Opening with the muscular licks and ringing car alarms of “Phenomena,” the Yeahs grabbed the audience with their most anthemic stadium rocker to date and continued to draw blood with “Black Tongue” and its classic epithet, “Boy you’re just a stupid bitch and girl you’re just a no-good dick!” The crunched out “Honeybear,” arguably the best song on the new album, featured trippy breaks and a galloping chorus that had the singer gamely writhing on the floor by song’s end, urging someone in a small town to “Run away!” The charming “Mysteries” sounded, oddly enough, like a tribute to that other New York band (boy models, used to be the shit, rhymes with “jokes”) until it eventually broke down into disarray and mournful screams about “stress!” The new wave shimmer of “Cheated Hearts,” a sweetly sincere paean to missed opportunities, was perfectly punctured by the chorus, “I think that I’m bigger than the sound,” perhaps a nod to the singer’s new attitude.

Slowing down for three ballads, Brian Chase broached the spotlight on the rhythmic “Turn Into” and an acoustic, slightly cloying, rendition of the old favorite, “Maps” was the first encore. A bit too drippy for its own good, the stripped-down tones of “Warrior” had Ms. O mooning over the mic with the line, “Men, they like me cuz I’m a warrior.” Just when it seemed the mood of serious introspection threatened to put a damper on things, the band went out with a bang, ending the show with “Tick,” a hilarious freakout from the older “Fever to Tell,” about impatiently watching and waiting while someone else gets dressed. This nugget showcased the best of the Yeahs’ asskicking, distortion-heavy sound, and the most memorable of the singer’s pissed off, bawdy lyrics, as she screamed into the mic, “You look like shit!” I miss the old Karen.