Yeah Yeah Yeahs attack with live Blitz

Concert review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs,

O2 Academy

Birmingham

Arty New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs have bucked the usual trend for indie bands by generating greater critical acclaim and commercial success for their third album than their earlier offerings.

The recent release, It's Blitz, which saw the three piece add synthesisers to their guitar-based sound, has put them at the top of the Best of 2009 music lists.

But rather than drawing solely upon the new material for the bulk of their Birmingham show, the band treated the sell out crowd to a mix of old favourites and recent hits.

After a low key start, oldie Phenomena had the crowd stomping before Heads Will Roll, one of the standout singles of this year, drew a mass singalong with hands in the air.

The early Yeah Yeah Yeahs headline shows were slightly muted, with the band maintaining an aloof cool.

But all three members, who were joined live by a keyboardist, now seemed to revel in the spotlight, pulling goofy poses as a daft giant inflatable eyeball hung over the stage.

Nobody enjoys a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show more than singer Karen O, who did not stop grinning all night as she spun and twirled.

Backed by a series of ticker tape explosions, she indulged in several dramatic outfit changes and even got the front row taking turns at singing into her microphone.

New songs like Skeletons and Dull Life were interspersed with classics like Gold Lion before the main set finished with a storming rendition of this year's hit Zero.

Some fan favourites such as Bang and Turn Into were disappointingly missing from the set but the encore included two of the band's finest moments, both from their debut album Fever To Tell.

The rocky Y Control was given a bracing run through while an acoustic version of Maps, which Karen O admitted is the band's "only love song", delighted the audience, who joined in with every word.

After another pyrotechnic display, the band thanked the crowd and left to mass applause, with Karen's grin seemingly transported to every delighted audience member as they headed home.

by Chris Leggett