Nastacia Voisin |
Expect the thrum of soaring, melodic indie rock ‘n’ roll to fill the Chiles Center on April 11 as Young the Giant performs as the Rock the Bluff 2015 headliner.
The alt-rock band is known for soaring vocal and grandiose guitar lines, mixed with a layer of southern California good vibes. The band's line-up includes Sameer Gadhia as lead vocals, Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata on guitar, Payam Doostzadeh playing bass and Francois Comtois on the drums.
They released their first album, the eponymous “Young the Giant,” in 2010, followed by “Mind Over Matter” in 2014. Three of their first singles - "My Body," "Cough Syrup" and "Apartment" - made the top five of the U.S. Alternative Songs chart.
Their UP performance will be opened by Portland-based band Priory, whose electro-pop single hit “Weekend” was picked up by several influential radio stations.
CPB revealed the bands’ identities at midnight at last Saturday’s Rock the Bluff launch party. While rumors had been circulating for some time, the Pilot House was packed with cheering students when the announcement was made via a short video.
Quin Chadwick, one of three Rock the Bluff 2015 coordinators, said Young the Giant was selected in part because of their general appeal.
“The goal this year was really: Less of a name and more of a show,” Chadwick said.
Since the Rock the Bluff concert tradition was launched in 2012, UP has hosted a range of performers, including Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Andy Grammer and Boys Like Girls.
Campus Program Board’s (CPB) three coordinators of the event – Chadwick, Samantha van den Berg and Sarah Berger – began planning the concert last summer. CPB sent out a survey to students, asking them to select their top music genres. Alternative, rock and pop took first through third place, and that’s where the coordinators focused their energy.
Picking a band came down to budget feasibility, appeal to students and timing, van den Berg said.
“It’s really a piecing-together game,” she said.
They started as general as possible, and boiled it down to a list of 15-20 names they passed on to Jeromy Koffler, director of student activities, for approval. By last November, Young the Giant emerged as their top pick.
Tyler Zimmerman, weekend and late night program coordinator for Pilots After Dark, said the band’s live-performance energy and the popularity of indie-rock were two of its selling points.
“Feedback from students is that that’s they’re excited to be living in Portland, and we’re bring some of that cool music scene to campus,” Zimmerman said. “I think that we’re all just really excited.” Nastacia Voisin is the copy editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at voisin15@up.edu or on Twitter @nastaciavoisin.
