Markie Live Tunage: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

with Blood On the Walls--Paramount Theater, Seattle, 4/25/06 The openers were a faithful noise trio with a terrific bass player, a barely-audible guitarist, and a male lead singer who sounded a little bit like Fred from Dead Moon. I admire the headliners for spending most of the set on the new album, which came alive better in concert than on the album. And while I've always kind of liked Nick Zinner's guitar heroics, this show was the first time I really got Karen O. She's got one hell of a rock and roll voice, and she has star power to burn. (The live version of "Maps" was like a bullet through my heart.) But the show was short--an hour before (fairly generous) encores--I wish they'd included one or two more Fever to Tell kamikaze ravers like "Black Tongue," "Y Control," and "Pin" because I could tell how explosive they must have been the first time they played Seattle in '02.