Last night the Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed to a mostly full crowd of industry honchos (and their dates) at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. A woman in front of us wore so much Sunflowers (by Elizabeth Arden) perfume we could taste it in the air, and many attendees chattered away throughout the entire show, like it was a cocktail party. Full disclosure: It was our cocktail party, a Rolling Stone-sponsored event, and though we were confident the band would rock it out, we weren’t expecting mind-altering musical anarchy. Which is what happened. It in no way should have been, but it was one of the best Yeah Yeah Yeahs shows we’ve ever seen.
As cocktail waitresses passed around shots of Southern Comfort, the band took the stage with absurd grins on their faces. We could do shots of orange-flavored whiskey all night and never get as giddy as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were right before they tore shit up. About half a verse into the band’s New-York-kid, carpe diem anthem “Our Time,” Karen leaned down — confetti-colored fringe dangling from her jumpsuit — in search of a fan to yowl the iconic line, “It’s our time, sweet baby, to break on through.” And no one knew the words. The front row at a YYY show is usually packed with quivering O worshippers, just praying for the chance to bask in her beer spew. This time it took her five or six tries to locate someone she could coach into whisper/singing, and each time she failed to find a disciple, her grin got wider and the runs in her blue pantyhose got bigger.
Perhaps the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are just sick of hipsters. Perhaps they had a great meal before the show. Perhaps they love Rolling Stone with all their hearts. Whatever it is we’ll take it, because the band tore through a complete set of incredible, old-school YYY classics, including “Art Star” and “Modern Romance,” as well as sophisticated, confident versions of newer material like “Gold Lion” and the heartbreaking “Turn Into.” Karen employed her usual theatrics, singing into carnations, swallowing microphones whole and stripping to a hipster aerobics instructor leotard by the end of the set. By the time the band played “Maps,” they’d already converted the previously pagan crowd, and the sound of a song the audience knew was just too much to handle. Suddenly every couple in the house was making out like teenagers. That’s what the O will do to you.
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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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