The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Perfume Genius at Marymoor Park

They’re back! After years of hiatus the Yeah Yeah Yeahs made their glorious return to a Seattle stage. (Well, Marymoor Park in Redmond, but it counts!) The sun was shining, and the stage quickly filled up with eager fans waiting to be graced by epic hits from the band’s new album, Cool It Down, and if you’re like me, classic anthems like “Maps,” and “Heads Will Roll” (spoiler alert, they played ‘em all), and it was amazing. The band, led by the legendary front woman, Karen O played a sixteen song setlist which given years of hiatus still felt too short—I say this out of love for the band, I could bask in the band’s entire discography front to back forever.

The show started off with Perfume Genius, who grew up in Seattle. He dazzled and charmed the audience; many were thrilled to see him on the bill. His latest record, Ugly Season, is a beautiful disaster of songs carefully crafted into a masterpiece. By the end of his set, he had wrapped himself with stage props, pulled up a chair to sit and sing, stubbornly pulled on his microphone cord until there was nothing left, and randomly knocked over his band’s microphone stands. It’s always a show and a marvelous live and we always recommend catching him perform.

Then it was time for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to take the stage. One of many wonderful moments of the show was when they played their first single off of Cool It Down, titled “Spitting off the Edge of the World.” In prior tour dates, the band toured with different openers but concluded the last five shows with Perfume Genius, a guest vocalist on the album’s single. This was a particularly special treat for fans knowing we would inevitably witness the song live with both artists. As the lights dimmed and the band took the stage, the song’s grand opening synth notes reverberated throughout the park and we were graced with a second appearance from Perfume Genius singing alongside Karen O, epic only begins to describe it—love a good collab.

The encore turned into a special moment as Karen O was having some sound issues and decided to perform “Poor Song,” a cappella for us. It was a highlight of the night. They finished on a high note with “Y Control,” and “Date With the Night,” as everyone danced to the beat. We really didn’t want any of this to end but we’re so grateful we got to finally see them perform. Karen O was born to be onstage; she completely devours every moment creating pure magic.

Photos and words: Eric Tra @erictra