Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Bimbo's, 1 March 2006)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' promo machine came through San Francisco tonight via Bimbo's. These slew of "club only" shows in major cities are meant to give the audience an introduction to the YYY's new material. And so they did, only playing one song from Fever to Tell (can you take a wild guess which song? -- right! "Maps") and, oddly enough, two songs from their self-titled E.P. ("Art Star" and "Miles Away").

But let's not fault the YYYs here. I mean, they haven't toured in a while and wanted to see what the new songs will be like on stage. They also played Fever to Tell oh so many times in the past few years, that they needed a break from playing those songs. Once they played the Fillmore a couple of years ago, I knew they were tired of playing Fever to Tell. So, in a way, this was a nice, refreshing change.

But for others, they felt as if they were ripped off. They played a really short set (approximately 60 minutes) and only played songs from Show Your Bones for the most part. Two years is a long time, and people want to hear the old songs since it's been two years. Well, to each his/her own.

Karen O. was wearing her trademark gold ice skater like outfit. I was in the back, so it was hard to tell what else she was wearing. They opened up with "Gold Lion" and it sounded fantastic! Usually, Bimbo's is a hit or miss venue with the sound, but tonight the sound was rich, full and loud. Just the way I like it. Each "oooh, oooh" that Karen emitted was echoing throughout the venue. Imaad Wasif was the additional guitarist for some of the songs, including the acoustic guitar in "Gold Lion." The band were really tight for this song, and for every other song, they played.

Definite highlights were "Honey Bear" with its booming guitars and electric dissonace, "Art Star" with Karen O. putting that entire microphone head in her mouth (thus making ever straight male in the audience think dirty, dirty thoughts), "Turn Into" and "Dudley." Karen displayed so much energy in each of these songs, and so did the crowd.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show, even though I left the place wishing they played just a few more old songs (how about "Pin" or "Date With the Night", huh?). I wasn't too keen on the new album, but seeing YYYs play it live gave it a whole different spin. The raw sound on stage should have been the sound that was in Show Your Bones rather than this polished sound that is so unlike the YYYs.

I bet when they play the Warfield or Coachella, their set list will be much more diverse. Thus, guaranteeing a fantastic show.


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