Yeah Yeah Yeahs,The Locust Live Review @ Academy [1, 2, 3 and Club Academy] (Manchester) - 14 Apr 2004

Yeah Yeah Yeahs,The Locust Live Review @ Academy [1, 2, 3 and Club Academy] (Manchester) - 14 Apr 2004

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Live Review

The one man Baltimore rickety, bluesy part Jack White part T Rex act of Guy Blakeslee the former bassist with The Convocation Of... set things off nicely as the crowd bounced of the mercurial artist's enthusiasm. One of the highlight tracks was set opener 'When Your Way Gets Dark' a bluesy rock gem that gives you a taste of what Jack White's solo stuff will sound like or how the White Stripes sound when Meg calls in sick. Things got angrier with the howling and harrowing cry out against George W Bush in 'You Gotta Die'. Guy showed his caring side when towards the end of his set prompted by a member of the front row he threw himself into an acappella version of 'Happy Birthday' for Alan.

I am no statistician, but I would guess that on average, including thought time about what to wear; the average time taken to get ready to spend an hour or so in the company of the stylish Karen O was about one hour. Therefore, you can imagine that some of the crowd was slightly aghast to witness four guys troop on to stage clad in a locust costume and mask, resembling a cartoon baddie. The Locust had arrived, this was the ultimate "Judge us on our music and not our dress style" statement that was greeted with boos before the first note of their futuristic, post hardcore thumping and zapping instrumentals that is a delightful mix of Whirlwhind Heat, Raging Speedhorn, Boysetsfire and Slipknot with contrasting occasional Kid Rock style vocals produced by keyboardist Joseph Karam and bassist Justin Pearson had sounded. The open minded amongst the crowd warmed to this neat experimental brand of punk metal, while the others remained plagued by the temerity of the San Diego based four piece who soared through songs from their 23 track album (Plague Soundscapes).

Wannabe Madonna or original art punk princess? Was the question in my mind requiring resolution tonight regarding the Yeah Yeah Yeahs front lady Karen O as she stomped her way onto the stage. The screams and looks of adoration as she belted out crowd favourites such as 'Cold Light', Map' and 'Date With The Night' suggested that she is the latter. The YYYs have a bubblier more pop focused sound than you would expect of them live, with the exception being the raucous garage rock bruiser 'Miles Away' that featured towards the end. Karen O certainly knows how to put on a show as she provocatively munched on and played with a French loaf before hurling it into the crowd. Then she seductively spewed lager into the adoring crowd and she managed to make me repress my urge to yell out "Bring back The Locust", but only just.

David Adair

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