New York founded band Vampire Weekend played two shows at MSG in New York City on Friday, October 5th. “We’ve been looking forward to this the entire tour,” said frontman Ezra Koenig on the first night. This show marks the final quarter of the band’s ongoing tour in support of their latest album, Only God Was Above Us.
Billy Joel Cover band Turnstiles opened for Vampire Weekend both nights, with additional support from Mark Ronson for the first show, and the Brothers Macklovitch for the second.
The second show was a rare Sunday matinee, which ended at 4PM sharp. During the second show, Ezra commented, “I didn’t know if this would be a good idea, we ended kind of late last night. But I think I like it.” The crowd cheered in response. Ezra would also go on to describe the backstory behind some of the band’s songs throughout the shows.
Vampire Weekend performed with their signature brand of intellectual lyrics and intricately produced tunes. They played vast set lists each night, with nearly a two-hour long main set, covering their five beloved studio albums.
Each night featured a number of covers, including a rendition of Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” which featured a dinner scene performance behind the band as they played. Each show featured some pyrotechnics and a big blast of confetti at the very end of the encore.
In the past, the band often took fan requests at the end of the shows, but for this tour Ezra told the crowd they would only accept songs that weren’t theirs. So after the main set, the band came back on stage and asked the crowd to hold up signs, notepads, and scream out song suggestions, which the band attempted with varying levels of success. Covers included Fall Out Boy, Billy Joel, bruce Springsteen, and a handful of others.
You can follow Vampire Weekend “Only God Was Above Us” Tour here, and listen to their music here. Photo gallery by David Reichmann below.
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