Like many of us, Vampire Weekend turned Monday’s total eclipse into a party. Except in their case they invited about 5,000 friends along for a special afternoon show at the Moody Amphitheatre in Austin, TX for a livestreamed concert that featured the live debut of a handful of songs from the group’s new Only God Was Above Us album and cameos from special guests.
The gig — which took place on singer Ezra Koenig’s 40th birthday in front of a backdrop with an image of the phases of the eclipse — found the band opening with the album’s first track, “Ice Cream Piano,” followed by the live debuts of new songs “Classical,” “Connect,” “Gen-X Cops,” “Capricorn,” “Diane Young” and “Hope.”
The guys took a 10-minute break about an hour into the show to give fans time to experience the eclipse as the skies turned dark over the Lone Star capitol, then stormed back with a back half that included some guests. The first cameo featured Phoenix singer Thomas Mars for a cover of the French group’s “Tonight” from 2022’s Alpha Zulu — which the two singers had never performed live before — followed by a duet with Chromeo singer Dave 1 on that band’s 2004 single “Needy Girl.” Taking advantage of a rare opportunity, singer Koenig asked the two native French speakers to regale the audience with a bit of “French banter,” which included Mars wishing Koenig a happy born day and the two men leading the crowd in a round of “Happy Birthday” in French.
The set also included some of the band’s most beloved songs as well, including “Unbelievers,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “Harmony Hall,” “Oxford Comma” and “A-Punk,” ending with a nearly 15-minute jam on “Cocaine Cowboys” that folded in bits of their 2019 tune “Married in a Gold Rush,” as well as Larry Gatlin’s “All the Gold in California,” Gram Parsons’ “Sin City” and the Grateful Dead’s “Cumberland Blues.”
The full show streamed on the Veeps platform.
