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Saturday, April 10, 2010
Live Review: Vampire Weekend at Stubb’s
There’s an old Albert Brooks bit that contains the punchline “What a polite animal.”
Vampire Weekend reminds me of that joke. They are very polite animals.
What kind? I’m leaning toward meerkat. Perky, social, smart — sounds like these four New York kids, who sold out Stubb’s weeks before their brisk, 19 song show.
Their music — a blend of semi-Afropop guitar, in-jokey lyrics about the urban-dwelling upper-middle class they know well, and more of ska’s bounce than most bands would admit internalizing so completely — seems perpetually one song away from being Jimmy Buffet for comp lit majors.
But there’s a weird charm about them that keeps them on the safe side of smug. Maybe it’s their self-consciousness. Ezra Koenig — he of the lead vocals, high-set guitar, button-down shirts and hair that demands a political campaign be built around it — made jokes about sing-alongs as a corporate trust building exercise and dedicated a song to students, “especially grad students.” They know their reputation cold.
There’s very little on their sophomore album “Contra” that’s as catchy as anything on their still-startlingly focused debut. Early songs (“A-Punk,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”) bounced and rippled with a simple clarity, amped up by Chris Tomson’s wisely enormous-sounding drums.
The songs from “Contra” were more complicated, from the cascading notes on “Bryn” to the almost-heavy blend of clacking drums and dueling guitars on “Giving Up the Gun” to the drum machine-driven ballad “Taxi Cab.” No songs ever drifted or descended into jams — they punched like New Yorker “Talk of the Town” pieces. Everything was over and done with well before 11 — these rock ‘n’ roll animals stayed polite until the end.
Setlist after the jump
1.White Sky
2.Holiday
3.Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
4.I Stand Corrected
5.M79
6.Bryn
7.California English Pt. 1
8.Cousins
9.Taxi Cab
10.Run
11.A-Punk
12.One (Blake’s Got A New Face)
13.Diplomat’s Son
14.Giving Up the Gun
15.Campus
16.Oxford Comma
17.Horchata
18.Mansard Roof
19.Walcott
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Police shut down Guero’s outdoor stage
Rob Lippincott of Guero’s Taco Bar said he’s not being defiant, but “trying to keep my empoyees in jobs” by hosting live music today after being shut down last night for not having a building permit for his outdoor stage. Lippincott said the city approved his site plan correction Wednesday, but that data is not yet in the computer. The amendment allows the stage, but Lippincott probably won’t receive his building permit until next week.
“This is the biggest day of the year on South Congress,” says Lippincott of today’s Lonestar Rod & Kustom Roundup. “It’s bigger than South by Southwest.” Before being cited, he planned a full day of music, starting with Eve Monsees at 2 p.m. Police have told him that they’ll come by at 6 p.m. to make sure he’s in compliance. Meanwhile, Lippincott says members of city staff are trying to work out a stay with the city manager’s office.
Lippincott was first cited several months ago when it was discovered that he built the outdoor beer garden and stage without going through the correct permitting process. He’s been hosting music since then, he says, with the understanding that he was moving forward on getting all the proper permits.
“I think it’s going to come to a head at 6 o’clock,” Lippincott says. “I mean, can I do it or can I not do it.”
Don Pitt from the city’s music manager’s office could not be immediately reached Saturday.
