Last night I went to see one of the most buzzed-about bands of the year - Vampire Weekend. The NYC foursome were making their London debut at the cosy little Borderline club. To be honest I was expecting to be disappointed, such is the amount of blog love these preppy types have received over the last few months. I first heard of them over at Good Weather For Airstrikes, and they’ve been playing rapturously-reviewed shows in the States all summer.
Happily not only was I not disappointed, I came away seriously impressed. The stuff written about the band so far has tended to mention their Ivy League dress sense and fondness for student-y lyrics (”Oxford Comma” perhaps unfairly suggesting they’re a bunch of whimsical nerdlingers). In a live setting - especially in a place the size of The Borderline - you can’t help but be impressed with Vampire Weekend’s a) professionalism, b) enthusiasm and c) confidence. Lead singer Ezra Koenig referred to a couple of their songs as “gems” while introducing them, and, while that made me chuckle, I don’t think he was being remotely ironic.

Much has been made of VW’s use of Afrobeat stylings, and they themselves have referred to their style as “Upper West Side Soweto”. I have few reference points in this whole area - I never even bothered listening to Paul Simon’s “Graceland”, which many folk have mentioned as another comparison. For me this makes the band sound even fresher, and it adds a whole other dimension to songs and lyrics which remind me somewhat of Pavement, in that sweet yet obtuse way that Stephen Malkmus’s indie heroes mastered.
Live, VW’s charismatic smiles and a frankly amazing drummer ensured that at no point did my attention waver during their short, immensely entertaining set. The only disappointment was that the keyboard stabs on “Walcott” - so prominent on the MP3 version I heard - couldn’t be heard so well.
The vibe by the end was quite unlike anything I’ve experienced at a gig in quite a while - the band and the crowd alike were beaming (trust me, in central London this is rare), and there was a feeling that, cringeworthy as the sentiment is, something special had just been witnessed. Whether they’ll be able to reproduce this feeling on their forthcoming album I’m not sure, but the chances are that by then they’ll have a devoted live following on both sides of the Atlantic.

Listen to Vampire Weekend at the below links:
Vampire Weekend’s website
Vampire Weekend’s MySpace
Vampire Weekend on The Hype Machine
Stereogum Vampire Weekend article

Possibly related:

1. Not sure whether to believe the Vampire Weekend hype? Listen to the album for free then

2. Vampire Weekend are ready for their close-up with “A-Punk” video

3. It’s Good To Talkshow: Vampire Weekend on Letterman

4. Up and Coming Acts – Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong

5. Up-and-coming acts: Gogol Bordello

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Posted by mofgimmers on Wednesday October 24th, 2007 at 10:50 am