Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Metreon, San Francisco, CA
March 15, 2004

Thanks to our Popscene/Aaron Axelson connections, we swung tickets for the 100 person Yeah Yeah Yeahs studio session at the Metreon, starting at 7pm. We arrived at 5:30pm and had dinner, just like old times, at the Firewood Cafe. We got in line around 6pm, behind 3 or 4 high school kids. Come 6:45 there were only maybe ten people in line total, making me feel a bit of a tool for standing there for an hour. The kids in front of us were nice enough. We got on the subject of cameras in venues, and i mentioned that Veronica had been forced to check in her phone cam at the Warfield once. They asked us what show that was, and i immediately realized that i would sound like an old fart if i admitted we had been there for the A Mighty Wind tour. Veronica blurted it out though ... damn i felt old. Anyhoo, we got ushered in at 6:50 and sat down in the second row. For a high-energy rock band like the YYY, i thought it a bit odd that there were three stools at the front of the theater (no stage, really). And no drum kit either. Turns out the performance was just Karen O singing and Nick playing a six string acoustic ... more Cat Power than girl power. The drummer got to sit around drinking water. They played "Maps", a excellent cover of Björk's "Hyper-Ballad", and two songs i didn't recognize. Very good, if only twenty minutes long. The mood was tainted a bit by some moron who heckled the band continually. Karen looked uncomfortable enough already (perhaps coerced into this show by their management, an unfortunate side effect of hitting it big?) but this guy was unbearable. Before their last song she finally had security get rid of him. Good riddance.

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