I could have been a lot of other places on the night of Tuesday, Oct. 8: at home doing my homework, at the library studying, eating dinner with my parents. Instead I was screaming my head off in a sweaty mosh pit with a bunch of my friends.
Let me rewind, Vampire Weekend is my favorite band. Hands down. Their African-influenced, thought-provoking, eclectic, alternative sound has familiar notes but is something totally their own. I’ve loved them forever. I’ve loved them ever since I heard their hit song “A-Punk” in seventh grade for the first time. I’ve loved them since frontman Ezra Koenig talked about studying for his Bar Mitzvah in Spin Magazine while I was studying for mine. The best part about Vampire Weekend is their style, punky prep. These ivy-leaguers aren’t just a bunch of washed-up druggies in torn jeans and long hair. Vampire Weekend is clean and put together with some flair. They’re smart both lyrically and actually. The band members met at University Columbia while they were all studying classical music.
I’ve seen them live before in eighth grade, on a chilly Oct. night at the Starlight Theater. In some ways last Tuesday was sort of coming full circle. I’ve traveled around the world, entered high school, tried new things, changed my clothes, my hair, all things teenagers do, and yet I still love Vampire Weekend. For every change I’ve experienced in my adolescence this band has stayed constant.
It was early February when I bought my tickets. The concert was scheduled May 12 at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City, MO. Sometime in March the news hit. Postponed. My heart shattered. But soon they had set a new date honoring all the previous tickets. October 8. So five more months couldn’t be too long to wait, right?
Wrong. The anticipation was killing me. I listened to their new soulful album “Modern Vampires Of The City,” on repeat, loudly, everywhere. I kept up with the band members on Twitter and Instagram, anything to stay in the VW (Vampire Weekend) loop as I waited.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8 we filed into The Midland Theatre and prepared ourselves for the show. This preparation involved practicing our head bob techniques while listening to the opening band “The Olms,” a seemingly drugged-out, mellow and all-out underwhelming band of too skinny men.
I looked around at the crowd, surveying the population. I love concerts but I’m always concerned some tattooed and pierced guy is going to be rubbing up against me all night. My worries disappeared when I realized I was surrounded by a bunch of young hipsters in sweaters and glasses.
The show was magic. Just simple music, a crowd belting out the lyrics in unison and a seriously cool venue. Koenig straddled the single microphone in the front while jamming occasionally on his acoustic guitar and cooing out their soulful lyrics. Their vintage set complete with granny-style wallpaper in the back was a nice contrast to the hyped up show. They even played an encore to the entire crowd’s delight.
Their stage presence isn’t much. They asked the typical “How’s it going Kansas City?” which got a sensational reply. But they didn’t tell jokes or do anything outside of play great music. I was fine with it, but sometimes I want a little more personality to shine through and get to know the band a little more. They didn’t offer too much insight and just played their hearts out instead.
Vampire Weekend played their old stuff, their new stuff and everything in between. From their first hit A-Punk to their sophomore album Contra, to the long-awaited Modern Vampires of The City released last May. It was good to hear it all mixed together. My friend commented on how brilliantly their set-list was put together. The only thing they didn’t play was their incredible cover of “I’m Going Down” by Bruce Springsteen. When they played it at their show in 2010 the crowd just about died over it.
I was caught off guard by the fact that they sounded way better live than on a CD, something that’s hard to come by in a world of auto-tune. By the end of the night I was ecstatic, sweaty and satisfied.
The Midland and Vampire Weekend knocked it out of the park. I just hope they come back soon.
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