Yeah Yeah Yeahs

21st Century Appearences: 2009 Main Stage, 2006 Main Stage, 2003 Radio One Stage

The Defining Reading Moment: Karen O gets her leather on for a triumphant reading of “Zero” in 2009.

We’ve seen lots of cynical stunts and crowd engagement ploys over the years at Reading, but when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs allowed three look alike fans to take the stage in their stead in 2006, it felt entirely genuine. Karen O is so endearing, and wore such a broad smile, that you can’t help but feel that her, and her band’s, kookiness is entirely genuine.

2006 was an absolute mess, out of tune, full of faltering vocals and bemusing as all hell, but not one person in the audience cared, because it was a glorious spectacle. Capes worn over heads, mad dancing took place in the mud, as the YYYs exuded more energy and enthusiasm than the rest of the main stage combined could muster. Karen O was practically a shaman, leading the crowd in dance as she croaked her way through “A Date With The Night”, “Pins”, “Cheated Hearts” and “Gold Lion”. It was a magical set, that everyone in attendance was destined to remember, even if their sole thought continues to be: “What the fuck was that?”

In 2009 the ship had been steadied, the YYYs were smoother, sleeker and sexier than ever before, and while “Heads Will Roll” and “Zero” proved entirely irresistible, I will always cherish the memory of that anarchic clusterfuck of a band who wreaked bemusing havoc in 2006. David Hayter.