Yeah Yeah Yeahs - London Royal Festival Hall - 28/6/02
4/5
By: Toby L
When will the good times stop? Like so much current talent rising through the ranks, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are sensational - and if their stunning name doesn't quite grab you, then their music will. And, besides, just how many times do you get the chance to see women fronting something as gritty, yet simultaneously feisty, as an enterprise such as this..?
Already thrust into the 'newcomers to watch this year' limelight, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have, to date, released just one record: a five-track EP, enticing and strong enough to garner airplay on the right radio-stations by the right people, and receive glowing write-ups from all those that received a copy in the media-world. To accompany such a time, the YYY's performed sell-out headline appearances in the UK's most relevant heated-shoebox venues, and found time to obtain such an accolade as an invitation to play tonight's event - a live-set for David Bowie's Meltdown.
Assembling themselves on the ballroom floor in the Royal Festival Hall, tonight's mixed audience, comprised largely of dedicated followers and intrigued intellectuals just happening to pass by at the time, has swelled considerably by the moment that the New York trio emerge into sight just before 11pm. The response is surprisingly loud, and front-woman Karen*O grins with excited tension, unleashing pent-up energy during the opening grind of 'Pin' by a series of twirls and arm-reaching motions, her leather-glove cloaked hand gesturing towards the male contingents of the congregation with all the sassiness of a young Joan Collins from 'Dynasty'.
Yet the chugging guitar groove - as paraded competently by one Nick Zinner - and jaw-droppingly dynamic and firm drumming of Brian Chase, let alone *O's own unique echoey howls, don't let up at any moment, the threesome's onstage presence equally as impacting as their musical-output. Simply, from a further visual perspective, they just look so damn good doing it, too - Zinner's BRMC haircut, Chase's Weezer-esque student-shirt and Karen's own brightly-selected wardrobe creating the most fashionable NYC sensation since, well, The Strokes.
But enough of the image, for as they charge their spontaneous-seeming way through such tunes as the cascading thrills to be enjoyed within chipper new number, 'Wait' or the soaring 'Machine' (our femme fatale even sleekly dedicating a song 'for all the motherf**kers' soon after), the YYY's genuinely seem as if the world is in their hands; yes, onlookers are merely their puppets, pogoing incessantly, throwing beer in the air, and succumbing to the urge of summoning them back on for encores - even after over forty minutes already... Rather apparently, when *O sings a lyric about being 'out of control', nothing could be further from the truth.
So, here we are again - delivered with a group with moody, scattered guitar, power-driven rhythms and a potentially iconic vocalist. Yeah, baby.
Artists in this article: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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