- Music
- 24 May 18
Paul Nolan reports on a night of rip-roaring rock action in the docklands
If ever there was a band who are a testament to the beautiful power of simplicity, it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Through a straightforward-but-brilliantly-effective light show, the exhilarating musicianship of guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase, and the megawatt charisma of singer Karen O, they manage to make 3Arena feel like a dingy NYC punk club.
Quite possibly the lovechild of Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop (I thought that was Simon Coveney – Ed.), O is one of the best front-persons I’ve ever seen. There are some beautifully surreal touches as well, like the two giant inflatable eyeballs kicked out into the crowd mid-set – the sort of theatrical flourish RTE should introduce to liven up Prime Time debates.
Musically, this is simply a tour-de-force, with the band skipping masterfully between pulsating electro rhythms and wailing punk thrashes. Indeed, the only time they take the foot off the pedal is to get the crowd to sing happy birthday to Chase’s wife (“she’s travelled all the way from New York,” notes Karen), and for a truly stunning version of the exquisite ‘Maps’.
They conclude with a scalding ‘Date With The Night’, which sees O bounding madly around the stage amidst confetti explosions. They depart to tumultuous cheers as Zinner’s guitar emits roaring feedback – I think that’s what we call a win.
And so to Beck. Opening with Gen X anthem ‘Loser’, the singer is clearly a man who means (mixed) business – an impression maintained with blistering takes on ‘Devil’s Haircut’, ‘Que Onda Guero’ and ‘E-Pro’. The latter two are the from the Los Angeleno’s 2005 album Guero, a genuine overlooked classic.
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The material from his latest effort, Colors, meanwhile, sounds much better live than it does on record. “We tried to imagine what it would be like if Michael Jackson had made a psychedelic album,” the singer explains. It’s an irresistible pitch, to be fair, and the trippy funkiness of the material really comes alive when tackled by Beck’s band of merry men and women.
The highlight of the evening arrives mid-set, when he performs a brilliant solo acoustic version of the Midnite Vultures R&B pastiche ‘Debra’, in which an improvised section sees the singer take the titular lady on a day outing to Powerscourt in Wicklow. It segues into a cover of Prince’s ‘Raspberry Beret’, which prompts a mass singalong.
Though the singer frets about the curfew, there’s still time for him to skip through one of his trademark medleys, tonight featuring infectious snippets of ‘Miss You’, ‘Good Times’ and ‘Cars’, before he concludes with a rip-roaring extended version of a certain Odelay hit.
And as the title says, let there be no mistake – Beck is still ‘Where It’s At’.