I got to see this quartet before a sold-out crowd at Stubb’s last night. They definitely lived up to my expectations. The bigger surprise was the crowd. A large chunk of their Austin audience was made up of people under 21 (many “can’t drink” wristbands were distributed). I have always enjoyed Vampire Weekend’s sound but I always assumed there was a bigger Hipster following due to the West Indies element to their music: think Paul Simon’s Graceland or what Peter Gabriela and the Talking Heads made safe for Paul Simon in the late Seventies.
Sorry if there aren’t any pictures. The outdoor venue was packed elbow-to-elbow so it was difficult to get up close to take a decent, intelligible photograph. My camera is fair at short distances as SCOTS demonstrated. Somara’s camera was much better but it’s complex, too expensive to take in such an environment and would probably forbidden because it looks like a piece of professional equipment; it isn’t, the lens isn’t detachable, the key definition for pro v. consumer-level cameras; one evening an usher at the Stars game couldn’t make this distinction which led to a trip back to the car and a complaint to my account executive. I had no luck finding anything via the Internet too, namely someone who did have good ones to get permission from.
They did the hits from the self-titled debut, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “A-Punk” (available on Lego Rock Band, maybe why there were kids under 15 present) and “One (Blake’s Got a New Face).” I am completely ignorant about the new stuff from Contra due to my stream being bogged down in 2009 releases (I will finally be bringing in the new 2010 stuff this week!). Despite this, I wasn’t bored listening to them; a common problem many have when they’re not familiar with the material. Their opening number “White Sky” made me look even more forward to checking out Contra and defending the critics I’ve met who said they’re just a weak Ska band; you need horns for Ska and about ten people in the band.
The show let out relatively early for a Saturday evening Austin (about 1030 PM). Part of it would be these guys only having two records yet they didn’t have any difficulty achieving an 80-minute set.
Opening act Abe Vigoda (four people as well, not the actor my generation knows from Barney Miller and the Godfather movies) was fair. They sounded much like the Bravery. I hope to re-visit their stuff but this may be difficult with all the great stuff for 2010 I’ve already gained.
Would I recommend seeing Vampire Weekend live? Very much. However, for the majority of my friends I say, check out their two albums especially if you enjoyed Graceland and definitely if you loved Peter Gabriel’s pre-So music, Talking Heads’ work with Eno and my personally endorsed fave, Johnny Clegg & Savuka. Vampire Weekend borrows more from the West Indies (probably due to their New Yorker origins) than Africa but the guitars are similar; the short, rapid notes.