O Yeah! Karen leads breathless Blitz on Brixton

NME put their first two albums in its top 50 of the Noughties. The trio’s latest record, It’s Blitz! downplayed guitars in favour of electronic rhythms yet maintained their high standards.

Without compromising, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have found a mass audience: tonight they play the second of two sell-out 5,000-capacity Brixton shows.

Of course, the songs were not the only draw at the first night. This was also a chance to witness the incredible Karen Orzolek — better known as "Karen O" — who combined outlandish costumes with a breathless, unforgettable performance. Not many rock singers appear to genuinely enjoy themselves even more than the audience, but the grinning Orzolek screamed and leaped around as if she were Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ biggest fan.

On a stage adorned with giant eyeballs, she began almost sedately on the delicate Runaway, twirling around in a tent-like dress complete with a huge collar reminiscent of Ming the Merciless.

It was one of several outfits from American designer Christian Joy. Orzolek also sported the famous hand-design headdress from Glastonbury, another outfit apparently made of two unfinished frocks, and her personalised "KO" leather jacket.

Older tunes Black Tongue and Pin brought the band’s garage-rock sound to the fore, with Orzolek emitting a guttural noise as she attempted to swallow her microphone. Meanwhile, drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner were driving these songs with powerful, virtuoso musicianship.

The disco stomp of recent single Zero got one of the biggest reactions, climaxing with a ticker-tape explosion while one of those stage props bounced around the venue. "I’ve had enough of that f***ing eyeball, man!" bawled Orzolek, although there was no real hint of tour fatigue. Indeed, the three band members spent much of the show grinning in obvious delight.

"How can we resist this crowd tonight?" asked Orzolek, responding to the noisy applause for the encore.

Their most tender song, Maps, was stripped back as an acoustic number and dedicated to "all you lovers". Then the fans were sent home with the raucous favourite Date With the Night.

This show was certainly a group effort from a band at their peak. But during an intense 75 minutes in Brixton, the iconic, unstoppable Karen O was its undoubted star.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
O2 Academy Brixton
Stockwell Road, SW9 9SL