Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Live in Concert: NPR Music's SXSW 2013 Showcase

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Live in Concert: NPR Music's SXSW 2013 Showcase with tags yeah yeah yeahs, stubbs, npr, south by southwest, south by southwest 2013, npr music

00:00 - "Under the Earth"

4:10 - "Gold Lion"

7:50 - "Sacrilege"

11:50 - "Heads Will Roll"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O pulls off one of the trickiest maneuvers in rock 'n' roll: the ability to appear utterly bonkers on stage while remaining in control of every chaotic outburst. The woman knows how to make an entrance, too: She emerged on stage at Stubb's in Austin — for the band's sole appearance at SXSW 2013 — clad in canary yellow, sporting a sparkly fez, giant eyeglasses, and a glittering scarf.

Mixing classics from throughout the Yeah Yeah Yeahs catalog with never-before-played morsels from the forthcoming Mosquito, the New York band cleared plenty of space for its singer, and she didn't disappoint. The result was art-rock where each side of the equation actually complemented the other: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' strangeness unfolds in pursuit of something blistering and primal, but there's also room for songs that wander quietly through meandering interludes and dark alleys. It's rock 'n' roll that rocks fiercely — and, on songs like the anthemic ballad "Maps," with genuine emotion — but it never loses sight of its own boundless capacity to surprise. -- STEPHEN THOMPSON

CREDITS

Producers: Mito Habe-Evans, Robin Hilton, Amy Schriefer

Technical Director: Kevin Wait

Event Coordinator: Saidah Blount

Assistant Producer: Denise DeBelius

Videographers: Christopher Farber, Katie Hayes Luke, A.J. Wilhelm

Audio Engineering by Metro Mobile

Production Assistants: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Ryan Smith

Special Thanks to: Stubb's and South By Southwest

Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann, Keith Jenkins