Vampire Weekend closed out their Coachella set over the weekend by bringing out Paris Hilton for a game of ‘Cornhole’. Find footage of the moment below.
Ezra Koenig and Co. performed on the Saturday edition of Coachella (April 13), after being added to the Californian Music and Arts festival line-up at the last minute.
The night was headlined by Tyler, The Creator, and others performing on the second day of the first weekend included Sublime, No Doubt, Blur, Justice and Jon Batiste.
To open their set at the Outdoor Theatre stage, Vampire Weekend launched into ‘Classical’ – a song taken from their latest studio album ‘Only God Was Above Us’. From there, they performed renditions of ‘Holiday’, ‘Unbelievers’, ‘This Life’ and ‘Diane Young’.
However, it was at the end of their set at the Indio festival that the band turned heads by diving into a country covers medley and bringing out two unconventional guests.
Titled ‘Cocaine Cowboys’, the medley saw the indie veterans start off with their song ‘Married In A Gold Rush’ – taken from their 2019 LP ‘Father Of The Bride’ – followed by Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band’s ‘All The Gold In California’, Gram Parsons’, Flying Burrito Brothers’ ‘Sin City’, Grateful Dead’s ‘Cumberland Blues’ and Phish’s ‘Possum’.
During the middle of the medley, Koeing and co. brought out Paris Hilton and an impersonator of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, to play a game of “gold rush back toss” – better known as ‘Cornhole’.
While on stage, Hilton said she hadn’t played cornhole since her time on the mid-’00s reality show The Simple Life, and she promptly missed her two attempts.
Following the game, security handed out bars of “gold” to the crowd (Chocolate bars wrapped in gold foil), as Koeing told the crowd: “We told you Coachella, it’s golden.”
Watch more clips from the set below, and check out the full Vampire Weekend setlist.
The Paris Hilton cameo during Vampire Weekend’s set wasn’t the Aughts Coachella crossover I expected. But here we are. pic.twitter.com/lU5jMctRln
— Drew Tewksbury (@drewtewksbury) April 14, 2024
Vampire Weekend played:
‘Classical’
‘Holiday’
‘Unbelievers’
‘This Life’
‘Gen-X Cops’
‘Diane Young’
‘Cousins’
‘A-Punk’
‘Married in a Gold Rush’ / ‘All the Gold in California’ / ‘Sin City’ / ‘Cumberland Blues’ / ‘Possum’
Before their last-minute Coachella gig, Vampire Weekend played a special gig to mark the recent total solar eclipse.
Held on April 8, the New York band took to the stage at the scenic Moody Amphitheater in Austin, Texas and played through the solar eclipse. The set included the live debut of new songs and a variety of special guests.
‘Only God Was Above Us’, which was released earlier this month (April 5) and was given a four-star review by NME. “It’s an ambitious concoction of sounds that don’t seem to exist in the same realm, yet intertwine naturally beneath [frontman Ezra] Koenig’s increasingly sullen vocals,” it read.
The band will head out on tour in North America, as well as in Europe, the UK and Ireland this year. Vampire Weekend are due to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton next month.
For more live updates as it happens, check out NME’s liveblog for Coachella 2024 here.
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