The restrained seven-piece indie band never really let loose at the packed, swaying O2 Academy
Vampire Weekend, O2 Academy Birmingham, ★★
By the time Vampire Weekend had reached Birmingham on their latest UK jaunt, they had also unfortunately managed to mislay their support band, the Songhoy Blues. This was a great shame, as the Malians would surely have added to an evening that would most certainly have benefitted from a bit of light and shade.
Instead, the O2 Academy was treated to an extensive recording of baroque chamber music, pipped through the PA system, that felt like it may never end.
However, it eventually did when onto the stage bounced Ezra Keonig, dressed in white trousers and a pale blue shirt, and a seven-piece Vampire Weekend, who similarly looked ready to provide the entertainment for a Sunday afternoon barbecue.
Launching into “Sunflower”, from their recent album, Father of the Bride, the New Yorkers set the tone for a two-hour set of generally restrained and gentle vibes that kept the packed hall swaying along, but neither band nor audience were danger of losing their cool or really letting loose.
‘Vampire Weekend gave the impression of an indie band fronted by David Byrne after a quirkiness bypass’
Between songs, such as the African-groove influenced “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and the somewhat syrupy “Unbearably White” the audience gave out plenty of whoops and clapped along as new tunes began, but they soon seemed to tire and never got into the groove.
Given that Vampire Weekend gave the impression of an indie band fronted by David Byrne after a quirkiness bypass, ploughing through Paul Simon’s Graceland, they were never going to cause a riot. In fact, when they covered Simon’s “Late in the Evening” it seemed to be new to the 20- and 30-somethings staring at the stage and just left them swaying in the breeze. Surprisingly, this was also the case when the band dropped bursts of “Son of a Preacher Man” and Toots and the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop” into their own “Obvious Bicycle” and “Diplomat’s Son”.
Eventually, things did pick up, and by the time Keonig’s crew took on “Cousins” from their sophomore album, Contra, and the ever-green “A-Punk”, guitarist Brian Robert Jones with his magnificent afro managed to inject a bit of spirit into the proceedings, bouncing around and generally adding some much-needed liveliness on stage. However, to these ears, it had been too long a wait.
