Show Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Red Rocks
“Monday night is when the real hardcore partiers come out” exclaimed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s Karen O. She shouted into the damp mountain air between songs toward a sea of dancing fans at Red Rocks as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned for their first performance at the venue since the fall of 2009.
On what was looking to be another cold-rainy evening at the world renowned Red Rocks Amphitheater a dance party was ignited by the iconic New York indie rockers. The clouds split and the rain eased as the venues doors opened. The line of fans striping from their cheap-plastic rain ponchos as they hiked up the venues countless steps toward their seats and beer venders with excited anticipation for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Of the 13 US shows announced by the group, Colorado’s most hallowed venue was lucky enough to host the band (and on the 30th anniversary of U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky performance that notably put the venue on the map for what it is today).
The night was kicked off by Perfume Genius, hitting the stage as the sky began to clear and the breeze calmed.“Perfume Genius cast a spell on all of us tonight” Karen O told the crowd later in the night during YYY’s performance, and that was no exaggeration. His performance was entrancing from the moment he hit the stage. Dancing and stomping around the stage in black cowboy-boots, often looking as if he lost himself in the lyrics and melodies as he roamed every inch of the stage. The set was a solid 10 songs and ended in what seemed as just as quick as it started, due to the complete entrancement projecting from the stage. Perfume Genius could well have rocked Red Rocks themselves as a headliner.
As the sun finally lowered behind the mountains and Red Rocks was solely illuminated by stage lights, the excited buzz grew moment by moment as stage hands prepped the stage. As the final sound check took place, Imaad Wasif (Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s touring guitar and key player) took a moment to burn sage across the stage and over every piece of musical instrument. The energy of the stage was cleansed and a fresh start awaited the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. The lights went dark as the band made their way behind their respective instruments. Karen O arriving seconds later to the deafening roar of the 9000+ fans in the crowd.
The band cut into ‘Spitting Off the Edge of the World’ and Perfume Genius ran back onto stage to sing along with Karen. The band then kicked into the more rocking ‘Cheated Hearts’ from 2006’s album Show Your Bones and then into ‘Pins’ from 2003’s Fever to tell. Pin was a high energy flurry of flowing limbs as Karen further pulled the crowd into a trance, culminating with Karen belting the lyrics as she lowered the mic into her mouth and with her head toward the sky finished the last of the songs in a picture perfect moment.
The three opening songs were a juxtaposition of the nostalgic feelings of the early 2000s paired with the stand-out fresh musical gusto that the band still brings to the world.
This whiplash of gleeful nostalgia and modern day music mastery continued throughout the set as the band rocked hard through every song. Each song performed so well that they sounded just as fresh as they day they released them (some songs being less than a year ago, others 20 years ago). The setlist was immaculate. Deep cuts were paired between massive hits, but all sounding insanely massive with Red Rocks amazing acoustics.
Paired with the stunning sonics blasting from the band was a massive LED wall behind the group projecting lights and images during the performance. Angled light bars protruded from the stage around the band, similar to the sharp angels of the rocks surrounding the stage. Despite all the awesome visual aspects of the live show it was near impossible to take your eyes off of Karen O. Her movements and energy locking you in for every second she spent on the stage.
The energy of the both the performance and the crowd stayed vibrant through the rest of the set. The night entered a climax with the much adorned and most well known songs from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Prior to starting into ‘Maps’ Karen took the time to shout out countless family and friends, and notably the amazing costume designer Christina Joy who has been dressing Karen in spectacular outfits for years and happened to be in the crowd that evening. The apex of energy erupted as the singular-repetitive guitar note intro of ‘Maps’ filled the air. The crowd singing more enthusiastic and louder than they had up to this point. As if things couldn’t have been boiling any hotter ‘Heads Will Roll’ drove the frenzy even higher, instigating nonstop movement from every body and limb in the crowd.
Confetti floated down the mountainside as the band returned for their encore, closing with ‘Y Control’ and ‘Date with the night’, showing a proper celebration to the 20th anniversary of their 2003 debut album Fever To Tell.
20 years down the road and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are only further solidifying their status as rock icons, with amazing new music and top tier performances to match. Their performance at Red Rocks only added to that legacy and proved why they are a band you won’t want to miss when they play anywhere remotely near you.
