Yeah Yeah Yeahs / The Locust - London Kentish Town Forum - 16/4/04
5/5
By: Andy Willson
Tonight is one of those strange times when being twisted on snakebite (or any similar substance) before you arrive would have been of great benefit. As you walk into the doors of the grandiose Forum you are immediately struck by a hauntingly eerie sound, the likes of which was last heard in Jerusalem (the Wailing Wall, people?).
It's to our relief, sort of, that it's only a bloody support-act, and the biggest cheer of the night is when said-character actually leaves the stage. Gulp - he returns seconds later; fear and dread engulfs the crowd; but - fortunately - it's only to pack up his guitar and amp... hopefully to sell to the highest bidder outside.
Now, you'd be forgiven for thinking the night couldn't get any more bizarre, but - somehow - it just does; a typically grim evening in Kentish Town, but otherwise far from the norm. As The Locust take the stage, you know it's gonna go one way or the other. Dressed all in white, with makeshift face-covers resembling fencing masks, but with blacked-out eyes, we believe it's an attempt to look like, conveniently, locusts (oh no - nothing gets past rockfeedback, readers). From the first millisecond, it's gone Pete Tong. For a 30-minute set, The Locust treat us to around sixty 30-second blasts of trash-metal, or something. There's a prize for any member of the congregation who can decipher any lyrics. And the crowd obviously thinks they must be thirsty judging by the amount of beer thrown onstage, and at £3.10 a pint, money is no object to make their point. Strangely exciting, if for all the wrong reasons.
So whether this was a ploy to make the YYY's seem far superior, we doubt it, but all is not well, so it's with a huge sigh of relief when the lights dim, and our darlings take their stance for the 2nd of two sold-out London shows. As Nick's guitar kicks in, and Brian's drums begin their incessant beat, we can hear Miss O, but not see her. Mid-verse she bursts onto the stage in an outfit that, in all fairness, only Karen*O could carry off: a one-piece, gold sleeveless catsuit with a purple latex leotard over the top; just exquisite, darling.
Our opener is a brand-new, manic-punk emblem, which more than deserves its place on a future, second album as our trio kick into the tried and tested new song/old song set-list routine with 'Cold Light' swiftly following the first. The whirling, dervish Karen spins and twists flippantly around the stage, oozing sex from every pore. It's been noted that New York bands like to keep songs in the same vein, and if the style works, why reinvent the wheel ('Room on Fire') and you'd be excused for not noticing any change in ferocity in the tunes.
Yet the pinnacle of tonight are the ovations granted to singles; 'Maps' (just perfect) and 'Date With The Night' arrive back-to-back. Soon after, aptly, bunches of flowers arrive from the back of the stage, and Karen can't quite decide what to do with them. So she throws them, makes a necklace out of them, eats them... bugger, we never knew they had so many uses. After a frantic hour, the lights diffuse again, only for our idols to return for a much-needed encore; 'Bang' erupts like an active volcano, spluttering chords and jagged grooves left, right and centre.
No room for 'Pin' in tonight's set, but many wait just to see whether they return once again, but alas, that's our lot. To go from such an unsettling start to such a blistering end takes you through a brutal crash-course of emotions, and, of course, back again. Missed out this time? Our hearts bleed for you; the YYY's are one of those bands you'll never forget.
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