all photos: Joel Didriksen of http://www.kingpinphoto.com/
A Morbid Streak
Vampire Weekend at the Rock n Roll Hotel
Vampire Weekend played to an uncomfortably-crowded Rock and Roll Hotel
Wednesday night on their much-anticipated return to DC. Few of the
folks packing the main floor knew who Vampire Weekend were when they
played the Palace of Wonders back in 2007. The large number of
outfits incongruous with the venue – from the t-shirt, popped collar
and baseball cap-wearing frat boys to the tastefully striped button
down and sport jacket-wearing lounge crew – served as evidence that
the buzz around this band has gotten out of hand. But did they
deliver? I think they did.
The band appeared on stage as fresh-faced and collegiate as, well, as
they are. Keyboardist Rostam was the only one who didn’t seem to get
the fashion memo – sporting a puffy, sleeveless hunter’s jacket –
while the rest of the band, lead singer Ezra and the rhythm section’s
two Chrises – wore cardigans and cotton button-downs. They looked
like a college band out of an 80s movie, enough so that I
half-expected to see Molly Ringwald front row center swaying to the
melodies.
The quick keyboard opening from Mansard Roof, the title track for
their first single for XL, broke through the applause that greeted
them as they took the tiny stage and Ezra launched into his enigmatic
lyrics. What is a mansard roof, and what does it have to do with the
Argentine Admiralty? I’m not sure, but I can tell you that I really
don’t care. These songs are buoyant, wonderful, and refreshingly
angst-free. After years of bands filled with emo angst and important
MESSAGES for the WORLD, it’s nice to see a band whose ambitions are
more narrowly-focused on giving the soundtrack for a non-existent but
permanent, perfect summer. They followed with Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,
from their debut single (some copies are still available from the
label – I forget its name…), and smiles were breaking out all around.
In fact, I rapidly became aware that a good portion of the crowd was
singing along. This is a good thing, since I wanted to as well, and,
being a shy old stick, didn’t want to be the first. Amazing that so
many people seemed to know all the words to an album that just came
out.
In fact, they handled a good portion of their album, including the
sublime Ladies of Cambridge (formerly known as Boston), wherein, when
Ezra sang about a morbid streak running through the whole of his
family, I became aware that he suddenly had the silent crowd in the
palm of his hand. And it just got better from there. M79 A-Punk,
One, and Oxford Comma were represented, along with a new song whose
title I didn’t get, and The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance. Oxford Comma
got a particularly raucous reception from the audience, inspiring more
singing and one gets the feeling a mass dancing event would have
broken out, if only there was room to move. The only thing missing
was my particular favorite, Walcott. Fortunately, we didn’t have long
to wait. It was the encore. I was pleased. Still, it seemed to
absolutely fly by and I don’t think the whole shebang was more than 45
minutes from first note to final farewell. Maybe because it was so
good? I didn’t feel cheated, though. Not a bit. It seemed the
absolute perfect length, and left me feeling really, really good about
nearly everything.
A few niggling disappointments included the omission of a violinist (I
naively thought they’d bring one since the instrument features so
heavily in songs like Ladies of Cambridge), the utter fidelity of the
live show to the recorded versions (I half-hoped they would open up
some of the songs into longer, more languorous versions live), and the
brevity of their set. Other Music pleaded in their review of the
album that one has to remember that these are just kids who worked on
these songs between exams and haven’t had the chance to write more (*I
know, I’m rolling my eyes as I type it*). I guess I hope that they’re
right, because this album was brilliant, the show was a delicious
appetite-wetter, and I hope there are more courses to come. Expect
them at the 930 Club next time they’re through, though. They won’t be
playing a venue this small again.
_________________
& sexy
February 7, 2008 at 12:51 pmi mean….. Ezra is a great entertainer, songwriter, and a talent. has great stage prescene.
the music? kitchsy at best, made for the radio.
totally not worth the hype.
Why doesnt anyone dance anymore? I mean really?! Especially at a pop show! Is there something engrained in the hipster that only allows them to stand and stare?
February 7, 2008 at 12:51 pmGreat pictures, Joel!
February 7, 2008 at 12:58 pmthey sounded great.
so much better than I hoped.
and while I usually complain about no one dancing at shows, I am sort of glad no one did as it was so packed we would have probably ended up in a sweaty pile from hell if anyone moved at all.
also-I could barely see anything, even on tippy toes and I am 6′1″ in my satin slippers.
super kudos to Joel for pulling this off in the trenches.
February 7, 2008 at 1:03 pmvampire weekend=beirut lite
February 7, 2008 at 1:07 pmyou know, i hear the complaints that vw (oooh, unfortunate acronym…) are trite, lite, aor, musical tourists - i hear them again and again. i understand. i really do. i guess i’m lucky, because i heard them without reading any reviews, any hype, any praise or criticism. and so, when i was walking down conn ave one day, and “mansard roof” came on my ipod on random, i was amazed, delighted, and, eventually, obsessed. i downloaded the blue cd-r from fritz and ordered the first 7″ (they were out of the cd-r, dammit) and loved every song on it. i mean, loved ‘em.
i even like their cover of exit music for a film.
so, piss on ‘em all you like. hell, i hated radiohead until kid a and i still hate the strokes. different…you know, tastes. for everyone.
and, i’m not entirely convinced that they’ll be able to sustain any kind of great pop crossover a la the shins - unless zach branff or wes anderson latches onto them. who knows? who cares?
it was a great show, and i’m grateful to svetlana and cale. especially cale (feel better, guy!).
February 7, 2008 at 1:43 pmshow was gay
February 7, 2008 at 1:56 pmniggling?
I am outraged by the use of this racist term. I bet you use niggardly too don’t you?
February 7, 2008 at 2:21 pmwhat time did they hit the stage?
February 7, 2008 at 2:43 pmgosh - i showed up at 945 and i think they went on very quickly afterwards. it was all a blur because kt was bartending and she’s so wonderful, and svetlana and fritz were fun and the woman who took my ticket was so sweet.
man, what a great night.
February 7, 2008 at 2:58 pmThe show was a blast, I lucked my way into it bigtime! The first band was even almost good (with the sweet guitar style) and probably will be really good in the near future…
I’m sure VW has a good chance of blowin’ up mainstream, I mean I was surprised by how many songs I knew the chrouses too, and I totally danced toward the end. Not enough to draw too much attention to myself, but the encore had me goin’ pretty hard in the aisle.
It’s nice to see a band like that at a smaller venue where you can enjoy them… they’ll look so lonely in those little cardigans on the big 9:30 stage
let’s hope for the cat.
February 7, 2008 at 5:30 pmJoel did an amazing job with the pics. You can really see him working the limited angles he had to work with - bravo!
February 7, 2008 at 10:41 pmThanks to all for the kind words about the photos. RnR isn’t my favorite place to shoot but there was more light than usual and the band did the rest… Glad you peeps enjoyed them.
February 8, 2008 at 11:51 amyeah, it’s kind of like the photographers are super mario and the lighting at the hotel resides in bowser’s castle.
the triptych of the bassist is rad as hell; lovely work as usual
February 8, 2008 at 5:16 pmHey! Paul Simon did that sound when he kicked old funky Garfunkel off his team.
They suck.
February 8, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Really nice review, William. And stellar photos as always from Joel. Thanks guys! Almost like being there…although silently and less claustrophobic.
February 7, 2008 at 12:50 pm