It just wouldn’t be Summer without a show at the Greek Theater. I went to my first show there (The Truth, The Hooters and Squeeze) around 1985, and it’s been a favorite venue of mine ever since.
Berkeley on the other hand, I’m not a big fan of, but I digress…
This show was courtesy of the Mrs and our daughter, who got the tickets as my birthday present back in early June, so the anticipation had grown for some time. We’d seen Young the Giant before, but despite being fans since their first record, had never had the chance to see Cold War Kids.
And as it turned out, this show was a triple bill, so we were in for a surprise. Listed on the bill was Kenny Hoopla as the opening act, but Kenny was MIA – in his (their?) place, we had a band by the name of Beach Weather open the show.
An ironic side note, earlier in the day we had gone to the beach in Half Moon Bay, and it was decidedly*NOT* beach weather – cloudy as far as the eye could see and a little chilly…
I knew of a couple songs by Beach Weather, just in passing. I didn’t even actually know the name of the band before the show, I just recognized a few tunes when they played them. And I will say, they were a pretty good band. Nothing earth shattering, but a solid, tight “alternative” band with some catchy tunes. The highlight of their show, for me, was the lead guitarist. He played some really unexpected parts, that fit just right, and he was frankly just fun to watch. All in all, it was a good set that left me wanting to dig into their discography.
Cold War Kids were next up, and boy did they deliver!! I can remember hearing their first single on the radio, nearly 20 years ago, and being totally knocked out by it. So much so I took the leap of faith and bought the CD (Robbers & Cowards) for the one song. And I was so glad I did! That record is really a masterpiece. If you’re not familiar with this band, look them up. They are special. I don’t know how to describe their sound, as nobody really sounds anything like them. The best I can come up with, is if Talking Heads decided to play Americana music, you’d wind up with Cold War Kids… Or something along those lines. Great songwriting, excellent musicians and a very distinctive voice. Really an exceptional band. And like I said, in the live setting they really delivered! They played a little bit of everything from across their catalog, and the entire band was on point. Quite honestly, it was much better than I had dared hope for. Absolutely a highlight of my 2026 concert run thus far!
The headliner of the night was Young the Giant. As I mentioned, we’d seen them before and I had really enjoyed them, much more than I thought I would, actually. They were another one of those bands that I knew a lot more of their songs than I realized. I guess they were somewhat low-key alt-rock superstars. We’d gone to that show for the opening band, but we were pleasantly surprised by Young the Giant, and they wound up on my heavy rotation playlist for quite some time afterwards.
Unfortunately, their show this time around was a little underwhelming. Not to say it was bad, it just wasn’t as good as the last time. The sound wasn’t quite as crisp for starters. Their vocalist spent an inordinate amount of time yapping between songs, which in my not-so-humble opinion brings down the energy of the show. Their drummer seemed neutered -for lack of a better phrase – this time around. And to be honest, their newer material just doesn’t hit me the same way the music from their first few records does.
All that being said, it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great. Musically, all the guys were playing well. Visually, the lights and the stage setup were great. All the elements were there. But for all the sparks, the fire just smoldered and never really built into a burner. That being the case, we decided to call it early and left before the encore… I’d certainly go see them again, but I’m not exactly going to seek them out.
All things considered, it was a fantastic night. The Greek Theater is a spectacular venue, we heard a LOT of great songs played by a lot of great musicians and even if YtG had an off night, they still put on a show, it wasn’t a matter of them phoning it in. And yes, Cold War Kids rocked the joint and delivered an outstanding set that left a huge smile plastered across my face. That set alone made our trip to the East Bay well worth the effort. I sincerely hope I get a chance to see them again!
Thanks for stopping by!
The Boring Old Man 