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ACL review: Vampire Weekend

May 2012

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By Peter Mongillo | Friday, September 26, 2008, 05:13 PM

There has been a lot of excitement surrounding New York-based Vampire Weekend since they visited Austin last March for the SXSW festival. A good-sized crowd packed in about 40 minutes early for the band’s 2:30 p.m. set at the AMD stage. The boys from Columbia came out dressed in their signature preppy attire, albeit without sweaters drapped around their necks, and jumped straight into “Mansard Roof” off their self-titled release from earlier this year. Though they started off a bit slow, the band still managed to add a little extra bounce to “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” They would propably never admit it, but the spector of ‘90s jam bands rears its head from time to time as the lead singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig noodles over the Paul Simon-esque tunes. The band debuted a few new songs, one infused with enough electronic drum tracks that it might have been at home during the 1:30 Yeasayer set. In another, “Ladies of Cambridge,” the band’s punky pop brought the energy on stage and in the crowd to another level. Koenig then beckoned the willing crowd to dance as they jumped into the upbeat “A-Punk.” Other highlights included Austin’s Tosca Strings, who joined the band for “M79” and another new tune. They finished off with “Oxford Comma” and “Walcott,” with Koenig energetically belting out the chorus “out of Cape Cod tonight.” Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN

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