Delivering a night of infectious tunes, Vampire Weekend mesmerized a crowd of 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night (6/12).
Warming up the audience for the main event, The English Beat took to the stage with a reggae cover of The Staple Singers’ hit song “I’ll Take You There.” Serving up a hearty dose of nostalgia with their choice of tunes, it was impossible not to bop along as the stadium filled to capacity.
Formed in 2006, Vampire Weekend shot to fame with their 2008 debut album release, notably due to hits “A-Punk” (famously played by the band at Lollapalooza three times in a row) and “Oxford Comma.” Leaving a lasting imprint on the music industry, their Indie rock style with murmurs of a jam band are incredibly easy to listen to yet seemingly hard to replicate.
Kicking off their set with some fan favorite tunes from their 2010 album Contra, lead singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig, drummer Chris Tomson, and bassist Chris Baio graced the stage with charisma that only 20+ years of experience performing can bring. As their “Vampire Weekend” backdrop cascaded to reveal their full band, the energy continued to increase as the crowd watched, danced and sang on in awe.
Taking a moment to connect with their fans, Koenig spoke on the inclusion of ska in their signature harmonics, noting it as “one of the 17 secret ingredients of our proprietary sound.” Recognizing the opening acts who also had influences on this genre, Koenig declared it was “ska night at the Hollywood Bowl” as they went on to play a ska-inspired version of “Ottoman.”
Joined by a number of vibrant guests including Ariel Rechtshaid and Tim Robinson, there was never a Dull moment across their set. Despite arriving at the venue alone, I soon found myself swept up in the Vampire Weekend community who were nothing short of welcoming, energized, and ready to ensure anyone in sight was having the time of their lives.
Promoting their newest album, Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend continues to spread the good word of ska across the US through October before heading to Europe to round out the end of the year.
THE ENGLISH BEAT
VAMPIRE WEEKEND SETLIST
Holiday
Cousins
Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)
Ice Cream Piano
Classical
Connect
White Sky
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
This Life
Sunflower
Sympathy
Ottoman
The Surfer
Oxford Comma
Capricorn (with Ariel Rechtshaid)
Gen-X Cops (with Ariel Rechtshaid)
Diane Young
A-Punk
Prep-School Gangsters
Mary Boone
Hannah Hunt
Harmony Hall
Hope
Dangerous Night w/ Tim Robinson
Giving Up the Gun
Attempted Requests (Peg, Touch of Grey, Rock Lobster)
Walcott
