Vampire Weekend, Gang of Youths @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (06/01/2014)
Following from their appearances at Falls Music and Arts Festival, including a midnight New Year set at the Lorne site, Vampire Weekend's headline show at Festival Hall was without a doubt the most sought after ticket in town!
Opening act Gang of Youths started the night's proceedings with their jams, winning fans all over the venue with a confident performance worthy of recognition. Kicking off their 2014 in such fine form, I can't wait to see what else they get up to this year!
When Vampire Weekend take to the stage, the electricity in the air is well, simply that; electrifying! Having seen the band less than a week earlier ring in the New Year at Falls, I was excited to see whether or not there would be any differences in the setlist, and thankfully there was, with an additional fives songs added to the bands performance.
Vampire Weekend are in fine form all across their twenty-one song set, which touches on material from all three of their studio albums rather equally. Highlights included Oxford Comma, Finger Back, and A-Punk, which saw the Festival Hall general admission section turn into one giant dance party! It's impossible not to become swept up in the atmosphere, and even those who think they're too cool to have a dance can't help but bop their heads and tap their feet to the infectiously catchy tunes of the New York foursome!
The band make use of the large Festival Hall stage, with guitarist Rostam Batmanglij and bassist Chris Baio both moving about the left and right hand sides of the stage to interact with the crowd. Ezra Koenig leads the party in his green jump suit, moving away from the microphone to dance when the opportunity presents itself, while Chris Tomson keeps the rhythm situated at his drum kit. The band's dynamic is a particularly strong one, with the audience lapping up the performance! My compliments to the bands lighting team as well, it was a spectacle which was truly a sight to behold!
Wrapping up the set with a three song encore of Hannah Hunt, One (Blake's Got A New Face), (a song which was notably missing from their Falls set) and Walcott, Vampire Weekend's Festival Hall show ends in spectacular fashion. And admittedly, while this set didn't quite match up to the New Year performance at Falls (a tough bar to beat!), let's be honest, it was still one of the most entertaining performances of recent times, securing their reputation as one of the best live bands in the world.
Luke Sutton
@lukesutton
Check out our photos from the night here!
Opening act Gang of Youths started the night's proceedings with their jams, winning fans all over the venue with a confident performance worthy of recognition. Kicking off their 2014 in such fine form, I can't wait to see what else they get up to this year!
When Vampire Weekend take to the stage, the electricity in the air is well, simply that; electrifying! Having seen the band less than a week earlier ring in the New Year at Falls, I was excited to see whether or not there would be any differences in the setlist, and thankfully there was, with an additional fives songs added to the bands performance.
Vampire Weekend are in fine form all across their twenty-one song set, which touches on material from all three of their studio albums rather equally. Highlights included Oxford Comma, Finger Back, and A-Punk, which saw the Festival Hall general admission section turn into one giant dance party! It's impossible not to become swept up in the atmosphere, and even those who think they're too cool to have a dance can't help but bop their heads and tap their feet to the infectiously catchy tunes of the New York foursome!
The band make use of the large Festival Hall stage, with guitarist Rostam Batmanglij and bassist Chris Baio both moving about the left and right hand sides of the stage to interact with the crowd. Ezra Koenig leads the party in his green jump suit, moving away from the microphone to dance when the opportunity presents itself, while Chris Tomson keeps the rhythm situated at his drum kit. The band's dynamic is a particularly strong one, with the audience lapping up the performance! My compliments to the bands lighting team as well, it was a spectacle which was truly a sight to behold!
Wrapping up the set with a three song encore of Hannah Hunt, One (Blake's Got A New Face), (a song which was notably missing from their Falls set) and Walcott, Vampire Weekend's Festival Hall show ends in spectacular fashion. And admittedly, while this set didn't quite match up to the New Year performance at Falls (a tough bar to beat!), let's be honest, it was still one of the most entertaining performances of recent times, securing their reputation as one of the best live bands in the world.
Luke Sutton
@lukesutton
Check out our photos from the night here!