Oh Yes! to Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Fans were enraptured by New York electro rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs during a stunning West Midlands gig. James Watkins reports. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Birmingham O2 Academy Words and Pictures James Watkins [caption id="attachment_81860" align="alignright" width="130" caption="Karen O shakes her thing"][/caption] New York electro-rock came to the Midlands on Thursday night with the Grammy-nominated Yeah Yeah Yeahs bringing their frantic and melodic sound to the O2 Academy. From the moment lead singer Karen O jumped on stage wearing a multi-coloured leotard and giant headscarf it was clear that there was only going to be one gear throughout the set – fifth. Opening with Shake It and Phenom, Karen O pranced around the stage, jumping up and down like a space hopper while engulfing the audience with a magnificent array of vox and charisma that didn't stop. You'd think that dancing and jumping around for just over an hour would have put the enigmatic female close to exhaustion, but far from it. [caption id="attachment_81861" align="alignright" width="130" caption="The enigmatic Karen O"][/caption] In a fashion similar to their music, she just seemed to gather more power and raw energy the longer the set went on. Powering through the likes of, Heads Will Roll, Pin  and Gold Lion, it was the most intense and electric gig that the new Academy has seen. The passion and energy created in the sound from Brian Chase and Nick Zinner mixed with Karen O's constant vocal prowess made other bands  seem somewhat dull. At times, you couldn't help but see a young Debbie Harry in the offering as Karen O simply had her fans in awe of her presence. She waltzed across every inch of the stage as the evening wore on. Highlights of the night included an angelic version of Skeletons - that saw a constant shower of glitter tape fall from the ceiling - and the crowd also raised the roof late on with thunderous voice to accompany Zero. An encore of Y Control and Maps ended the evening off perfectly. On this form, it certainly won't be a surprise to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs make a string of near-headline slots at next year's festivals. They were simply magical.