Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Metro Theatre
Prior to Tuesday night’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs show at the Metro, I had not seen the New York trio since 2004. Eight and a half years ago.
1. I am old.
2. That is a LONG time between shows.
It’s not like the band haven’t been active in that time, just bad timing on my part (whenever they were in Australia I was in Canada on a holiday). Despite the years, I still had incredible memories of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs live experience from the two shows I saw when they were supporting their debut album, Fever To Tell. This meant I was super hyped to finally be seeing them live again.
And somehow they didn’t disappoint.
For about 75 minutes on Tuesday night, the Metro was a sweaty, throbbing mess of guitar wails, bouncing bodies, and the incomparable Karen O completely owning the stage.
The band opened the show with Rich, Karen O dressed in some crazy, sparkling white suit that would not have breathed very well. After the second song (Mosquito, the title track from the upcoming album), Karen O reminisced about falling off the Metro stage ten years and badly hurting herself during a performance of Rich. Apparently she wanted to exorcise those demons on Tuesday.
The rest of the set was a blend of the band’s entire back catalogue. Three new songs were played (the aforementioned Mosquito, the spooky Earth, and a quiet one I believe was Despair), and every album was presented. Since I hadn’t seen them since 2004 I was excited to see some of the songs I hadn’t seen live before. They didn’t disappoint with a stomping versions of Heads Will Roll and Zero from It’s Blitz while Gold Lion, Phenomena, and Turn Into represented Show Your Bones.
Surprisingly, Fever To Tell was heavily featured. Rich, Cold Light, Black Tongue were all played in the first half of the show and it’s easy to see why the band still enjoys playing these ones live as they still kill. The ubiquitous Maps was also played and I was reminded of just how good a song it is. And the final song of the night was a raucous version of Date With The Night which closed the gig in a suitably manic manner.
The gig itself was fantastic. Even better was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs reminding me how incredible they are and how much I love them.
Setlist
Rich
Mosquito
Cold Light
Phenomena
Under The Earth
Black Tongue
Zero
Skeletons
Despair
Maps
Gold Lion
Miles Away
Heads Will Roll
——
Turn Into
Date With The Night
FasterLouder has a review up with some great photos.
Kirin J Callinan opened and the less said the better I think. Maybe I’ll be in the mood next week when he opens for Bat For Lashes.
