Last night marked the long overdue return of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Philadelphia. Touring in support of their third album, the great It’s Blitz, the trio fronted by Karen O. performed for the crowd a wide array of songs spanning their entire career. The way that the band can capture such delicate and vulnerable moments in songs like “Skeletons” and then ferociously go head first into rocking cuts like “Pin” and “Miles Away” is quite a feat.
Fighting the double standard one sexual innuendo and pelvic thrust at a time, Philly’s very own Amanda Blank opened the show for the trio and showed a different side of what a female front woman can do. Blank is immediately recognized by her great vocals, great flow, and enthralling stage antics. Even though she was the opener, you may have never known with the way she danced across the stage making sure everyone was having a good time. Without constant shout outs to her “Philly Girls” and a club banger rendition of her single “Might Like You Better,” she knew how to play to the crowd.
The show started with the slow building “Runaway” from Blitz with Karen O. concealing her face from the crowd, building anticipation with every exclamation of the title. Every nuance of her movement was carefully calculated during the opener, as if the visual performance was just as important as the music emitting from the amps. This must be an intentional move considering she has a touring costume designer. Bravo to a band who tries to up the ante by visually stimulating the crowd as well, without losing an ounce of sincerity.
The majority of the set’s highlights included the softer numbers from their catalogue. The aforementioned “Skeletons” reveled in the sparse arrangement of a repetitive synth line, minimal percussion, and the eerily heartbreaking, lead keyboard. The large eyeball (a nod to the “Zero” single’s cover) that hung over drummer Chase’s head for one song became an orange sphere that seemed to capture the warmth and energy of the room.
The obligatory performance of “Maps” was welcomed by an unusual arrangement of acoustic guitar and vocals only. The song was made more real, if that’s possible, when Zinner messed up and Karen O. took the time to enjoy the unexpected moment and simply laugh a little.
Although the slower songs stole the show, that isn’t to say that the spastic rock pieces from the band’s past were not fully engaging. A majority coming from their debut Fever to Tell, pieces like “Rich”, “Art Star”, and encore “Date With a Night” caused the Factory’s PA system to nearly explode with the amount of fuzz and low end coming from one guitar.
Karen O. might not be as angry as she use to be, but that doesn’t stop her from tearing the songs apart with every growl, snarl and yell (see her deep throat the microphone in “Art Star”).
After declaring that she’d “had it with cheated hearts,” Karen O. delicately placed the microphone at her heart. Despite the wide range of emotions of the songs on display tonight, they all come from the same place for her and the rest of the band. Not many acts can say that these days.
