also encouraged us to use their name as a reminder of our youth and the chance we have to act in love and kindness. A shortened “Mr. Know-It-All,” into “Silvertongue,” into “Something to Believe In,” into “This Too Shall Pass” before the pause before “Different Kind of Love” moved with intention and confidence that kept the energy of the audience and the buzz of the room at a peak the entire night.
The lighting design did just as much storytelling as the band did. The stage opened covered in deep garden greens and golds, perfectly matching the opener “Evergreen.” And through all of it, the crowd control was beyond effortless. Young the Giant never talked to anyone individually, and as previously stated, they barely spoke to the crowd in general. However, the hold that Young the Giant had over the audience was impossible to ignore. While Gadhia was the only member who spoke to it, you can clearly tell the passion these people have for the music they’re making.
Eric Cannata, who played the guitar and ukulele, contributed background vocals that blended perfectly. Every single member had something to contribute, and much like opener Cold War Kids, you can tell that these are people who have been playing together for a long time. Their chemistry was beyond effortless. I do wish that there had been a few more moments where we heard from Young the Giant. While their pacing was beyond impressive, and judging from the one moment we truly heard them talk to the audience,
Young the Giant clearly has some amazing things to say, and we’d love to hear them. The lack of an encore also made the set feel very short, but as a fan, that’s just my own wishing! Overall, Young the Giant put on an incredible show. From the vocals to the lighting to the staging, it truly was a noteworthy night.