The Yeah Yeah Yeahs bring glitter to Chicago’s wet streets

May 26, 2009, at Aragon Ballroom

By Lindsey Anderson
Published: May 29th, 2009 | 7:55am

Maybe they were on the cheap side and maybe they were poorly constructed, but my favorite shoes caved to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Tuesday night: Some serious floor pounding and subsequent fist pumping found my seams unraveled and ruined. And we were only two songs in.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs — who have refreshed and tweaked their sound with each album since their 2000 incarnation — are rocknroll’s gutter-glam chameleons. From the garage punk rock of Fever to Tell to the softer, somewhat radio-friendly finesse of Show Your Bones (Interscope), it was no surprise that this year’s It’s Blitz! (Interscope) also traveled new territory: an open road of keys.

Bringing their synthy swagger to stage, Karen O and co. opened their North American tour to an almost-capacity, sweaty and rain-soaked Chicago crowd Tuesday night at the Aragon Ballroom. Strutting into the limelight in yellow, tiger-print tights and a white, teal, and red kimono-style top that could have doubled as a leotard, Karen O took the show by its balls and never once loosened her grip.

Opening with the theatrical, Tim Burton–esque “Runaway,” Ms. O stood mid-stage with her blue mic pointed at the sky and only broke pose momentarily to sweetly coo over the arena-rock sound of drummer Brian Chase and lead guitarist and key master Nick Zinner.

In one smooth move, Karen O removed the cape-sleeves off her interchangeable top — yeah, various sleeves could be attached to her kimonotard. If the Yeah Yeah Yeahs aren’t bringing real rocknroll shows back to life, I don’t know who is — the singer flashed a manic grin, one that wouldn’t leave her face for most of the evening, and the group ripped into the Fever to Tell favorite “Black Tongue.”

Part jazzercising and part skip-dancing across the stage, Karen O’s energy was infectious all night. Setting off glitter canons while growling the infamous line, “Boy you just a stupid bitch and girl you just a no good dick!,” she spit a fountain of water (not beer!) on herself and the front row while somewhere along the line she acquired sleeves made of ringed fabric for her ever-changing costume (which she seductively, in an almost funny kind of way, stripped off during “Cheated Hearts”).

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs balanced their show with grace and pure rock and sounded absolutely solid while doing so. The trio — who are touring and playing with honorary fourth member David Pajo of Slint — transitioned easily between new, sleepier material “Skeletons” and “Soft Shock,” to earlier, raw songs like “Man” and “Art Star.” Karen O even donned multiple outfits — from her leather jacket of “Zero” video fame to a lucha libre–type pink mask during “Heads Will Roll.”

And that’s exactly how the Yeah Yeah Yeahs roll — with versatility, grime, and glam. They have the ability to slash through the fat and keep things lean and interesting while putting on one hell of a live show. But next time, someone do me a favor: Remind me to wear better shoes.
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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page
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Review of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Show Your Bones (Interscope)