Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Marky Ramone and Others Covered Prince, Bowie, Lou, and Iggy

If you’re kicking yourself for having missed Bruce doing “Purple Rain” at Barclays Center, let this further fuel your regret for having stayed in this weekend: Friday’s afterparty for the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Shot!, a new Vice documentary about legendary rock photographer Mick Rock, was one for the record books.

Not only did the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play for the first time in a couple of years, but Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Kristin Kontrol of Dum Dum Girls, and Sky Ferreira also covered songs by David Bowie, Lou Reed and the Velvets, Blondie, Roxy Music– and, yes, Prince. At one point, Marky Ramone even jumped in on the drums to do justice to the oh-so au-currant Ramones. The night at Electric Room in the Dream Hotel ended with Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello doing Iggy Pop (he must’ve gotten inspiration when he shared a bill with Iggy at the Tibet House concert.)

As “The Man Who Shot the ’70s,” Mick Rock is closely associated with the rock-n-roll troika of Bowie, Lou, and Iggy — in fact, he has shot album covers or music videos for each of them and published entire books dedicated to them as well (the Bowie one, just released by Taschen, is mindblowing).

We’ll have more on the Rock doc later, but for now here’s our source’s report from the scene:

First up was Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who reunited just for the set at this event.

Then Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio front man, who also does vocals on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Dragon Queen”). He did a few incredible covers, opening with “Walk on the Wild Side.” [He also nodded to Prince with a cover of “When You Were Mine.”]

Marky Ramone dominated the drums for a brief but memorable set, followed by two fairly underwhelming celebrity karaoke acts, including Sky Ferreira (looking the Debbie Harry part – odd, because Debbie Harry was in attendance) who sang the worst version of Bowie’s “Rock ‘N Roll Suicide” I’ve ever heard – hence no pictures from this part of the night.

Karen O returned in her silver jumpsuit for more mic swallowing while her husband Barney Clay filmed at her side (he directed Shot! and that evening seemed to be channeling a kind of Andy Warhol Lou Reed love child vibe). You can see him creeping on the edge of the stage in all the pictures, filming continuously.

Finally, Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello tore it up as per usual, mounting the stage and crowd, etc. while covering Iggy’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in a perfect sweaty conclusion.

And the set list:

Moonage Daydream -Karen O
Perfect Day – Karen O
Walk on the Wild Side – Tunde Adebimpe
Rebel Rebel – Tunde Adebimpe
I Wanna Be Sedated – Tunde Adebimpe (w/Marky Ramone)
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker – Karen O (w/Marky Ramone)
Rock n Roll Suicide – Sky Ferreira
I’ll Be Your Mirror – Sky Ferreira
One Way or Another – Kristin Kontrol
Love Is the Drug – Kristin Kontrol
When You Were Mine – Tunde Adebimpe
Date With the Night – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I Wanna Be Your Dog – Eugene Hutz
Search and Destroy – Eugene Hutz