Yeah Yeah Yeahs Kick Off 25th Anniversary Tour With Rarities, Debuts & More

Yeah Yeah Yeahs played their first concert of 2025 last night at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California. The show was also the band’s first performance of their Hidden In Pieces Tour, celebrating the influential trio’s 25th anniversary.

When Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced the Hidden In Pieces Tour of intimate theaters in North America and the United Kingdom, the band indicated they would play, “songs that are rarely (if ever) performed, alongside all time favorites with new arrangements to delight… and yes there will be acoustic guitars and strings too.” Tuesday’s show – a stateside one-off before the Hidden In Pieces Tour’s U.K. leg begins on June 16 in Manchester, England – delivered on the promise of setlist surprises and auxiliary musicians.

Among those sharing the stage with frontwoman Karen O, guitarist/keyboardist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase was four-piece strings section. Acoustic guitars were employed throughout the performance as well.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs dug into their catalog to bring back songs not played for several years, summoning “Mystery Girl,” “Warrior” and “Isis” from hibernation. The setlist included a cover of “Hyperballad” by Björk and YYYs favorites like “Maps,” “Y Control,” “Runaway,” “Gold Lion” and others.

Three songs received their live debuts during the Riverside show. “Let Me Know,” the B-side to the 2006 “Gold Lion” single, made its premiere. The It’s Blitz! final track, “Little Shadow,” was added to a setlist for the first time as well.

Karen O dedicated the debut performance of “Mars,” from 2022’s Cool It Down, to her son Django. Other songs played last night from their most recent album included the show-opening “Blacktop,” “Burning” and “Spitting Off the Edge of the World.”

The North American leg of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Hidden In Pieces Tour begins on June 26 in San Diego. Watch audience-captured video footage from last night’s tour opener below: