Vampire Weekend @ The OxfordArt Factory, Sydney (21/11/09)

Sun 29th Nov, 2009 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.

There was disappointment aplenty when Vampire Weekend fans tried to buy tickets to their show at the OAF, only to find they were sold out before they even, erm, went on sale. Proving just how popular this New York quartet has become over the past year or so, the exclusive fan-club presale had bled Moshtix dry, making this a fan club members-only opening to their Australian Contra tour sort of by accident.

Since their last visit to our shores for Splendour in the Grass 2008, Vampire Weekend’s popularity levels have skyrocketed. It works well in the boys’ favour, seeing as they’re gearing up to release their sophomore album, Contra, this coming January. With the colossal success of their debut self-titled LP, no one could blame them for being slightly apprehensive about how their follow-up would be received. And to be honest, Cousins and Horchata had me a little concerned. But post-show, there’s no doubting Contra’s great potential.

They might have kicked things off with one of their more obscure songs, the playful White Sky, but that didn’t stop them from having everyone in the room tightly wrapped around their little fingers from the get-go. Frontman Ezra Koenig (looking suitably preppy in his summery cotton shorts) delivered consistently impeccable vocals, the rest of the band equally as polished.

While they maintained the pace with a crowd-favourite, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I found myself quietly obsessing over keys player, Rostam Batmanglij. Not in a creepy way, mind, but I’ve never seen anyone look so sleepy behind a keyboard without missing a single beat. Was he tired? Bored? Concentrating? I came to the conclusion it was none of the above, but instead he’d somehow set himself to cruise-control and it was thoroughly fascinating to watch.

I Stand Corrected and M79 followed and the pair of drunk girls beside me grew more and more animated. Fortunately though, Vampire Weekend doesn’t attract pushy, violent or messy drunks, just happy ones. For a room that full, there was an unusual lack of tension, even in the very front row. One (Blake’s Got A New Face) as accompanied by a spirited (read: drunken) bout of call-and-response action prompted Koenig to call it the “scariest singing I’ve ever heard.”

Ever the crowdpleasers, the band delivered almost every track from the debut. A-Punk was predictably a crowd favourite, and even the subdued Batmanglij woke up momentarily. Determined as I was to like their old stuff better than their new stuff, their performance of Cousins and later Horchata had me sold. Finishing off with a far-flung green tea KitKat and Walcott, the boys sure know how to deliver a polished live show.