Vampire Weekend played an experimental acoustic set Friday night, their last US show of the year. Just for the hell of it.
The band relied on upright piano, three acoustic guitars, drums and electric bass guitar to rework such catchy pop tunes as "This Life" and "Horchata".
"My Mistake" showcased the jazz piano of Will Canzoneri, while on the opener, Harmony Hall, guitarist Brian Robert Jones set the tone for an evening of bright, steel strings.
Front man Ezra Koenig was clearly having fun with what he called the "almost acoustic" and "experimental" set. As one song fell apart in the intro he waited, chuckling as Jones worked out the melody all over again.
Plenty of their music sounds little-changed in an acoustic format. The clipped African guitar and Paul Simon-ish vocals of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was familiar. Koenig's sweet, melodic voice filled the room in lyrics such as "Baby, I know dreams tend to crumble at extremes,/I just thought our dream would last a little bit longer…" When he gets underneath a phrase he lifts the whole room, sometimes to sing along, but there weren't too many moments like that.
The band is up for a Grammy in the Best Alternative Music Album for its fourth album Father of the Bride in on January 26, 2020.
Stripping out the electronic supplements and rock guitar grit from many of the songs was like adding a sepia filter to an Instagram photo. Ove the course of the hour-plus show, the music flattened out and felt a bit samey. The fact that the band were seated throughout also sapped some of the energy. The crowd clapped along occasionally but never kicked ass.
Ultimately it didn't matter. However flat the instrumentation, a band like Vampire Weekend can never fail if they play the hits and Koenig maintains his radiant friendliness. "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma" were magnificent. Koenig asked for requests — singling out someone in the crowd he recognized from their show in September at Madison Square Garden.
There's a shameless karaoke pleasure of seeing them sing songs like Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" (as they did in London recently). Tonight, that honor went to Bruce Springsteen's song "I'm going Down", in celebration of shared Jersey roots.
The amiable Koenig chatted about his love for McMenamins venues and had the fans in the palm of his hand throughout. This is a guy who shushes the crowd to talk to an individual, skips over the people waving bucket hats, and bleeds the Christmas carol "Little Drummer Boy" into the intro of "Obvious Bicycle". Anyone who can make the predictable seem unfamiliar has the right to lead his band offstage without an encore but with a whole lot of smiles in the audience.
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Setlist
1. Harmony Hall
2. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
3. How Long?
4. This Life
5. Unbelievers
6. My Mistake
7. Married in a Gold Rush
8. A-Punk
9. I'm Goin' Down
10. Sunflower
11. Oxford Comma
12. Horchata
13. Campus
14. 2021
15. Mountain Brews
16. Bryn
17. Mansard Roof
18. Obvious Bicycle
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Joseph GallivanReporter, The Business Tribune971-204-7874Twitter,
