Vampire Weekend @ OVO Hydro, Glasgow, 8 Dec
They may yearn for the shabby glamour of the music hall, but Vampire Weekend still wind down the Only God Was Above Us tour on a high at the Hydro
Vampire Weekend wind down the Only God Was Above Us tour on a high at the Hydro, with finesse, charm and high production values. There’s no disputing they can command an arena, however one recalls the joy and colour of 2019’s Usher Hall gig and can’t help but feel that setting is where their music truly thrives. Entering the Hydro evokes the feeling of attending a major sporting event; rubbery pizza and overpriced pints cement the soullessness. Relief appears in the form of legendary Glaswegian indie rockers Teenage Fanclub, delivering swells of ecstatic guitar to a loving hometown crowd.
Vampire Weekend take the stage and launch straight into nostalgia bomb Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, getting everyone on side immediately. A euphoric curtain drop halfway through Ice Cream Piano reveals the touring band members against a Hollywood Bowl-esque set. At one point, a frisky drum tech runs onstage for a one-man flashmob; it’s fun to see some end-of-term mischief in the last days of the tour. Frontman Ezra Koenig is your favourite teacher at school, goofy, attentive; he charms the crowd with ease.
The band unleashes indie-rock serotonin hit Unbelievers to pumping fists, followed by Step, and now we’re fully warmed up. While the debut album Vampire Weekend and 2010 followup Contra satisfy cravings, it’s the Modern Vampires of the City tracks that stand out live, and throw down the gauntlet for the new material. Indeed, Mary Boone and The Surfer don’t quite deliver the theatrics of the recordings, the former’s Screamadelica ripple and groove difficult to lock in. On the other hand, December anthem Capricorn is a total sparkler, fizzing and crackling with VW’s signature chintzy piano and crashing synths.
We descend into a funky, freaky jam, and a robotic voice announces the arrival of SBTRKT collaboration, New Dorp. New York., but not as you know it. Koenig spits playfully over tribal drums, frenetic 80s NY funk and flaring red lights, the scene reminiscent of the headier moments in Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, before catapulting into a saxophone duel with guitarist Chris Tomson.
The show ends on Hope, a standout anthem advocating the wisdom of letting go on Only God Was Above Us. The band stages a staggered walkout through beams of heavenly white light, until only Baio is left on the platform; surely every bassist’s dream. For the encore, Koenig invites requests from the crowd; a risky move. Fortunately, it’s totally endearing when they fluff Björk’s It’s Oh So Quiet and deliver a surprisingly fierce Chop Suey! This caper is brought to a close with classics Campus and Walcott, and the band say their final goodnight.
There’s no question Vampire Weekend are one of the best live bands in the world right now, but part of their charm is the chintzy, preppy aesthetic that pairs so well with the shabby glamour of the theatre or music hall. The right setting allows us to forget whether a band played a song correctly, and just lose ourselves in the marvel of live music.