Yeah Yeah Yeahs at The Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

After working the return of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in beautiful Golden Gate Park in the heart of my beloved city of San Francisco then spending time with friends and family in the days that followed, I impromptly hit the road back down to SoCal. It had been eight years since their last album and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' September 30th release Cool it Down, was still hot off the press when I got word the night before their  show at the Hollywood Bowl that there was a chance I'd get in. So on October 6th I packed up, said bye bye to SF and headed to LA. 

It had been nearly five years since I last saw Yeah Yeah Yeahs live: they played a limited number of shows in 2017 including a night at The Fox Theater in Oakland over Halloween weekend.

Rocktober is the time of year they like to treat theur hungry fans with sweet little tours apparently!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I got to the Hollywood Bowl just as doors were opening. Throngs of people swarmed the surrounding streets as they made their way to the outdoor amphithear like bees to a hive. It was my first time seeing a show at the Hollywood Bowl and I quickly learned that parking is not a fun task there. 

Since they only offer paid stacked parking I opted to for paid parking outside of the venue to avoid being stuck at the end of the night. My co-worker friends both got stuck in traffic trying to find parking. which resulted in us missing both opening acts but without a moment to spare, we all walked in together as the house went dark for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!

We found a spot to watch situated behind the sound board as the crowd's excitment audiably grew with each rythmic thud of the kick drum. It could have been a number of any of their songs gearing up and as the beat went on, Karen O introduced thousands of adoring fans to the band, "We're the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and we're back!" giving way to the first single off of their new album "Spitting Off the Edge of the World" with special surprise guest Micheal Alden Hadreas of Perfume Genius. 

 

She shed her big, floppy, technicolored hat and matching cloak after the first song and the rest of the night the stylish songstress showed off the pink silk gloves featured in all of the press photos for their two 2022 shows. 

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The end of each song brought a new wave of excitement for the next.

With a smile splashed across her face and interminted awkward giggles while she sang, Karen O tiredlessly yet effortlessly worked the stage and engaged the crowd, even getting into crowd at one point causing a dancing frenzy as she passed. Her and drummer Brian and guitarist/keyboardist Nick were back in their element. All of this magnified the shared happiness of all the other fans being there seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs  again. 

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

As they weaved songs from 2003's Fever To Tell  "Cheated Hearts" and "Pin" with songs from 2022's Cool It Down "Burning" there was something distinctly different from the times I'd seen the Yeah Yeah Yeahs before. Karen O was more or less an instant lady in rock icon when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs hit the scene. She dressed the part. She acted the part. And with her grunts, growls and screaming vocals she sounded the part.

That night at the Hollywood Bowl she sounded great, perfect even. Yet, as I waited for her to go full on punk, especially on some of their older stuff,  I realized that time probably wasn't going to come. As heard through out their new album, Karen O's singin style has become what we heard from her on the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack. Poised. Polished. Passionate. Karen O's singing style is grown up and that's what she brings to the stage now. At one point she talked along the lines of learning who you are, finding your voice and being comfortable with it and that's what LA saw that night. How magical is that? There was couple songs were she ebbed and flowed between edgy and polished which was actually quite fun to hear.
And she's still got antics.
She didn't deep throat her mic or chug champange from the bottle then spew it in the air but there was some microphone love going on, some water spewed into the air  and a purple sparkly covered her head for half a song. 

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

As the end of the set neared it was as if everyone in the place got more and more excited, probably because bands typically save their most popular material for the end of the show. They had already played a few of my favorites: "Pin", "Zero" and one of my new faves, "Fleez". Sure enough after two back to back new songs the rest of the show was Yeah Yeah Yeahs classics. The intros to those last four songs were long and drawn out making the moment, that moment last just a little longer. "Maps" might have taken the cake for the longest intro with Brian and Nick teasing us with licks and riffs from one of their biggest, if not the biggest, hits of theirs. 

It was around this time that Karen O pointed out the fact that all three bands on the bill that night: The Linda Lindas, Japanese Breakfast and Yeah Yeah Yeahs all have Asian or Asian-American frontwoman. Her message was delivered with such love and vigor, then met with a roar of applause that I am getting chills typing about it. It was definitely somehting I noticed when the show was annouced and thought, "that's cool" but it's bigger than that. It's actually a huge deal, one many of us probably don't think about, realize or really understand. Heck one of my co-worker friends had no idea Karen O is Asian until that moment. Then after what felt like forever "Maps" song started and people were singing so loud I couldn't even hear the band. Before I knew it "Heads Will Roll" was playing and confetti was flying. Everyone that I could see in the crowd had a smile on their face. 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Hollywood Bowl 10/6/2022
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I have been a fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs since their first album, Fever To Tell came out in 2003 and as far back as I can remember, Karen O has been an icon since hitting the scene. That show that night was her shining moment. Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought The Linda Lindas and Japanese Breakfast back out on stage for the first of their two encore songs for a most memorable iconic rock show moment!

This show and the show they played in New York a few days prior come just one year shy of the twentith anniversary of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' first album which leaves me wondering...is there a 2023 tour hiding up those pink gloves of Karen O's?  

set-list 10/6/2022
1. Spitting Off the Edge of the World
2. Cheated Hearts
3. Pin
4.Under The Earth
5. Burning
6. Zero
7. Wolf
8. Fleez
9. Soft Shock
10. Lovebomb
11. Blacktop
12. Maps
13. Gold Lion
14. Y Control
15. Heads Will Roll 

encore
1. Kids in America
2. Date with the Night