Live Recap: Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Sasami at Northerly Island
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sasami kicked off June with a show at Northerly Island in Chicago this past Thursday night.
With the sun still shining and the Chicago skyline in the background, Sasami and her band took the stage to warm up the crowd for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Sasami quickly ramped up the energy throughout the venue with her animated stage presence, dancing and between-song banter as she performed some songs from her 2022 album entitled Squeeze. At one point in her set, Sasami joked she was playing a new song called “Chicago Ate My Asshole”— which obviously got a lot of cheers and laughter from the crowd.
Fans continued to file into the outdoor venue, and eventually it was time for Yeah Yeah Yeahs to hit the stage. With the lights dim, the band members made their way onstage as strobing lights sent out small bursts of lighting before fully illuminating lead singer Karen O and her shimmering attire. The band opened the show up with the cinematic single “Spitting Off The Edge of the World” from their 2022 album Cool It Down before moving into the more tenured track “Cheated Hearts.”
“We’re gonna fucking party like it’s Thursday Night,” Karen O told the crowd early on in the set; a statement that was met with loud cheers and dancing from the packed audience. The singer also shared that she recently recovered from “the plague” so her voice might crack a little, but her energy and vocals remained resilient throughout the entire show.
The only time the energy mellowed out was when Karen O mentioned they were going to slow it down a bit to play “Lovebomb,” another newer song their last album. The band perfectly transitioned out of the song into the adored and familiar introduction to their hit “Maps,” which received an immediate eruption in screams from the audience. The energy continued to climb for the last portion of the show, with everyone dancing to “Heads Will Roll” to close out the main part of the set. The night fully wrapped with a 3- song encore, all of which were featured on 2003’s Fever To Tell album.
Check out photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch Yeah Yeah Yeahs on tour next here.
