Yeah Yeah Yeahs blitzed everybody at Festival Hall in Melbourne last week. Karen O's stage presence is something to behold – the glow-in-the-dark headdress, the best cape we ever saw, the jumping, the actually genuine smiling, we die. The band performed under a giant blow-up eyeball and opened with 'Heads Will Roll' amongst others and drew from their three studio albums evenly and cleverly.
'Gold Lion' was a treat with everybody joining in with Karen O's hand-clapping, as well as the predictably sing-along 'Cheated Hearts'. The giant eyeball was later turned around into a moon (which would have worked perfectly at their later show at The Forum) and the band performed a heartbreaking version of 'Skeletons'. After leading the audience in 'Happy Birthday' to Harvey the sound guy, the crowd sang along with a lo-fi version of 'Maps'.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are classic rock'n'roll – spitting water into the air, Karen putting the mic into her mouth and screaming like a crazy – but have a healthy dose of sweet – the band were all smiles and Nick Zinner wandering around the stage taking photos of the crowd in a quiet moment. Their balance between crazy and adorable thrilled the majority of the crowd. Most people left wanting to marry Karen O.
Photos by Andy Hatton.