By David Menconi
Staff writer
RALEIGH – On paper, Vampire Weekend seems like it should be an annoying bunch. Transposing the African music of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” to collegiate hipster environs, the group puts a button-down preppy spin on English Beat, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Talking Heads and other ’80s-vintage new-wave types that ventured into world-beat territory. Add all that up, and you might expect little more than a self-consciously “cool” version of Dave Matthews Band.
Nope, not even close. Vampire Weekend puts on a loose, unpretentious live show that’s an immense amount of fun, which was in full effect Sunday night at the Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater. This was the closing date of Vampire Weekend’s marathon U.S. tour, which began with the group topping the Billboard charts back in January and will end with a string of European dates.
The time between has tightened the quartet up considerably, especially the rhythm section of drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio. The music was a lot less worldly and more rockin’ (not to mention high-volume) than you might expect from the records, with the songs sped up and bashed out. Rostam Batmanglij had his moments, too, supplying aural texture on keyboards and guitar.
But Vampire Weekend’s signature figure is still frontman Ezra Koenig, who was in fine form Sunday night. He sang in an appealing yelp (seriously, it was) and supplied his own counterpoint with cascading, skitter guitar lines. Koenig worked the crowd in a nice and low-key way, too, leading the occasional call-and-response and bounding about between verses.
Opening act Beach House could have used a little of Koenig’s showmanship. The group’s 40-minute set was pleasant but a bit drowsy, displaying all the stage presence of a potted plant. There’s no denying Beach House’s popcraft, however, especially the chiming lilt of “Zebra” (the opening track and highlight of the group’s latest album).
Vampire Weekend’s headlining set clocked in at a too-short 80 minutes – which wasn’t surprising, since the band has only released two albums. But it had plenty of highlights including “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” a song that namechecks the aforementioned Peter Gabriel; the encore version of “Horchata”; and “One (Blake’s Got a New Face),” which came complete with enthusiastic sing-along and even a moshpit back on the lawn (full disclosure: My 15-year-old son was one of the instigators).
Even accounting for end-of-the-tour giddiness, it was right fine.
david.menconi@newsobserver.com or blogs.newsobserver.com/beat or 919-829-4759
