Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Brixton Academy

After announcing their long-awaited return with the new album Cool It Down (out on 30^th September), Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought their indie rock to a sold-out Brixton Academy. Karen O appeared on stage wrapped up in flamboyant attire, bouncing in a feral dance, while Brian Chase and Nick Zinner kicked off the show with new single, Spitting Off the Edge of the World. Cheated Hearts from the band’s second album, Show Your Bones, was the first epic moment of a euphoric evening where the setlist was played almost without pausing; it felt as if there was no time to breathe, only room for excitement, sweat and tears.

O recalled that Yeah Yeah Yeahs first played Brixton Academy in 2002 as a supporting act: “We were so drunk that evening”, she joked. It was hard to believe that the trio hadn’t played a full concert in London in nine years; their energy was intoxicating, Chase pounding the drums, guitarist Zinner drenching the crowd with riffs and O, perhaps one of the best performers in the current music scene, enthralling the Academy whilst wildly spinning around the stage.

A rapturous cheer welcomed the intro to Zero with its instantly recognisable synth, which opens the band’s third album, It’s Blitz. When Chase played a prolonged intro to Maps on the drums, with O dedicating the song to “all of you and someone you love”, the crowd went mad. Looking at the visibly moved audience as the trio performed the track and Y Control brought to mind the early 2000s music scene, when along with The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ignited a new wave of sounds that still resonate today.

What could be defined as one of the best gigs seen in recent times ended with the punk rock of Date with the Night, O smashing the microphone against the floor in a mixture of defiance and grace, which only a few band leaders can master. “There’s going to be a new performer up there”, O recently told the Guardian on the eve of the band’s mini UK tour, “I just haven’t met her yet”. Judging from what we saw last night, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Viola Pellegrini
Photo: Courtesy of Yeah Yeah Yeahs

For further information and future events visit Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Spitting Off the Edge of the World here: