they know what they know.

yeah yeah yeahs
@ roseland ballroom
may 02, 2006.

Opening bands:

black lips: groovy “flower punk” straight outta 1960-something. more than anything else, i wanted to hate these guys, but their songs and immature antics were so consistently ridiculous that they kind of won me over by the end of their set. http://www.myspace.com/theblacklips

dirtbombs: a bunch of badasses (including two drummers, and a singer rocking shades) effortlessly dished out loud, crunchy garage rock that spawned the monstrous moshpit which then carried on for the rest of the night. http://www.thedirtbombs.net/


yeah yeah yeahs set list: phenomena, black tongue, pin, gold lion, honeybear, tell me what rockers to swallow, mysteries, art star, cheated hearts, the sweets, turn into, y control. encore: maps (acoustic), warrior, tick.

can a punk band known for their incredible on-stage energy still rock hard even when they go acoustic? yeah yeah yeah, they can.

still a relatively new band, the yeah yeah yeahs have already proved to indie elitists everywhere that they know how to rock and they do it really well. backed with that knowledge, playing to a hometown crowd filled with family members and friends galore, the yeah yeah yeahs were able to let their guard down a little bit, sticking with newer songs off their recent release, show your bones.

karen o’s stage prescence is always worth coming out for, but i can’t help feeling that the band took advantage of the loyal fanbase, showing off a little too much of their soft side, “treating” us to an acoustic version of “maps,” and other slow songs like “the sweets,” “turn into,” and “warrior.” personally, after hearing “pin” and “tick,” i was craving more old favorites like “rich” and “bang” (even if it meant actually getting banged by the obnoxious crowd of wild drunkards in front with an apparently insatiable taste for slam-dancing). oooh, new york, you’re soooo hard core.

photos by: kenyon hopkin.