Well, Vampire Weekend has arrived. Or, at least, they’re on the verge of mainstream “arrival.” I can’t tell if they aspire to Kings of Leon mainstream “stature,” and if they do, I can’t tell if they can pull it off. Regardless, they sold out the Riverside last week, and my god were the fans rabid. It’s been a week and a half, and what stands out is the crowd – it was up there with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show for best mass crowd I’ve seen in Milwaukee in the past few years. They seemed to know every song (or at least reacted like they did), which given Vampire Weekend’s short yet successful discography shouldn’t be surprising, and they danced and cheered along with the set. That makes a huge difference – I’ve been to plenty of good shows in Milwaukee that have had bad crowds that bring down the overall experience (White Rabbits and The Decemberists come to mind). But this 102.1 crowd, replete with high schooler seniors dressed like college sophomores, was ready to go. On a Tuesday night, no less. So kudos to them.
But how was Vampire Weekend? They are surprisingly polished. My friends who went with me to the show saw them two years ago up here (I can't remember why I couldn't go to that show) and said they were just as polished then. A week has passed since the show, and I’m still not sure about my overall thoughts. I enjoyed the show, but nothing from it stays with me. Carrie Brownstein from NPR (and Sleater Kinney fame) once described Spoon as a B+ band – all their albums and live shows are a B+, but they'll never wow you – and I thought of that while watching Vampire Weekend. Entertaining show, sounded great, but I was never wowed. For the most part, I didn't get anything from their live show that I couldn't get from their albums. And if that's the case, why see them live? Have I come to that with my live shows? What do I want from my live shows? More “rawness”? A new interpretation on an already solid (but not great) album? At the very least, Vampire Weekend, thank you for bringing some existential angst to my concert reviews.
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