Gig review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Published on Sunday 6 December 2009 21:53

ACADEMY, GLASGOW *****

AN AMUSING tale was told outside this show of a Glasgow hairdresser who reported that they'd been inundated with requests for sharp-fringed Karen O bobs over the past couple of weeks. The crowd probably represented the most stylish mass of people to have gathered in such numbers in Glasgow for quite a while, but their collective effort paled in comparison with that made by the singer herself.

Most importantly, it looked like just another day at the office for O, earning her status as one of the musical icons of the decade with graceful enthusiasm.

This was a performance where the obvious excitement of the star on stage seemed in no way artificial. Spinning and leaping around like a hyperactive child, O took every opportunity to proclaim her love for Glasgow in that sugar-sweet howl of a voice that's so compelling. As the soundtrack composer of her former boyfriend Spike Jonze's movie Where the Wild Things Are, O is on the cusp of a hike in fame as the quirky indie kids' diva of choice, and the show reflected that.

Clad variously in matching monochrome leotard and boots, one fringed white fingerless glove and a patterned cape and cowl, the singer performed under a large inflatable eye surrounded by waves of electric blue tinsel.

Tracks from the recent third album Its Blitz!, such as Zero, Soft Shock and Heads Will Roll, ebbed and heaved again with a more measured, psychedelic pace, while earlier songs such as Cheated Hearts, Y Control and the mighty Date with the Night retained a raw garage air. And Maps, long since stripped of its punkiness and moulded into a fragile ballad, remains this band's one true claim on having written the song of the decade.