Live @ The Forum, London
07 Jun 2003
label: Polydor
words: Luke Turner
photos: nick @ tSE
(click to zoom)Karen O clearly loves the novelty of this big stage. Wearing a bright pink dress and a neck adornment that seems to be the result of a liaison between Bagpuss and a prawn, she’s all over the shop, whipping the mic lead, pouting, shouting, kicking, leaping and daring the photo pit to try and sneak an upskirt shot. She’s full of naughty beans, and the front of the crowd is certainly feeding off her ‘I’ll blow yer to heaven and back’ energy, which sees the boys frugging lasciviously, the O-Clone females trying desperately not to get any more holes in their fishnets than their heroine would consider acceptable.
But as the gig goes on, this behaviour becomes more and more irritating. While in small doses O can show Courtney Love up for the gin-addled fishwife she is, tonight it’s all a bit much. We see her smalls so much that by the end tSE can confirm they’re boypants with either a wide dark-blue or black border, the prawn thing is set flying, and O seems to use the time not spent flashing to collapse melodramatically on the floor. And then there’s her voice – the shrieks and caterwauls become invasive, provoking winces rather than the intended swoon.
(click to zoom)Quite how Brian Chase and Nick Zinner sit back and take it is anyone’s guess. For the one thing that really stands out tonight is just how strong the boy-bit of YYYs actually are. Brian Chase thumps a tub better n’most, while Nick Zinner’s big, roller coasting judders fill the Forum to the nudey plaster castings. It’s a real shame, because when O puts her mind to it, she has can perform truly magic songs – Maps is a sweet ballad, for sure. But aside from that, and the EP stuff such as Bang and Machine, it really feels like there’s a battle between the dynamics of the Chase n’Zinner, and the sordid flailings of O.
“Sex is Everything” proclaims the guitarist’s t-shirt. Tonight, unfortunately, that’s all there is, and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s formidable promise is seed cast upon barren ground