It’s been almost exactly 10 years since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last graced Minneapolis with their glitzy New York City art punk presence. At Saturday’s sold-out Armory show, they more than made up for a decade of lost time. 

In 2013, the trio, led by the iconic Karen O on vocals, Nick Zinner on guitar, and Brian Chase on drums, played the First Avenue Mainroom in support of their freshly-released album, Mosquito. That show (and all Yeah Yeah Yeahs shows, really) has become the stuff of legend amongst Twin Cities concert-goers. Even if you weren’t there, you probably heard all about it from someone who was.

A lot’s happened in the years since. The band took an extended hiatus in 2014. They returned in 2017 and re-issued a deluxe edition of their debut 2003 album, Fever to Tell, with b-sides and unreleased demos. They played festival dates here and there until the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to it for a couple of years. All the while, fans anxiously awaited their next opportunity to see the magnificent spectacle that is a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show. The band finally released Cool It Down in the fall of 2022, their first album in nine years, to critical acclaim.

Now, touring on Cool It Down, O and co. delivered exactly what the Armory crowd desperately sought all these years: blissful nostalgia, endless confetti, and plenty of over-the-top stage spectacle.

Supporting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on this tour is their recent collaborator Perfume Genius, who lent his angelic voice to Cool It Down’s lead single and opening track, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World.” From the moment he walked on stage, Perfume Genius (the chosen moniker of artist and songwriter Michael Hadreas) enchanted the crowd with his ethereal croon and charming antics. His distinct sound draws influences from chamber pop, yacht rock, noise, and Broadway musicals. It’s brooding and sinister at times, light and playful at others, raw and deeply emotional throughout. 

Visually, Perfume Genius’s set found beauty in simplicity. The massive screen behind the band (drummer, bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist) displayed gentle dynamic colorscapes of peach, periwinkle, lavender, red, and orange. Occasionally, the overhead lights bathed the entire stage in a rich crimson. 

Fittingly for a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show, Perfume Genius’ set was as much about the performance as it was about the music. Hadreas rarely stopped moving throughout the set as he danced, sashayed, and downright flailed around the stage. At one point, he rolled his body into a backbend that surely left the mostly 30- and 40-something crowd feeling some phantom back pain. 

During his rare moments of stillness, he either sat in a chair shrouded in white tulle (which he later wrapped himself in for his “outfit change”) or dropped to his knees, deepening his connection with the stage. In the final moments of “Describe,” he collapsed entirely to the floor and tenderly held his microphone stand as though it were a rediscovered lost love while whispering the final few lyrics.

While Perfume Genius’s captivating performance certainly didn’t lack any energy, it was still a much more subdued affair than the explosive Yeah Yeah Yeahs set that followed. They kicked things off with “Spitting Off the Edge of the World.” After about 30 seconds, they kicked it off yet again due to some technical difficulties with the band’s in-ear monitors. Attempt number two was a success, and about a minute in, Perfume Genius proudly returned to the stage to sing his part of the defiant duet. Hadreas and O’s voices locked into sync as Zinner, Chase, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs touring member Imaad Wasif blasted through the synth-laden track.

The rest of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ whirlwind set saw the band pull from their entire 20-plus-year history, playing at least one song from each of their five studio albums. Included in the set, of course, were standbys like “Maps,” “Y Control,” “Heads Will Roll,” and “Date With the Night.” But also included were less frequently played “Zero,” “Sacrilege,” and “Soft Shock.” 

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs rarely play the same set twice and regularly throw in an old song they don’t play very often to mix things up. At the Armory, that song was “Phenomena.” Aside from a few shows in 2018 and 2019, the band hasn’t played the Show Your Bones track much in the past decade, making it a real treat to see it included in Saturday’s set.

One side effect of playing a different set each night is that the possibility of mistakes increases. And Saturday certainly wasn’t without its share of false starts and missed cues. In addition to the mulligan during “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” several other missteps led to restarts. For most artists, that would spell disaster. But for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, that’s just part of the fun and only adds to the experience, harkening back to their start playing grimy New York City clubs. While they may still have a few of their old rough edges after all these years, they’re razor-sharp during the moments that matter.

One such moment came at the very end of the set. After deep-throating her microphone and moaning into it during the one-song encore (“Date With the Night”), O began swinging it around by the cord and smashing it onto the stage. She then slid it down the front of her dress, pulled it out the crotch of her outfit, and gave it a nice, long seductive lick. She unhooked it, pulled the cord from her dress, and jumped off the stage into the photo pit to hand it directly to one lucky fan. (WRITER’S NOTE: That lucky fan happened to be my much better half and fellow Current contributor Natalia Mendez, so it was extra special for our household!)

Visually, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs set was stunning. The same massive screen that displayed a soft color palette during Perfume Genius’s set now showed much harsher tones. During “Burning,” red and orange embers glowed menacingly on the screen. For “Zero,” it flashed and flickered a staticky display as two giant inflatable eyeballs began bouncing around the crowd. As “Y Control” began, it switched to old photos of the band and artwork from the Fever to Tell era. Finally, during “Heads Will Roll,” the triple Y logo was emblazoned across the entire screen. In addition to the screen, about a dozen angled light bars were positioned all over the stage. Lights of every color danced and shone on them throughout the set. At several points during the show, canons on either side of the stage blasted y-shaped confetti out into the crowd.

The set’s visuals extended to O herself. One of the most iconic parts of a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show is Karen O’s stage outfits, designed by her longtime friend and costume designer Christian Joy. Donning a chunky, shimmering red dress for the first few songs, O later ditched that look for a sparkly purple and yellow fringed outfit for the rest of the show, save for when she put a black leather jacket over it for “Zero.” Completing the purple and yellow look was an equally sparkly belt with a big “KO” on the front. Other flashy accouterments included a glittery red priest vestment she put on during “Sacrilege” and some sheer-looking chain mail material she threw up in the air and caught on her head during “Gold Lion.”

Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs importance and influence can’t be overstated. Not only was the band foundational to the New York City music scene that also birthed the Strokes, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem, but O provided much-needed visibility at a time when most bands were made up entirely of white men. As a half-South Korean woman fronting a rock band, she showed an entire generation of young women, particularly young AAPI women, that they, too, can be rock stars. Her profound impact in that regard can be seen in Japanese Breakfast, the Linda Lindas, Jay Som, and Mitski, to name a few. After Saturday’s all-ages show, who knows how many future rock stars she inspired?

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs Setlist

Spitting Off the Edge of the World (featuring Perfume Genius)

Cheated Hearts

Y Control

Phenomena

Burning

Zero

Fleez

Soft Shock

Lovebomb

Sacrilege

Maps

Gold Lion

Pin

Heads Will Roll

Encore

Date With the Night

Perfume Genius

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Perfume Genius Setlist

Your Body Changes Everything

Without You

Describe

Wreath

On the Floor

Otherside

Slip Away

Eye in the Wall

My Body

Queen