After seeing the New York “Upper West Side Soweto” four piece three times over the summer, I have finally fallen for them. Their self-titled debut is so refreshingly different in the times of generic, guitar fuelled indie where anyone can get radio play, providing they don’t dare to experiment. However, having only one album, the task of laying to a sell out crowd (touts were selling tickets for £40 outside the gig) at Sheffield’s still relatively new Carling Academy, is a tricky one.
Support comes from an American duo who’s name I can’t recall, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Imagine tonight’s main entertainment minus the guitar, drums, bass and (sometimes too) clever lyrics and you’re pretty much there. Following them are Animal Kingdom, who start of with an Editors-esque epic indie ballad but they quickly fade into a string of heavily Sigur Rós influenced prog-indie. Still, they aren’t bad, if a little dragging.
Vampire Weekend themselves open, as their album does, with Mansard Roof, which is quickly followed by a host of album tracks, plus a couple of b-sides and a new track. Biggest cheer of the night (predictably) comes as singer Ezra announces we are moving into the more upbeat “part 2” of the show and the band kick into the soon to be re-released A-Punk. Other highlights include album tracks Campus and M79 as well as latest single Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, which is apparently about Yorkshire, “liberally speaking” of course.
It’s surprising that a band with so few tracks would bother doing an encore, but the band depart after a mass sing-along to Oxford Comma. They return quickly and start back up with a well-received cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere and finally wrapping up the night with my personal favourite album track, Walcott, which gets arguably the most physical response from the crowd, everyone jumps along as the band thrash themselves into silence and depart.
Playing such big venues off the back of just one album is a challenge to say the least but Vampire Weekend, helped by the mesmerising bopping around the stage of Ezra, not only hold the audience interested, but captivated. A well thought out set list, with the singles positioned well. They are helped by the crowd clearly being packed with fans of the whole album, not just the tracks Radio 1 has played, as is unfortunately found at many a gig these days. The call and response part in album track One (Blake’s Got A New Face) is met with much enthusiasm and the chorus line is shouted back at full volume.
You can’t help but wonder if they should have played a smaller venue, the short length of the set would definitely have suited it better. However, tonight the Academy was as packed and into it as I’ve seen it (with the possible exception of Milburn’s last gig in May) and the NYC (“the Yorkshire of the USA” Ezra announces to much applause) succeed better than more accomplished, better supported bands have.
Vampire Weekend Played:
Mansard Roof
Campus
Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa
I Stand Corrected
White Sky
Bryn
Ladies Of Cambridge
A-Punk
One (Blake’s Got A New Face)
M79
The Kid’s Don’t Stand A Chance
(new one)
Oxford Comma
Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
Walcott
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