Gig Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: 19.05.06 Glasgow Barrowlands
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs earned a reputation for chaotic live shows, and the excitement in the air is tangible as the crowd waits for the band to take the stage. The band are touring to support relatively mellow new album 'Show Your Bones', and question tonight is, have the band traded in the visceral excitement of their legendary live shows for their new-found melodicism?
Any doubts are immediately crushed as the band appear onstage amist dry ice and coloured lighting and open with rousing single 'Gold Lion'. Straight away, you are entranced by the band's energy and presence: Karen O is commanding and utterly captivating from the start, entering veiled by a scarf which she violently rips off as the song starts to take off. Nick Zinner is equally visually compelling, looking like a young Nick Cave and violently thrashing his guitar. The band are augmented by an extra guyitarist/keyboardist, who keeps in the background and helps to flesh out their sound, but the need for a bassist is simply not felt. Live it becomes apparent how much Brian Chase's superlative drumming anchors the sound, with Zinner often providing rhythmic and textural contrast. But Karen O is the centre of attention here, the focus of the band's charisma, wild and unpredictable, jumping and dancing across the stage.
Old favourites such as 'Pin' and 'Art Star' are greated with much enthusiasm from the crowd, but new classics such as 'Turn Into' and 'Fancy' get just as rapturous a reception. Very few modern day bands have such commanding charisma - it is hard to take your eyes of the stage, and especially Karen, even for a moment. The slower songs allow the band and the audience brief moments of respite, and Karen O reveals an utterly convincing vulnerability during love songs such as 'Cheated Hearts' and 'Maps' that stands in stark contrast to her usual manic stage persona. She giggles at the end of 'Turn Into', caught up in the sheer joy of the performance, and dedicates 'Maps' to the fans - the sincerity of such actions I only question much later.
The gig lasts for the usual 90 minutes, but somehow seems to have gone much faster. By the time the band close the encore with a triumphant 'Maps' and 'Date With The Night' (with Karen O changed into a different costume, naturally), I am simultaneously utterly exhilarated and completely worn out. Three days later and my pulse has only just returned to normal. No other band of their generation can pack as much excitement, intensity and fun into their shows. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs may have broadened their sound, but they have assuredly not lost it.
Any doubts are immediately crushed as the band appear onstage amist dry ice and coloured lighting and open with rousing single 'Gold Lion'. Straight away, you are entranced by the band's energy and presence: Karen O is commanding and utterly captivating from the start, entering veiled by a scarf which she violently rips off as the song starts to take off. Nick Zinner is equally visually compelling, looking like a young Nick Cave and violently thrashing his guitar. The band are augmented by an extra guyitarist/keyboardist, who keeps in the background and helps to flesh out their sound, but the need for a bassist is simply not felt. Live it becomes apparent how much Brian Chase's superlative drumming anchors the sound, with Zinner often providing rhythmic and textural contrast. But Karen O is the centre of attention here, the focus of the band's charisma, wild and unpredictable, jumping and dancing across the stage.
Old favourites such as 'Pin' and 'Art Star' are greated with much enthusiasm from the crowd, but new classics such as 'Turn Into' and 'Fancy' get just as rapturous a reception. Very few modern day bands have such commanding charisma - it is hard to take your eyes of the stage, and especially Karen, even for a moment. The slower songs allow the band and the audience brief moments of respite, and Karen O reveals an utterly convincing vulnerability during love songs such as 'Cheated Hearts' and 'Maps' that stands in stark contrast to her usual manic stage persona. She giggles at the end of 'Turn Into', caught up in the sheer joy of the performance, and dedicates 'Maps' to the fans - the sincerity of such actions I only question much later.
The gig lasts for the usual 90 minutes, but somehow seems to have gone much faster. By the time the band close the encore with a triumphant 'Maps' and 'Date With The Night' (with Karen O changed into a different costume, naturally), I am simultaneously utterly exhilarated and completely worn out. Three days later and my pulse has only just returned to normal. No other band of their generation can pack as much excitement, intensity and fun into their shows. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs may have broadened their sound, but they have assuredly not lost it.
posted by Jonathan Thornton at 5:43 pm
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