Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Academy, Sheffield
07/12/09

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third album was met with universal acclaim earlier this year - not for nothing did it come in The Fly’s Top 5 Albums Of 2009 - yet tonight, their live show lets them down. Karen O, who waltzes onstage in a bandaged catsuit, is so worthy of attention that two spotlights at a short distance are needed simply to make her known to the mass crowd. Not happy with that however, she spends her time picking poses suitable for great photos (see pic) rather than concentrating on her musical talents.

As the band kicks into a series of album tracks, she yelps out of tune over the rattle of distorted guitars, leaving her sounding not unlike a drunk covering Slipknot. After a few structureless songs, ‘Pin’ shows Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ art-rock superstar credentials, Karen bouncing around the stage like a naughty school child. From thereon, they play like the acclaimed group we were expecting, Karen insisting on jumping freely around the stage in a brilliantly bizarre array of outfits as guitarist Nick Zinner pouts quietly in a corner. Even then, though, it’s not enough to completely redeem them, until ‘Gold Lion’ and ‘Turn Into’ climax proceedings with a euphoric wave of sound anyway. As the show winds down, it’s hard not to feel that, tonight, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been more style than substance. Karen O may be an icon, but, as a vocalist, she’s too often wide of the mark. A blip, we hope.

Ruth Offord