Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Karen O's Godliness Explained

Let us begin with a bold assertion: Karen O is the best frontwoman in contemporary rock music.

Indeed, she possess a whole mess of unique quirks and characteristics that set her apart from her peers, and she held nothing back at last night's concert at Toronto's Kool Haus.

Here are some of the things that you just have to love about Karen O and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' live show:

Movement:
In modern indie rock, many bands seem to find moving difficult or even downright bothersome, and therefore simply bury their faces in their microphones and stare at their Chucks. But not Karen O — no sir, this woman has the energy of turbine jet engine, flying from one corner of the stage to the next, never ceasing her travels for more than a few seconds at a time.

Posing:
Karen O knows as soon as she steps on stage all eyes are on her. (Apologies to guitarists Nick Zinner and Imaad Wasif and drummer Brian Chase — you played the hell out of your songs, but you're no visual match for your valiant leader).

The beautiful Karen O makes the best of her time in the spotlight, and regularly holds elaborate poses for all of the relentless wannabe-photographers snapping pictures on their BlackBerrys. One can assume there's a teeming heap of blurry snapshots of Karen O being posted on Twitter right now.

She Plays What She Wants:
Is she a punk-rock grrl or a dance-club hipster? I don't know, but I feel like if you try and label her she might dropkick you in the mouth.

The set included a number of the more raucous numbers off 2003's Fever To Tell and 2006's Show Your Bones, including "Y Control" and "Gold Lion," but the hard-rockers never seemed out of place against the shiny new dance tracks like "Heads Will Roll," off this year's incredible It's Blitz!.

Live, both old and new material took a middle ground — it's loud and often abrasive, but it's so damn danceable you couldn't possibly stand still. It's a sound only Yeah Yeah Yeahs could produce.

Leather:
Only a person with true 'tude would dare sport a heavy leather jacket in the sweltering sweat-box that is the Kool Haus. But as Blitz's lead single, "Zero," set the audience into a dancing frenzy, Karen O appeared from off-stage wearing her signature K.O. jacket, complete with studs and rhinestones. Badass much?

Hideous Clothing Choices:
Karen O wore a shirt that looked like a kindergarten student went to town on it with the fingerpaints and some of the most fabulous neon green, tiger print spandex tights you've ever seen, and she likely inspired a new fashion trend marked by horrific clashing.

Fortunately, she can pull off even the worst fashion faux pas with ease — I'm eager to see if any of last night's fans will ever succeed in looking so good while dressed so badly.

Spitting:
Ozzy Osbourne may have spit out a bat's head on stage, but Karen O makes due with water and beer. Massive, geyser-like sprays drenched her and her bandmates periodically throughout the set. Staying hydrated is always a good idea, but you might as well look killer while doing it.

Swallowing:
Since spitting doesn't get the same crowd response it once used to, Karen O has opted to swallow. Screaming out an entire verse of "Pin" with a microphone shoved in her mouth was enough to elicit the desired response. There's nothing like a little phallic imagery to get an audience moving.

Being Dizzy:
Since being unstable and liable to collapse at any moment is so hot right now (see every Hollywood star over the age of 14), Karen O routinely took to spinning around like a windmill for extended periods of time. At one point it looked as though she was going to pass out, but she didn't. Kudos to her and her terrific sense of balance.

Smiling:
It may be cool to be pretentious these days, but Karen O whole-heartedly disagrees. It was plain to see she was having an incredibly good time while on stage, beaming from ear to ear as she mingled with her band members and stared deeply into the audience. As it turns out, actually having fun is more fun than pretending not to be having fun.

"Maps":
The token slow-song off Fever To Tell is downright beautiful. Accompanied only by Zinner's woozy acoustic guitar and the voices from thousands of singing fans, Karen's vocals were the utmost stirring. While the track came in the middle of the set, it could have easily worked as the night's ender.

Confetti:
Coldplay aren't the only band that uses confetti, you know. As an encore performance of "Date With The Night" came to a close, Karen O unleashed a downpour of red foil Ys, spawned by a deft butt-drop onto a trigger at the front of the stage, upon the audience. The exit from Kool Haus was crowded with contented people adorned with the markings of a rock 'n' roll goddess.

Here's what Yeah Yeah Yeah's played:

"Runaway"
"Rich"
"Dull Life"
"Gold Lion"
"Heads Will Roll"
"Skeletons"
"Honeybear"
"Maps" (Acoustic)
"Soft Shock"
"Pin"
"Zero"

Encore:
"Y Control"
"Cheated Hearts"
"Art Star"
"Date With The Night"