Live Review
Vampire Weekend – Carling Academy, Liverpool
It’s a testament to a bands current mass popularity when the crowd sing along to the opening number before the first lyric has even been uttered – either that or testament to the simple singalongability of the songs, and with Vampire Weekend I suspect its probably a bit of both. As the first organ notes ring out from opener Mansard Roof, lead man Ezra Koenig is barely audible over the mass singing, immediately conveying a rapport with those gathered in front. Having entered the stage to an intro of some fat hip-hop beats it’s clear this band doesn’t base themselves on your normal rock sensibilities, but having bashed their way through the opening song convey a stage presence that belies this fact. Chris Baio on bass jerks and twists to the beats while Chris Tomson gives the drums a mighty thumping.
It’s Vampire Weekend’s first ever appearance in the capital of pop, and Ezra shows he’s done his homework by pronouncing “Hey Liverpool, its great to be here for music week”, before kicking into Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. Once again the appreciative audience join in with “feel so unnatural, Peter Gabriel too”. It’s a bright start, but it’s I Stand Corrected where the set feels like it’s really going. Rostam Batmanglij’s eerie keyboard intro provides the suitable backdrop to Ezra’s almost haunting vocals before the thumping drums kick in with Chris B’s euro-dance-esc bass line. Chris twists and turns as the heads bop and pogo in front, and the progressive break beat breakdowns of the song provide the drive nicely.
The African flavour returns with a rendition of Bryn, this time prompting cries of “do-da do-da la-da-da” in time to the catchy guitar lick. Its all so bright and cheery, it belies the fact we’re stood in a dark cold room on a bitter October evening. Campus gives food for thought to all the students packed into the room this evening – its not quite Liverpool Community College now is it – but in this setting we can all dream of Columbia campus.
Onto section two of the gig apparently as Ezra announces that the rest of the set will turn his immaculately pressed shirt “from light blue to dark blue”. Well there’ no better way to do that than kick into the fast paced ska overtones of A-punk – I think that shirt’s halfway there already.
With everyone now suitable whipped up, Ezra openly encourages everyone to join in their high-pitched parts for Blake’s got A New Face and the “woooohhh” wail in M79, the Disney-esc tale of public transport in New York – I think I’ll shout that next time I’m waiting in the cold at the bus stop for the 86 to Garston. It takes on a much rawer sound on the stage than the string dominated recording of the album.
The drum of Oxford Comma signals the closing song of the regular set and the band deliver a fine rendition. For such a simple song – drums, bass, keyboard and occasional guitar, the sound is full and meaty and a fitting closer to the regular set.
Moving on to the usual pre-determined encore, and as the guys trudge back on stage, I wonder if the crowd realise their own irony when the biggest cheer of the night goes up to the announcement from Ezra that the first song of the encore is “written by someone else” – in fact written by Fleetwood Mac. Played in testament to music week they break into their popular cover of Everywhere, and a sensible move it is indeed, showing their versatility to provide a good old party song when you feel like it.
Those who hadn’t seen Vampire Weekend before were no doubt running through the album track list in their heads trying to figure out what that one thing missing is– of course its Walcott – the tongue in cheek tale of leaving Cape Cod, and its this song that really shows Vampire Weekend’s true colours best. Despite the lazy images in the music media about being tucked up safely in bed with a cup of Horlicks, there’s still a certain punky sensibility to this band, a raw and youthful energy portrayed so brilliantly on stage without actually needed to revert to a pre-planned stage invasion.
While there’s no doubt Vampire Weekend are a band suited to lazy summer afternoons spent in sunny fields, they somehow maintain an attitude to performance that invokes a good feeling in a medium sized indoor venue like this. The song remains raw and powerful in message and sound – “the holy roman empire roots for you” perhaps reflecting the uncertain current implications of the American dream, it’s the kind of epic song that two albums down the line would see an extravagant steel drum band and string section crammed onto the stage alongside a Manhattan community choir.
Ezra finishes by committing to return to Liverpool after the next album when “America will have a new president and everything will be ok” in return for a promise from everyone to return the favour, I’m sure it’s a promise most will be happy to keep.
Vampire Weekend was part of the MTV Liverpool Music Week, the UK’s largest indoor winter music festival which continues until tomorrow night around the city. For more information on all the gigs visit [link]>