On October 5th, Young The Giant brought their acoustic In The Open tour to Kansas City, making Uptown Theatre feel like a house show. Cassandra Coleman opened the show, with her warm and ethereal vocals charming the crowd. Since 2010, the band has been recording their discography “in the open” one song at a time as they’ve travelled across the world with their touring music. They’ve filmed their In The Open sessions on mountain tops, along beaches, highways, and more stunning places around the world.

Some of the highlights from their In The Open sessions which were just released on streaming platforms for the first time in their newest EP, In The Open: V olume One. The band is currently touring to promote and pay tribute to this EP with the goal to make big crowds feel small with intimate renditions of classic their songs, and in Kansas City they did just that.

The band’s lineup is made up of Sameer Gadhia on lead vocals, Jacob Tilley on guitar and keys, Eric Cannata on electric guitar, acoustic guitar and charango, Payam Doostzadeh on bass, and Francois Comtois on drums. Together, they create a vibe that feels nostalgic and brand new. The stage design, styled to look like a cozy living room, matched well with the tour’s intimate concept. The stage was littered with soft Tiffany lamps cast the musicians in a nostalgic glow, even containing a rug that once belonged to Gadhia. The simple setup highlighted the intimacy between the musicians and audience, something the band wanted to emphasize.

Between songs, Gadhia explained the band’s history and the inspirations behind their music. For example, after “Cough Syrup,” Gadhia shared the meaning behind the song and how it came to be, making the experience feel all the more personal and intertwined. Gadhia explained that “Cough Syrup” came from the band’s uncertainty and fear of failure. They followed “Cough Syrup” with “Ships Passing,” an unreleased track that fit the stripped back setting of the “In The Open" tour perfectly, allowing the song’s composition and lyrics to shine. Later in the set, the band performed another new song, “Bitter Fruit” which was recently released on their latest EP. “Bitter Fruit,” fit the theme of the tour perfectly, the song’s lyrics reflect on the passage of time and the search for meaning before life flies by.

While this night felt flawless, not everything went according to plan. A technical issue with Cannata’s charango briefly interrupted “Superposition,” which was meant to fit between “Otherside” and “Mind Over Matter.“ Once the problem was fixed, thanks to the lovely tech crew, the band came back to “Superposition" with high energy, giving a truly powerful performance of this classic Young The Giant song.Each song drew the audience’s full attention, every story accompanied by genuine laughter and intrigue, and each moment felt extraordinary. Young The Giant will conclude their “In The Open” tour at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison Colorado on October 7th. A fitting end to a tour, as stated by the band, for performing in “beautiful places across America.