Tabernacle, 10/14/06
It's always a curious feeling to watch a favorite band go from playing in the middle of a bill at a small club to headlining their own theater tour, not to mention wielding influence in the fashion world and among their musical peers. Whether they'll lose what made them special in deference to mass market appeal is one of many concerns. While the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have acknowledged the difficulty of negotiating such a pasage (a Spin profile earlier this year painted an especially grim portrait of their allegedly fractured relationships), they present a united front as performers, and are one of the rare recent bands to achieve a fairly high profile while maintaining their integrity.
Opening their packed gig at the Tabernacle were two acts that reflect different aspects of the band's personality. Imaad Wasif, who also serves as the fourth Yeah on the road, took the stage solo for a set of gently weird, Nick Drake-bent-in-two acoustic numbers. Local agitators Deerhunter confronted a packed house of family and well-wishers as well as those caught unawares by their surprisingly accessible, but resolutely odd, melodic noise. Frontman Bradford Cox was casually confident, threatening a cover of TLC's "No Scrubs" and calling out a heckler who expressed their appreciation for the band by throwing them a tampon. Hey, you can't please everybody.
With the evening's more difficult listening behind them, the crowd received the main event with great enthusiasm. This was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' first Atlanta show in almost three years, and their first local gig since being discovered by MTV and commercial radio, thus accounting for the larger venue and fresh faces in attendance. Newcomers found a somewhat more controlled, polished presentation than ever before, but one no less thrilling in its execution.
Despite the solid contributions of each band member (Nick Zinner, in particular, drives the music forward with intensity), all eyes were on Karen O for much of the set, and with good reason. A modern-day Peggy Moffitt clad in a purple and yellow bodysuit, this court jester / space visitor / trackstar from the future eagerly embraced the task at hand - to channel the band's passion through her unforgettable persona. While Orzolek's previous appeal lay in an unpredictable whirl of impulse and id, now it seems driven by a professional embrace of showmanship, beers of old replaced with a stream of bottled water spewed into the air and yoga poses turned into displays of agility. Like Bjork, whose "Hyper-ballad" she covered at a Criminal Records event earlier that afternoon, this is a woman who follows her muse to some strange places. Choosing messy over beautiful, retreating into role-playing or the sheer animal pleasure of opening her throat and unleashing a sound, Orzolek's freedom worked even those Deerhunter naysayers into a frenzy. Along with her bandmates, she made stadium rock for the art-school set. And for anyone, really, with a yen for drama, grace and the unexpected.
- Amanda Langston
Photos by Steve Berry
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Deerhunter
Imaad Wasif