Vampire Weekend
This time last week I went off to see Vampire Weekend at Rough Trade East. They have just released their new album, Contra. They put on a pretty good show. I can’t remember the exact order or content of their set list, but I can remember that, from their new album, they played:
- Horchata
- White Sky
- Holiday
- California English
- Cousins
And from the first album:
- Mansard Roof
- Oxford Comma
- A-Punk
- Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
- M79
- Walcott
Altogether it was a good show. Despite standing quite close to a pillar (the worst support acts of all time SWIDT), I got a good view of the stage. There wasn’t a whole lot that distinguished their show from the album. There weren’t any wild guitar solos or stage dives, but I guess if I wanted that, I’d watch some other genre than alternative rock. Probably the biggest thing to make this a ‘live version’ was the even more exaggerated screaming than usual that Ezra Koenig added to Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (”Is your bed MAAAAIED, is your sWET-eR oOOoon”).
The worst thing about the show was undoubtedly the fact that they turned up an hour late. Let’s just establish something right now…
You’re a flippin’ indie band! People aren’t seeing you because you define their teenage existence or something. They’re seeing you because they like the sound of your music. If you’re going to turn up an hour late and your audience isn’t jumping around and screaming when you arrive (which they weren’t), consider providing them with deck chairs.
I managed to track down some video of the band and was really impressed, I am now on the hunt for more. One day I hope to be able to go and see them live in concert. Pity they were a bit late arriving at your venue but I guess the wait was not too bad.