New York based indie-rock band Vampire Weekend performed Wednesday night to a sold out crowd at Ting Pavillion – their first time performing at the venue since 2014. The band performed songs from their newest album “Only God Was Above Us,” a 10-track expedition through their prolific career, which began at Columbia University in 2006. The show was a complete success, condensing their band’s extensive music into an energetic and jubilant two hour set.
Paying homage to their college-band roots, Vampire Weekend made sure to include Charlottesville as a stop on their “Only God Was Above Us” tour. The band is known for their sonically unique aesthetic and sound, which blends preppy Ivy-League elements with Afro and rap inspiration. It is this fusion of influences that made them into one of the most beloved bands to come out of the late 2000s indie rock scene.
Released in April, “Only God Was Above Us” was greeted with glowing critical reviews and immediately earned a place in the hearts of fans, old and new alike. Unique to their discography but filled to the brim with all the same hallmarks and signature sounds we’ve come to know and love, this most recent album is exactly what fans were looking for. This was evident in the response of the Charlottesville audience, who sang and danced throughout all 25 songs of the show.
The tour, like the album, has a nostalgic feel, driven by musical and lyrical references to the band’s history and the older work in their discography. The night’s performance showed the maturation of the members as both musicians and as people.
Set in front of a simplistic black and white backdrop, the show started off with the trio playing a few songs from their first two albums, “Contra” and “Vampire Weekend.”It wasn’t until halfway through the next song, “Ice Cream Piano” — the first track on the band's latest album “Only God Was Above Us” — that the show really began, with the backdrop falling away to reveal a full stage.
“Only God Was Above Us" is a record that represents the process of growing up — for both the band and its listeners — while also recognizing the band's punk rock origins and recalling the rebellious nature of college kids who are desperate to make a mark on the world. This theme was evident through their set design, with the gritty New York scenes projected on the back wall lightening up as the show progressed.
The set was complete with a tour band and filled with New York City motifs reminiscent of the visuals from their latest record. Throughout the show, members of the crew — decked out in bright yellow construction vests — were thrown into the spotlight for energetic dance breaks and incredible violin solos. On a musical level, Vampire Weekend has developed as a band in every aspect, and their live performance reflected that perfectly.
Throughout the night, the crowd cheered just as loud for new hits like “Capricorn” and “Gen-X Cops” as they did for the band’s older songs like “A-Punk” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”. The crowd was extra excited for “Campus,” a hit from Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut album, and University students let go of their usual aversion to the word for a few minutes to soak in the college classic.
The band’s connection with the crowd was electric. Frontman Ezra Koenig’s energy was contagious as he danced around the stage radiating with happiness, and the University’s very own Colin Killalea, instructor in the McIntire Department of Music, stole the show with a glittering saxophone solo that garnered some of the loudest cheers of the night. Alongside Koenig, bassist Chris Baio and drummer Chris Tomson gave stellar performances, and their undeniable chemistry, liveliness and spirit infected the crowd. During the last song on their setlist, “Hope,” all the band’s members had their own moment in the spotlight, each performing a beautiful solo before walking off the stage.
After the setlist, the band came back to hang out with the crowd. They played audience requests — including “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper — for about half an hour before finishing the show with an encore of a few more Vampire Weekend songs. Lively and intimate at the same time, the band’s covers were reminiscent of the shows played by University bands around Grounds, an impressive feat for a well-known band playing a larger venue.
At the night’s end, when the band was saying thank you and goodbye to the crowd, Koenig called back to the band’s last performance in Charlottesville in 2014.
“We promise not to let that much time go by again,” Koenig said.
The crowd answered him with shouts of approval and deafening applause, already eager for the next time Vampire Weekend’s returns to Charlottesville.
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