Vampire Weekend @ Metropolis,Perth (16/05/10)

Fri 21st May, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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Not many indie-pop bands are more popular than Vampire Weekend right now, and a packed out Metropolis on Sunday night proved it. Being that this was the band’s first appearance in Perth, there were a justifiably large number of people who were either excited for what was to come or just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It’d be a fair assumption to make that not many were disappointed, even if Vampire Weekend weren’t entirely overwhelming either.

Opening for the evening were Cloud Control, and it would have been difficult to have found a more appropriate support band. With an indie-pop sound very similar to the headliners, the Sydney quartet easily pleased the crowd. Making a welcome change from often disappointing opening acts, Cloud Control were well worth watching.

The band seemed as friendly and accessible as their music sounds and seemed awed to be playing to such a large room (often jokingly remarking on Metro’s thirty-six layers). This Is What I Said was a highlight of the set that was filled with material from their debut, Bliss Release. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Cloud Control themselves headline at Metropolis soon.

Beginning with White Sky and briskly performing almost every song from their two albums, the last gig of Vampire Weekend’s Australian tour was a fun but somewhat unsurprising hour. Even though many seemed distracted away from the stage, the devoted fans loved every second and often sang along in unison with front man Ezra Koenig.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa drew the biggest roar during the first half of the fast-paced set, soon followed by the audience sing-along of M79, a tribute to public transport. The majority of the set was forgettable though, catchy as their songs were.

The most interesting part of the night was the combo of the very different Cousins and Taxi Cab. Cousins was even faster than it was on Contra and made for the absolutely most exhilarating blast of the evening, but Taxi Cab was easily the most interesting. With each member moving to a somewhat different instrument (drumkit to electronic drum-pad, bass guitar to an upright for example), Taxi Cab made for the most musically adventurous song of Vampire Weekend’s set, and an altogether more fascinating moment overall. Had there been more moments like this, Vampire Weekend’s performance would have made for a far more interesting and diverse experience. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be.

More hits featured in the second half of the show, including a cheery and slightly manic sing-along to Blake’s Got A New Face and they finished the main set with the immensely crowd pleasing Oxford Comma. Vampire Weekend returned for the inevitable encore and carried out a justifiable ending to the evening with an almost epic rendition of Walcott.

There’s no doubt that Vampire Weekend are one of the more interesting pop bands in the world right now, but Sunday night’s show was lacking in excitement. A live show is supposed to surpass just listening to the band’s albums on the household stereo, unfortunately for Vampire Weekend it might have just been enough to have stayed at home instead.

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