Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Radio City Music Hall, New York City, NY -- 09.23.09
Posted by Ari Berenstein on 09.25.2009
All eyeballs on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, literally, as they put on a Rock and Roll show (emphasis on "show").
So I had this dream where a pair of gigantic eyeballs were headed right towards me, like a meteor crashing down to Earth. I had only a few seconds left before being crushed, so I swatted it away like a giant beach ball! Oh wait... that wasn't a dream. It actually happened at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert last night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
As massive amounts of confetti rained down during “Zero”, stage hands released two giant plastic beach balls with pupils. Humans and cats have one thing in common—we love to have fun with large round (and sometimes shiny) objects. For the rest of the concert the orchestra section had two giant playthings to keep them busy as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocked their heart out.
It made you think that by the end of the night anything was possible. Aliens could have arrived and you wouldn’t have doubted they were authentic. For the encore, Karen O. pulled out another trump card—a three piece string session to accompany the band on touching ballads “Maps” and “Hysteric”. The arrangements were beautiful and soothing, although sometimes it was hard to tell since I was avoiding being crushed by Hailey’s Comet.
However, make no mistake about it; this was a definite rock show, with Karen O. serving as the mistress of ceremonies. Through multiple costume changes (dressed as a giant “zero”, a native Indian and other assorted get-ups) and massive set accessories (giant eyeballs straight out of “The Twilight Zone”, giant letter “Y”s, giant swirly teleportal-looking objects, the concert wasn’t just about the songs (even though the night was filled with inspired renditions of the Y’s best material such as “Y Control” and “Phenomena”) but it was about the collaboration of the songs with the showmanship that made this an excellent performance. Karen O. knows how to work a crowd, and her altering fast and slow movements helped to bring the crowd to frenzy multiple times throughout the show.
You also can’t overlook the contributions of lead guitarist Nick Zinner, cutting a swath through the sonic landscapes and moving around on his section of the stage like a perpetually spinning top. Percussionist Brian Chase was also on the “A” game, blasting his drums and providing the perfect transitions between the songs.
You never know what you’re going to get with a Radio City Music Hall audience…filled with all ages, even skewing towards an older crowd in the front of the orchestra. Would they be up for a rock and roll tour de force?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O. took the challenge and won easily, directing the crowd with the emphatic declarative “New York City, stand up!” Everyone stood up and for the rest of the night, Radio City Music Hall turned into the most refined standing room only pit ever created.
The set list choices mixed old and new, and while I didn’t hear a few of my own personal favorites (admittedly deeper tracks and B-sides like “Dragon Queen” “10 X 10” and “Sealings” that I didn’t really expect to hear). I can’t knock what was played—they nailed all their hits (“Gold Lion” and “Cheated Hearts” made the main set while they saved their most recognizable songs, “Maps” and “Date With The Night” for the encore) and included some of the best material from their new album “It’s Blitz!” (“Runaway”, “Heads Will Roll”, “Dull Life”). While their new album is more focused on synth beats and less on the edgier garage band style from “Fever to Tell”, surprisingly there was no divide or misfit between the older and newer material. It was a cohesive and ultimately, a kick-ass performance.
The 411: I wish the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had a longer set list, because a few of my favorite deeper tracks were left off in order to focus on the newer material. That said, I have nothing else to complain about regarding this show. It was a "show" in every regard, mixing visual and interactive elements with the music. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs unrelentingly kicked ass. Plus, there were giant eyeballs. How can you go wrong with giant eyeballs?
