On the evening of April 8th, Vampire Weekend took to the stage at Moody Amphitheater in Austin, Texas to play through the recent total solar eclipse. The band treated those in attendance to an array of surprises such as featuring special guest Thomas Mars from Phoenix to perform ‘Tonight’. Mars also features on the guest vocals of the song from Phoenix’s 2022 record ‘Alpha Zulu’. The pair had never performed the song together before.
Kicking off the show was Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of The Heart’ playing on the speakers, followed by the live debut of Vampire Weekend’s new song ‘Ice Cream Piano’. Other debuts included ‘Connect’, ‘Gen-X Cops’, and ‘Hope’ which the band saved for after they took a break to watch the eclipse with their audience.
Following ‘Tonight’, Chromeo’s Dave 1 joined the band onstage to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig, who celebrated his 40th birthday. Afterward, Dave 1 performed Chromeo’s ‘Needy Girl’ with Koenig and the band.
Vampire Weekend played a diverse setlist throughout the night, some of which included ‘Classical’, ‘Unbelievers’, ‘Cousins’, and ‘Walcott’. The band released their newest album, ‘Only God Was Above Us’ on April 5th with NME giving the album a four-star review, praising the album for combining distinct sounds that intertwine seamlessly beneath Koenig’s increasingly melancholic vocals.
Vampire Weekend is currently embarking on a North American tour and will soon be taking their sound across the pond to Europe, the UK, and Ireland. Fans of the band can catch them at a handful of music festivals this season, such as Primavera Sound, Kilby Block Party, and Hinterland. The band is also slated to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton next month
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