This past Friday I had the honor of knocking off one of my bucket list concerts – Vampire Weekend! It was the most hipster crowd I have ever been a part of, and more bucket hats than I’m comfortable with, but it was a great time.
The opening band, Chicano Batman, was not really up my alley, but the crowd who assembled early were clearly fans, and clearly satisfied with their set – good on them. Not much time passed with set-up and soon Vampire Weekend took the stage with a host of additional instrumentalists (necessary), and a giant, slow-rotating globe (also necessary). Clearly this tour was meant to focus on their latest release, Father of the Bride, and the crowd was all about it. I myself, not being a huge fan of the folksy edge this record had, was a little disappointed with the 29-song set list. They didn’t even play “Oxford Comma!”
Overall though, I couldn’t deny the magic of Ezra Koenig’s vocals and the goofiest dance moves I’ve ever seen by bassist Chris Baio. The crowd was obviously a cult for Vampire Weekend’s yacht-rock aesthetic, and they bee-bopped along to every song in unison. Three gentlemen in front of me were drunk-swaying and belting out the lyrics to every song. It was very inspiring. There were about seven songs during the encore, one of which was a cover of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” while three others were crowd requested by the fans in the bucket hats (yikes).
While I was sad that I didn’t hear old hits like “Giving Up the Gun” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” I did like the mix from the newest record that got some play, like my favorite tune “Stranger” and “How Long?” For a five-year hiatus, and a bucket list concert, I was definitely pleased with the evening!