With the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, it’s the small things: The fact that Karen O put on the notorious leather jacket she dawns in the Zero music video for the performance; the fact that guitarist Nick Zinner snaps pictures of the crowd during the show to put on the band’s website; the fact that they could be seen dancing to opening band Services from the upper balcony. While the music is great, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are far more than just the sound they elicit.
Jumping onto the stage five minutes after the other band members, Karen O delighted the crowd by sporting another one of her token esoteric ensembles; this time, in the form of blue and green tie-dyed tights, a neon painted top, and a Japanese kimono she would repeatedly take on and off for dramatic effect. She greeted the crowd while the chords to “Dull Life”, a track off the latest Yeah Yeah Yeah’s CD It’s Blitz, began. The perfect choice of entry song, she started off slow and then progressed into the punch chorus, jumping and dancing around on stage as though she was at a private dance party. The audience was floored.
“I’ve never seen such an engaged performer,” GWU sophomore London Venturelli said. “I’m simply awestruck.”
“Her [Karen O] stage presence reminds me of Marilyn Manson,” GWU alumni Dakota Fine said. Fine was at the show to take pictures of the band for his photography website, Brightest Young Things.
It was not just Karen O’s energy that hooked the crowd, but also the conviction with which she sung. Her forlorn eyes spoke for themselves during the encore-song --their most famous hit Maps-- as she sang “Wait- They don’t love you like I love you.”
“I almost cried,” Venturelli said. “Both during Maps and when Karen O came into the crowd. “
Karen O’s visit to the crowd took place during Cheated Hearts, a song off their 2006 cd Show Your Bones. After creeping into the crevice between the stage and the barrier, Karen O held out the mic for the audience to sing the words. The crowd stampeded to the front, and many were within a mere few inches of their beloved rock idol.
“She was amazing. I just love her energy,” Said Taylor Deville, a senior at Chopticon High school in Maryland. “The show totally exceeded my expectations. The crowd was a little uncomfortable at times though.”
The 9:30 club was filled to capacity by 8:30, an hour before the opening band got on stage. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs show was sold out, having had all tickets acquired almost instantaneously after they went on sale in mid-august.
Despite the close quarters, not all disliked the crowd. “The crowd was loud and energetic,” Troy McConnel also of Chopticon Maryland, said. “They made the show that much more exciting.”
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