I am writing about my witnessing of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show last Saturday night at The Pearl in The Palms in support of their third, and latest album, It's Blitz!.
If I had to use one word to describe this show, it would be energy. Who needs fossil fuels when you have Karen O? Harness a fraction of the energy that she expends during her performance on stage and this world would be just fine.
The stage had an interesting backdrop of a giant eyeball in the middle of five giant rings. It looked like the classic hypnosis graphic that you see on cartoons. The Pearl has some of the best acoustics in Las Vegas and tonight proved it. Even though I was seated and not in the throng of people in the general admission pit area, the sound was great!
The band opened the show with "Shake It", which I hear hasn't been played at all of the shows on this tour. Karen O was wearing leopard-skin tights with white short-shorts over them and a cape, to start with. Throughout the show, she would change her cape to a giant American Indian-looking blanket cape and a few other interesting garments.
They segued right into "Dull Life", which is a song that I really dig. The whole time, Karen O is a whirling dervish on stage. The crowd in the pit area was hopping all night. Nick Zinner was amazing on guitar as was Brian Chase on drums. They, too, had a very high energy level that was easy to feed off of even from where I was sitting.
They also played several more of my favorites including "Heads Will Roll" and "Soft Shock". I really liked Karen O's interaction with the audience. She would often stop and let the crowd finish lyrics during songs. One song in particular, "Cheated Hearts", she walked down to the front row and let at least 20 or more people take turns singing one of the two-note embellishments. This was very popular with the crowd.
After finishing up with "Zero", the band came back out for a three song encore. This included my favorite song of the night, a very slow acoustic version of the song "Maps". Karen O seemed to be genuinely choked up at the end of the song as it was a very stirring rendition.
I was tired by the end of the show due to working all day but I am glad that I was able to see one of the best bands that I had yet to see. If you are into high-energy, danceable music and upbeat stage presence, then the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are the show for you!
Viva! Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!
K
You write such awesome concert reviews!!! I can't wait for your "Top" lists!
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