To all the kids who did not dance during Friday night’s Vampire Weekend show: You wasted a perfectly good opportunity to dance your butts off. The sold-out crowd slowly warmed up to the New York band—which came to the High Noon Saloon this weekend to promote their self-titled, debut album—and by the end of the night, they were definitely fired up but, unfortunately, just not dancing much. At times, frontman Ezra Koening even had to beg the crowd to dance. Aside from the lack of movement, however, it was a great show.
The Portland-based solo act YACHT opened up the night with goofy antics, a hilarious inter-song slideshow and catchy songs that really connected with the crowd. If anyone can pull off a one-man band it is YACHT’s Jona Bechtolt. Singing over pre-recorded music, Bechtolt rocked the crowd by performing most of his songs in the center of the audience. His funky, magical sound permeated the air, making people clap their hands madly. After a solid 45-minute performance, YACHT made way for Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend opened their set with their single “Mansard Roof,” relying on some sweet faux flute and vibraphone—a sound reminiscent of “The Royal Tenenbaums” soundtrack. The upbeat, boppy music would have been easy to move to, and at least some concert-goers reported soreness from dancing too much (though not nearly enough) and a bad case of having the catchy “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” stuck in their heads.
The four Columbia grads describe their music as “Upper West Side soweto”—a blend of fast, upbeat and march-like rhythms with African-pop influences.
Friday’s music hit the mark: Everything was fun, fast and, above all, pleasant. The only annoyance came from Koening’s long blatherings between songs, talking about how much he loved the Terrace and performing in front of large bodies of water. It was alright at first, but after the third or fourth time it just became some weird, extended attempt to milk a connection out of the audience. It almost took away from the concert’s grade-A music but, in the long run, the crowd Friday night will eventually forget Ezra’s ramblings—not Vampire Weekend’s spot-on performance.
