Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver spine-tingling set on first of two nights at Royal Albert Hall

19 June 2025, 13:47 | Updated: 19 June 2025, 17:51

The NYC indie icons brought their intimate Hidden In Pieces tour to the historic London venue this week.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs continued their Hidden In Pieces tour dates this week, making a stop in the capital for the first of two shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

After a supporting set from Scottish singer-songwriter Jacob Alon, Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase took to the stage at the historic London venue to a thunderous applause.

Addressing the nature of their special stripped-back and string-laden shows, the singer implored fans not feel like they have to hold back, telling the audience: "There's going to be times and going to moments when you might want to get up and move your body... and I just want to say if they seem like the right moments to you, please do that."

Not long after, Karen O was taken up on her offer. After kicking things off with a haunting performance of Blacktop from 2022's Cool It Down LP, the band launched into their much-loved 'oldie' Mystery Girl from their celebrated Bang EP - inducing indie stomps and points across the auditorium.

The walk down memory lane continued, with Gold Lion and Cheated Hearts from their 2006 Show Your Bones album - sandwiched between a cover of Bjork's Hyperballad - both prompting huge singalongs.

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The Hall's iconic setting and the accompaniment of strings only served to highlight the specialness of the night, with the likes of Show Your Bones' Warrior, It's Blitz! single Runaway and Cool It Down's Spitting Off the Edge of the World resounding through the space. A particularly memorable moment saw the band make full use of the venue's legendary pipe organ, which caused the audience to erupt in gasps and cheers.

After singing Mars - which was written for and dedicated to her son Django who was in the audience - Yeah Yeah Yeahs treated fans to a trio of crowd pleasers. 2006's Turn Into had the crowd totally spellbound and their enduring indie lovesong Maps delivered goosebumps galore, while the defiant Y Control from their Fever To Tell debut had the masses out of their seats once more.

Returning for a brief encore, the trio ended their set with Burning from their most recent album and It's Blitz! track Zero, before sending the audience out onto the balmy streets of South Kensington.

Yes, it would have been a real treat to witness a reworking of the likes of Pin or Date With The Night - both favourites from their debut - but the phrase "always keep them wanting more" sprang to mind...

Despite the short-but-sweet set, the Karen O and co answered two very important questions: Are Yeah Yeah Yeahs one of the most important bands to come out of the '00s indie movement? Absolutely. Did they deliver at the Royal Albert Hall last night? Yeah (Yeah, Yeah!).

Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform Maps at the Royal Albert Hall

Yeah Yeah Yeahs play their second and final night at Royal Albert Hall tonight (19th June), before heading back across the pond for dates in North America.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' setlist at Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 18th June:

1. Blacktop
2. Mystery Girl
3. Gold Lion
4. Hyperballad (Björk cover)
5. Cheated Hearts
6. Warrior
7. Skeletons
8. Runaway
9. Spitting Off the Edge of the World
10. Mars
11. Turn Into
12. Maps
13. Y Control

Encore:

14. Burning
15. Zero

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