March 14, 2013 8:43

Yeah Yeah Yeahs play career-spanning SXSW set

The Karen O fronted band played an hour-long show at Stubb's in Austin alongside Alt-J and Nick Cave

Photo Gallery: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Photo: Press/Dan Martensen

Yeah Yeah Yeahs played a host of new and old material at SXSW last night (March 13).

The band took to a packed out Stubb's outdoor stage following a set from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and before the evening's closing performance from Alt-J , as part of NPR's festival showcase.

Sporting a banana yellow trouser suit and silver top, frontwoman Karen O opened the band's hour-long set with new track 'Mosquito', from their forthcoming new album of the same name, which will be released on April 15.

Wearing a single green neon glove and brandishing a pink microphone wrapped in pink tape, the now-blonde singer put in a typically energetic performance which saw her careening across the stage and offering her mic to fans to sing along.

The set spanned the entirety of the band's career, including 'Art Star' and 'Miles Away' from their debut, self-titled 2001 EP up unto their current single, 'Sacrilege', which was met with an enthusiastic reception from crowd, which included Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders. The trio's set also included 'Gold Lion', 'Zero', 'Maps', 'Cheated Hearts' and 'Heads Will Roll'.

Alt-J followed Yeah Yeah Yeahs, playing a set drawing from their Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, 'An Awesome Wave', including 'Tessellate' and 'Something Good'.

The band also performed 'Buffalo', a song written especially for the Oscar-winning film 'Silver Linings Playbook', which finished with frontman Joe Newman singing an excerpt from the Jackson Browne-penned 'These Days'.

"I'd like to say it's pretty fucking amazing to play on the same stage as Nick Cave, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs," said keyboard player Gus Unger-Hamilton before 'Matilda'.

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