img src= http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/20070908yeahYeahYeahs.jpg title= YYY class= blogPhoto Well just wow. br / br / It's kind of ironic that I'd leave a concert/party sponsored by cosmetics and fragrances looking like I'd been through a hurricane and smelling like I'd been bathing in the sweat of a thousand sweaty people but so it was last night after seeing the A href= http://www.yeahyeahyeahs.com target= new title= YYY Yeah Yeah Yeahs /a absolutely demolish the Berkeley Church. An rsvp-only sort of private but not really after party, presumably to coincide with the Toronto International Film Fest, the so-called Festival Ball was not what I expected. The interior of the converted church bore almost no advertising (save for a couple logos projected on the back wall) and there wasn't any of the hard-sell marketing I'd have thought unavoidable. Instead, there was just a room of showgoers (and I didn't spot a single celeb though I heard Jessica Alba was in the house) and a two hour plus wait for things to get underway. Happily, free drinks help the time go by. br / br / The band finally took the stage around 11:20 and the place just went apeshit. Every celebrity in town for TIFF could have been in attendance and no one would have noticed - all eyes were on Karen O. Far and away the most insanely riveting and charismatic frontwoman I've ever seen, she was feral and ferocious, a dervish in spandex and tinsel, seemingly oblivious to the crowd and lost in the music one moment and then feeding off the audience's love like her life depended on it the next. I'm sure their live show has been deconstructed by a million and one critics before, but I'm a relatively recent convert and this was my first time seeing them so allow me to gush. Being a corporate gig, I had expected in the back of my mind that they might phone it in a bit but no - everyone on the floor was a fan through and through (or would be by the end of the set) and the band seemed to thrive in the club-like atmosphere. br / br / They tore through 14-song set that covered both albums and EPs and though I have no idea where they got the energy - I was completely spent from fighting to maintain front row position from all the moshers and crowd surfers - they still came out for a four-song encore that didn't let the intensity up a bit. I left soaked to the bone with sweat, tears, spit, water, beer and gin and utterly exhausted and exhilarated, with a bag of cosmetics and a copy of a href= http://www.viceland.com/ target= new title= Vice i Vice /i /a (the marketers were camped outside) and quite possibly utterly ruined for a href= Http://www.virginfestival.ca/toronto target= new title= V Fest V Fest /a this weekend. I sorta kid - I'm still really looking forward to the next couple days - but that Yeah Yeah Yeahs show was simply not one could or should be followed. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/concertPhotos.php?concertID=501 y=2007 title= Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Berkeley Church - September 7, 2007 Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Berkeley Church - September 7, 2007 /a br / strong MP3: /strong a href= http://mp3.insound.com/download.php?mp3id=1004 filetype=.mp3 title= Bang Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Bang /a br / strong Video: /strong a href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=SYJjHCZN46U target= new title= Maps Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (YouTube) /a br / strong Video: /strong a href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=f8cw-bFpqyM target= new title= Gold Lion Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion (YouTube) /a br / strong Video: /strong a href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=YkFg0CgCxw8 target= new title= Cheated Hearts Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts (YouTube) /a br / strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs target= new title= YYY Yeah Yeah Yeahs /a br / br / And some last-minute V Fest dispatches - a href= http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/E/Editors/2007/09/07/4477624-sun.html target= new title= JAM! vs Editors JAM! /a talks to A href= http://www.editorsofficial.com target= new title= Editors Editors /a , who close the Future Shop stage tomorrow night. a href= http://www.spinner.com/artists/the-interface/voxtrot target= new title= Spinner vs Voxtrot Spinner's Interface /a features A href= http://www.voxtrot.net target= new title= Voxtrot Voxtrot /a , appearing on same stage today, and A href= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003636722 target= new title= Billboard vs Bjork i Billboard /i /a reports that tonight's headliner a href= Http://www.bjork.com target= new title= Bjork Bjork /a is hoping to release a live studio session album featuring her current band before the year's end. A href= http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=75d8bcb5-5559-439c-8529-f5f17b8da090 target= new title= Montreal Gazette vs STars i The Montreal Gazette /i /a talks to a href= Http://www.arts-crafts/stars target= new title= Stars Stars /A , who're playing tomorrow and who are doing a free show at MTV.ca on Tuesday - a href= http://www.mtv.ca/mtvlive/tickets.jhtml target= new title= MTV Live ticket info here /a . And that mystery 5PM slot for today has been filled. Who had a href= http://www.kidkoala.com/ target= neW title= Kid Koala Kid Koala /A in the pool? No one? Yeah. React as you see fit. br / br / Ellipsis-fetishist a href= http://www.arts-crafts.ca/kevindrew/ target= new title= Kevin Drew Kevin Drew /a will bring his Spirit If orchestra to Lee's Palace on September 27. Tickets are USD25 and on sale now. a href= http://search.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?p=INS37644 target= new title= Spirit If i Spirit If /i /a is out September 18. There's a video. br / br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZW3BN_nwpzc target= new title= Backed Out On The Kevin Drew - Backed Out On The (YouTube) /a br / br / For Southern Ontario/western New York fans of A href= http://www.americanmary.com target= new title= The National The National /a , take note that they've added a show in Buffalo at the Traf on October 9, the day after their show at the Phoenix in Toronto. a href= http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/695025.html target= new title= News-Observer vs The National i The News-Observer /i /a talks to bassist Aaron Dessner and A href= http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/ENT02/709070314/1005/ENT target= new title= Tallahassee Democrat vs The National i The Tallahassee Democrat /i /a interviews singer Matt Berninger. br / br / A href= http://www.builttospill.com target= neW title= BTS Doug Martsch /a tells a href= http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/0906builttospill0907.html target= new title= AZ Central vs BTS AZ Central /a that there's much more building and spilling left in the tank. ...read full story