Upon entering the small town of Clifton Park, New York it is hard not to assume that the population is under fifty. Its main venue, Northern Lights, is the only building around for miles, with the exception of a small market and a church. Landing a little over three hours outside of NYC, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see a miniscule turn out to any event that took place in this town. However, this was not the case with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen, Nick, and Brian played to a packed house, a crowd made up of giddy fans and those looking for something other to do than watch tumbleweeds (or heads) roll.
Amanda Blank, who was relatively unknown to the crowd, kicked off the show doing tracks off her upcoming album I Love You. Blank really gave it her all, spewing quick tongue-in-cheek rhymes over some pretty banging electro beats. Unfortunately the audience didn’t appreciate it as much: only a handful of people dared to move their heads to the beat, which ignited fears that this wasn’t the typical, rowdy Yeah Yeah Yeahs crowd I’ve come to expect. Amanda ended her short set with a cover of LL Cool J’s “I Need Love” mashed up with Santigold’s “I’m A Lady.”
Blank took her leave, promising that the Yeahs would “kill our souls” shortly. The explosion of excitement when the trio finally came on was so big that not only souls were killed, but whole beings were annihilated. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on a show that rocked so hard it was impossible for the crowd not to go completely insane – and they did. Nick and Brian came out first, followed by Karen O, who was expectedly clad in Christian Joy. They opened the show with “Dull Life,” off of their latest full-length, It’s Blitz. The show actually covered songs from their career thus far, even some lesser-knowns and b-sides like “Machine.” One of the highlights of the set list was the tear-inducing celestial ballad “Hysteric” which Ms. O deemed as the “best ‘Hysteric’ performance ever”. Cult-style sing-alongs came in the form of “Maps” and “Poor Song.” The Yeah Yeah Yeahs set the bar high from the very beginning of their career, and have been consistent in putting on shows worthy of praise and worship. To be quite honest, how anyone wouldn’t want to be a part of the Church of Yeah after last night’s show is beyond me.
Photos by Andrew Malagon
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