Concert Reviews

Vampire Weekend treated the Boston crowd to a playful, energetic, career-spanning set in support of their recent album “Only God Was Above Us.”

When the three members of Vampire Weekend—vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, and drummer Chris Tomson—took the stage inside Boston’s TD Garden Friday night, they did so in a decidedly minimalist manner. Playing in front of a black backdrop bearing only the band’s name, clad in shades of white and gray, the trio tears through three hits from early in its catalog: “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “Holiday,” and “I Stand Corrected.” While the energy inside the arena is high from the beginning, in some ways the set does not truly start until partway through the fourth song.

As Koenig hits the second verse of “Ice Cream Piano,” the opening track from this year’s acclaimed “Only God Was Above Us,” the black backdrop falls to the stage and reveals a dizzying scene. A full touring band outfitted with keyboards, another drum set, saxophones, a pedal steel guitar, and more, adorned with yellow construction tape in front of an abstract recreation of a New York City subway tunnel. The song kicks into high gear, the few members of the crowd still sitting jump to its feet, and stagehands in bright yellow construction vests with the words “VW Tunnel Crew” emblazoned on them swarm the stage. 

What follows is a kaleidoscopic, joyful, two-hour-plus celebration of Vampire Weekend’s 18-year career. It is coolly confident and whimsically varied, with an aching sincerity that pokes through the veneer of a posh Northeastern elitism. It is simply Vampire Weekend, distilled down to the band’s purest form. 

The band then jumps into a lovely rendition of “Classical” made all the more fun when a purported stage hand whips off his vest and dances in the center of the stage during a saxophone solo. 

“Baby, I know pain is as natural as the rain, I just thought it didn’t rain in California,” Koenig laments on “This Life,” from 2019’s “Father of the Bride.” It’s a highlight of the set that elicits a strong crowd reaction and ushers in what Koenig describes as “phase three” of the show. 

The subway tunnel set is replaced by a close-up image of a man wearing eclipse glasses, staring into the sky. Here, Vampire Weekend’s set ascends from the grime and haze of New York to something brighter and looser. Alongside the band we too gaze at the sun, out West to California. Two other “Father of the Bride” hits,“Sunflower” and “Sympathy,” are given extended, jam-filled treatments. “New Dorp. New York,” a 2014 SBTRKT song featuring Koenig, is a fun, funky surprise that offers the frontman a chance to showcase his vocal dexterity. 

Koenig introduces “Run” from 2010’s “Contra” as something the band doesn’t play much, save for special occasions. “Campus” is a big hit with the crowd—scores of elder millennials seemingly relive its lovelorn younger days by shouting along the chorus: “How am I supposed to pretend I never want to see you again?”

“Oxford Comma” gets an even bigger reaction. Afterward, Koenig reflects on the band’s journey. He tells the audience that Vampire Weekend first played the song in the Boston area in 2007 at the Middle East in Cambridge. The small Central Square club is a far cry from the packed Garden, he says. 

“Capricorn” temporarily takes the energy down a level, before “Gen-X Cops” brings it back up with flashing red and blue lights and a wailing guitar that sounds like a police siren bearing down on the band. The rollicking, rockabilly “Diane Young” maintains the momentum. 

The crowd goes ballistic for “A-Punk,” perhaps the band’s most well-known song. “One more time? For the great city of Boston?” Koenig asks afterward. They play it in its entirety one more time. 

The tender “Hannah Hunt” is dedicated to anyone who drove up from Providence, and “Harmony Hall” to anyone in the crowd who was attending its first concert ever. 

Koenig tells the audience that this is “truly one of the best shows of the year so far.” He once again reflects on the band’s early days, saying that one of the biggest questions they were asked was why a young band from Manhattan was singing about Cape Cod so much. “Massachusetts is one of the 17 ingredients in the Vampire Weekend proprietary blend,” Koenig jokes, before asking if anyone at the show was a year-round Cape Cod resident. “Be kind to them during the summer,” he tells everyone else. 

Vampire Weekend ended its set with “Hope,” the nearly eight-minute paean to acceptance that concludes “Only God Was Above Us.” The song winds down as, one by one, the band members exit the stage. It’s a dramatic flourish that gives the audience the chance to individually applaud each musician. The song is deconstructed in real time, until only Baio remains, plucking the bass alone. 

Then he follows his bandmates where they went: into the heart of the subway tunnel, back to the depths of New York. “The moving train accelerates, It’s always fast and always late, It never leaves the Empire State, I hope you let it go,” Koenig sings.

After a brief break, the band comes back out for a special encore. While touring “Father of the Bride,” Koenig says, they asked audience members for requests of Vampire Weekend songs to play during its encores. This time around, they are asking for requests of anything except Vampire Weekend Songs. 

They play snippets of a wide variety of hits, from George Michael’s “Faith” to “Rock Lobster” from The B-52’s. Local touches are added through renditions of the “Cheers” theme song and “The Impression That I Get” from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The band is clearly having a blast attempting these on the fly. 

Inevitably, someone asks for “Sweet Caroline.” Koenig says that he knew that would come up, and asks the crowd if the song is “unbearably corny” or “charming and cool.” The former gets a bigger reaction, Koenig deems that the “haters won,” and moves on to the next request. 

The band goes back to one of its originals, “Walcott,” at the very end. Based on a film called “Vampire Weekend” that Koenig attempted to make in college about a man traveling to Cape Cod to warn the public about vampire attacks, it’s a full-circle moment and a fitting capstone to a career-spanning show. 

Setlist for Vampire Weekend, TD Garden, Sept. 27, 2024

• Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
• Holiday
• I Stand Corrected
• Ice Cream Piano
• Classical
• Connect
• White Sky
• Unbelievers
• This Life
• Sunflower
• Sympathy
• New Dorp. New York (SBTRKT cover)
• Pravda
• Run
• Campus
• Oxford Comma
• Capricorn
• Gen-X Cops
• Diane Young
• Cousins
• A-Punk (twice)
• Mary Boone
• Hannah Hunt
• Harmony Hall
• Hope

Encore

• Faith (George Michael cover)
• Tom’s Diner (Suzanne Vega cover)
• Just What I Needed (The Cars cover)
• Where Everybody Knows Your Name (“Cheers” Theme, Gary Portnoy cover)
• Tequila (The Champs cover)
• Song 2 (Blur cover)
• The Impression That I Get (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones cover)
• House of the Rising Sun
• Rock Lobster (The B-52’s cover)
• Ripple (Grateful Dead cover)
• Do You Realize?? (Flaming Lips cover)
• Walcott

Source