The Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen Lee Orzolek was born in New York November 22nd 1978, and rumour has it that she entered the world that day wearing some ostentatious outfit whilst doing the running man up and down the hospital ward. You see, certain people crave limelight but don’t really cope too well in it. And then on the flip side you have people that effortlessly attract the spotlight and subsequently look fucking cool in it. Karen O fits into the latter category with absolute ease.Since forming back in early 2000, the New York based rock-trio has climbed steadily up the music ladder. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a band that has never had a defining moment that has turned them into global superstars. Instead they have simply taken it slowly conquering wherever they go step-by-step. At times their music is infectious. Their sound is like an edgy post-punk, dancefloor-friendly racket. But it works. If you were to feed the result of mixing Blondie and Siouxsie and the Banshees together in a blender to three art-rock kids from the states, the result would be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Now I understand if you’ve not heard or seen this band before that this all sounds slightly strange and very exciting. And to a degree it is. This was excitement was replicated by the people of Brixton on Tuesday. Why? Because they welcomed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, complete with Karen O’s collection of technicoloured leotards, to their beloved Academy.
Never a band not to lord it in any given situation; the three-piece started the nights proceedings playing behind an opaque curtain, they then entertained the blind crowd before dropping the veil resulting in utter hysteria from the crowd as they finally got a glimpse of who the lady they came to see.
The Brixton set was made up of five giant sinister eyeballs. As horrendous as this sounds on paper, the production accompanied the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound and Karen O’s wardrobe perfectly. The leadsinger leaped, spun and crawled across the floor in a plethora of different outfits during their 90 minute set.Meanwhile, Nick Zinner was delivering a guitar driven tirade in an attempt to try and steal the show. For me, the wrestling match between Zinner and O was obvious. However, as good a guitarist Zinner might be, people just can’t take their eyes of the only women present. Right from the off, it seemed that there would be nothing that could stand in the way of ambiguous twirling, often masked, screaming spectacle that is Karen O.
The production remained at a high point all evening. Three oversized Y’s fell from the ceiling during Gold Lion in conjunction with confetti cannons trying their best to cover everyone in the audience. At points the crowd were dazzled with sparkles, lights and just about anything else you can think of.
Now, I’m not normally one that enjoys all the frills and spills that some bands seem to think it necessary to use when performing live. I’m much in favour of a few guitar amps, some drums a couple of guitars and a room full of people left to just get on with it. Yet this worked. And the atmosphere that they left in Brixton at the end of their third encore sound suggested that everyone else enjoyed it as well.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs played:
Runaway
Shake It
Black Tongue
Pin
10x10
Gold lion
Zero
Miles away
Skeletons
Soft Shock
Cheated Hearts
Heads Will Roll
Y Control
Encore:
Maps
Art star
Date with the Night
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