Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is quite possibly one of the greatest rock stars of all time. When she's on stage, it's near impossible to take your eyes off her. She prances around in home made outfits while belting out tunes with swagger and style.
The YYYs played SLC last night, and I was not about to miss this one. I'd been looking forward to this show for weeks, and for good reason. The show was at the U of U campus, and it was outdoors, which made it even better. The weather was perfect and the whole crowd was anticipating a super performance.
The opener was a Brooklyn band called Blood on the Wall. They were a three-piece band with brother-sister singers that played some great bass heavy indie rock with a hint of punk and blues. A good band and great choice for an opening act.
The whole reason the Yeah Yeah Yeahs even exist is because of their live shows. The buzz around them grew in 2001 because of their shows around New York City, so they decided to put out an EP on their own which prompted a major label bidding war. They released their first full-length album, "Fever to Tell," in 2003, and it's definitely a staple of my collection. Every song is a modern punk masterpiece. Their second album, "Show Your Bones," was released last month and I haven't stopped listening to it. They didn't just make a continuation of their first album or freak out and go a totally different direction. They evolved both lyrically and sonically to make a record of emotional depth and dizzying texture.
As for the show last night, I couldn't have asked for more. The entire band was amazing. When they came out, Karen O was wearing a silver leotard that looked like someone had attacked her with the Bedazzler. She strutted around the stage as they played songs from both albums and never lost an ounce of energy. I was pretty close to the front and everyone around me was jumping and dancing as much as we could for being packed in like sardines. And I could swear that when she sang "We'll build a fire in your eyes," she was looking right at me.
The main set lasted a good 90 minutes. For the encore, Karen came back out wearing a body suit painted like a skeleton with fringe and a hood. The whole night was such a great spectacle and I didn't want it to end. This is the reason I go to shows in the first place. "Sometimes I think that I'm bigger than the sound." Definitely.
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