The New Yorkers played their capital gig. We were there for an evening full of confetti and classics.
Hard to believe, but it’s now ten years since the New York band Yeah Yeah Yeahs showed up in Berlin. Back then, in May 2013, singer Karen O, guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase were also able to lure droves of indie fans from the capital to the Columbiahalle. Only the album to promote was different. MOSQUITO had only just come out and songs like “Sacrilege” got the dance floor shaking.
After an extended hiatus for the group, with the members busy with other projects, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned in 2022 with COOL IT DOWN. Of course, the right tour could not be missing. Despite the ten-year abstinence, the band does not show the passage of time, which feels like 20 years due to various world events. Also at their gig on August 29th in the Columbiahalle one thing is clear: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs still know how to rock!
Karn O is cheerful and sparkling
Only a short time after the support band Jealous left the stage, the trio and their live keyboard player were already on the stage. Rather than blowing the whistle right away, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs opened their set with the single “Spitting of the Edge of the World,” which is another collaboration with art-pop artist Perfume Genius on the new album. The opening track should remain one of the few slower songs of the evening, because Karen, Zinner and Chase immediately started loud and snappy.
After “Cheated Hearts”, which already has a few years under its belt, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs hit two real classics. The brutally wonderful “Pin” got the first spectators to jump along excitedly. Even more surprisingly, the band then unpacked “Art Star”, which Karen O also appropriately announced as “deep cut”. One would have wished for a mosh pit for this kind of punk number in the front rows. But well, band and fans have just gotten older since the last time they met. Be that as it may, the atmosphere in the Columbiahalle remained euphoric. As did Karen O. The energetic singer beamed at the audience with a gleeful grin, while her glittering dress perfectly reflected the atmosphere.
confetti and classics
In one of her few announcements – the band concentrated more on the musical side – Karen O also explained her joy at playing in Berlin again. The charismatic singer also infected the last concert-goers with her laughter. The magic worked, everyone was eagerly awaiting the next song. To the surprise of this editor, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs only played a few songs from COOL IT DOWN. Just four of the 16 songs on the setlist came from the work.
The rest of the concert was dominated by tracks found on FEVER TO FELL, SHOW YOUR BONES and IT’S BLITZ. As an indie fan in your mid-thirties to late forties you want to say: “They were still from our time”. But that’s exactly how the band hits the nerve of the audience. With hits like “Gold Lion” everyone rocked and sang along. “Maps” and “Heads Will Roll” got the whole hall dancing along. In addition, Karen O ignited the confetti cannon twice and the interior of the Columbiahalle was transformed into a colorful landscape of scraps of paper.
The wait was worth it
After “Heads Will Roll” the hall lights went out completely for a moment and the band left the stage. Only temporarily, of course, because an encore was a must. This was a real treat for Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs fans. “Poor Song” was the beginning and almost brought tears to your eyes with its melancholic mood, then “Y Control” followed. The conclusion was ultimately “Date With The Night”, which once again got everything out of the audience and the band, and left visibly happy viewers behind.
It was really worth it for everyone that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed again ten years later at the old venue. The Columbiahalle, which likes to spark “love it or hate it” debates within Berlin, was the perfect place for a band who clearly had fun playing for their fans in Germany again. The reunion after such a long time was a complete success and Karen O’s words in “Poor Song” could not describe the meeting better: “… and cool kids, they belong together”.
The complete setlist of the evening
- Spitting Off the Edge of the World
- cheated hearts
- Pin code
- Art star
- burning
- zero
- wolf
- soft shock
- love bomb
- Sacrilege
- gold lion
- map
- Heads Will Roll
encore:
- bad song
- YControl
- Date With the Night