Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ O2 Academy, 4 Dec

With the Yeah Yeah Yeahs it can be hard to cut through the fashion and get to the music. The queue outside buzzes mostly with conversations about Karen O’s haircut, and it's true that when the NYC trio take the stage – tonight a quartet, with a helping hand from David Pajo – she is as much entertainer as musician. Resplendent in her animal print leotard, she takes the audience by the hand like a sexy Mary Poppins leading a child down a busy street. The set mixes new hits like Dull Life and Zero with classics like Y Control and early EP number Miles Away. New songs feel rawer than their synth-heavy album versions, with Nick Zinner’s guitar licking the audience’s eardrums on Heads Will Roll, demonstrating how much they owe to their garage roots. By the opening riff of Date With the Night, asymmetrical haircuts are forgotten, superseded by an urgent bassline, riveting drumbeat and overwhelming sense of enormous fun. [Kristina Johansen]