Yeah Yeah Yeah's
>> Barrowlands
>> 19th May 2006
The anticipation in the Barrowlands tonight is electric. Not because the mighty Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be frolicking on stage in a few short minutes, but because this is a proper band, playing exciting music and it’s happening in the Barras! Seriously, it’s been about two years since I was last here. The lager-whore club across the water (you know the one) has been sucking up all the quality bands since it opened and the poor old Barras has been left playing second fiddle. So it’s time to readdress the balance and there is no band better suited to give the old gal a shot of serotonin than the YYYs.
Openers ‘Services’ from New York City are two gentlemen playing the most blistering of dance music. Two synths/samplers, a cymbal and a microphone and they’re off! Bubbling the sparkly paint on the roof with their bass booster. If the Mighty Boosh made Junior Senior songs they’d sound like this. ‘Alive’ and ‘Killer Bees’ were absolutely top notch. I reckon that, come the summer, dance floors around the country will be getting sweaty to this band.
But tonight is all about one person – Karen O. From the front row look-a-likes with their pin stripes, polka dots, oversized plastic jewellery and chunky bowl cuts to the quiet indie boys she would chew up and spit out without breaking a sweat, everyone is here for this whirling dervish. I pretty sure Nick Zinner and Brian Chase would agree on this too! The adoration is apparent before first song ‘Gold Lion’ is even one bar in and it continues as such all night. During the many, many technical glitches that hold up the set it is Karen’s sultry/giggly crowd interaction that keeps things afloat.
The set was very heavy on second album material making it lack the spark and vitriol of the early shows. It feels like the band are still finding out where all the songs should go and as such the atmosphere is like a rollercoaster – one minute you’re united by the squall of ‘Y Control’, the next you’re intently waiting through rat-a-tat of ‘Mysteries’. Tonight the crowd were fully charged by six songs: Black Tongue, Gold Lion, Y Control, Pin, Phenomenon and Maps. The second album seems to have some ground to make up.
However, as the constant grin on Brian’s face shows, tonight was a triumph – despite the guitar f*ck ups and obviously fluctuating set list – the fans were never gonna let this gig go without giving the sprung floorboards a damn good hiding.
>> Russell Moore
www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
>> 19th May 2006
The anticipation in the Barrowlands tonight is electric. Not because the mighty Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be frolicking on stage in a few short minutes, but because this is a proper band, playing exciting music and it’s happening in the Barras! Seriously, it’s been about two years since I was last here. The lager-whore club across the water (you know the one) has been sucking up all the quality bands since it opened and the poor old Barras has been left playing second fiddle. So it’s time to readdress the balance and there is no band better suited to give the old gal a shot of serotonin than the YYYs.
Openers ‘Services’ from New York City are two gentlemen playing the most blistering of dance music. Two synths/samplers, a cymbal and a microphone and they’re off! Bubbling the sparkly paint on the roof with their bass booster. If the Mighty Boosh made Junior Senior songs they’d sound like this. ‘Alive’ and ‘Killer Bees’ were absolutely top notch. I reckon that, come the summer, dance floors around the country will be getting sweaty to this band.
But tonight is all about one person – Karen O. From the front row look-a-likes with their pin stripes, polka dots, oversized plastic jewellery and chunky bowl cuts to the quiet indie boys she would chew up and spit out without breaking a sweat, everyone is here for this whirling dervish. I pretty sure Nick Zinner and Brian Chase would agree on this too! The adoration is apparent before first song ‘Gold Lion’ is even one bar in and it continues as such all night. During the many, many technical glitches that hold up the set it is Karen’s sultry/giggly crowd interaction that keeps things afloat.
The set was very heavy on second album material making it lack the spark and vitriol of the early shows. It feels like the band are still finding out where all the songs should go and as such the atmosphere is like a rollercoaster – one minute you’re united by the squall of ‘Y Control’, the next you’re intently waiting through rat-a-tat of ‘Mysteries’. Tonight the crowd were fully charged by six songs: Black Tongue, Gold Lion, Y Control, Pin, Phenomenon and Maps. The second album seems to have some ground to make up.
However, as the constant grin on Brian’s face shows, tonight was a triumph – despite the guitar f*ck ups and obviously fluctuating set list – the fans were never gonna let this gig go without giving the sprung floorboards a damn good hiding.
>> Russell Moore
www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
