Vampire Weekend visited New York City over the weekend for a two-night stint at Madison Square Garden where the band honored two regulars of The Garden: Phish and Billy Joel. The indie-rock-turned-jam trio included songs by both artists during its Saturday–Sunday run at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
What was originally a two-show hometown run in NYC turned into a three-show stay on Thursday when Vampire Weekend played a surprise pop-up show on the sidewalk outside the Time Again bar in Chinatown. That element of surprise persisted through the band’s pair of shows at Madison Square Garden, welcoming producer Ariel Rechtshaid on Saturday for “Capricorn”. Toward the end of the main set, Vampire Weekend paid tribute to Mr. Long Island himself Billy Joel with a cover of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”. The legendary singer-songwriter may have wrapped his record-setting decade-long residency at MSG over the summer, but his music still reverberates through the arena.
Vampire Weekend — “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” (Billy Joel) — 10/5/24
[Video: Michael Tenby]
Surprises are always in store for Vampire Weekend encores, when the band opens up the floor for audience requests. On Saturday, the band took impromptu runs through Steely Dan‘s “Dirty Work”, Fall Out Boy‘s “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, Dolly Parton‘s “Jolene”, more Billy Joel with “My Life”, and more before fittingly closing the show with the Saturday Night Live end credits theme.
Sunday’s concert would have made Jamie Lee Curtis happy with a matinee concert that began at 1:30 p.m. The bright and early crowd was treated to a whimsical main set complete with the “Skaflower” version of “Sunflower”, another appearance by Ariel Rechtshaid who played “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (after the band didn’t know it the night before), and frontman Ezra Koenig singing “Mary Boone” from the stairs. Vampire Weekend also brought out its “Cocaine Cowboys” medley which features, among other things, a snippet of “Possum” by Phish (and the Grateful Dead‘s “Cumberland Blues”).
Vampire Weekend — “Married in a Gold Rush” / “All the Gold in California” / “Sin City” / “Cumberland Blues” / “Possum” — 10/6/24
[Video: lauren’s photo/video account]
Related: Vampire Weekend Plays Phish’s “Chalk Dust Torture” With Mike Gordon In Seattle [Watch]
The band still managed to top its antics during the Sunday matinee encore, opening with the bass-slapping theme to Seinfeld and a timely cover of the “Monster Mash”. Along with songs by Sublime and Frank Sinatra, Vampire Weekend got a special request to play “Mr. Brightside” by none other than The Killers‘ singer Brandon Flowers via video. After more tributes to Ramones, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, and Thin Lizzy, Vampire Weekend ended the weekend on an original note with “Worship You” and “Ya Hey”.
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Check out a gallery of images from Vampire Weekend on Saturday at Madison Square Garden courtesy of photographer Andrew Blackstein along with some fan-shot videos. The band’s tour continues through the month with a run of Southern shows. Find tickets and tour dates here.
Vampire Weekend — Madison Square Garden — New York, NY — 10/5/24 — Full Video
[Video: Chad Sclove]
Vampire Weekend — Encore — 10/5/24
[Video: lauren’s photo/video account]
Setlist: Vampire Weekend | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 10/5/24
Set: Mansard Roof, Holiday, One (Blake’s Got a New Face), Ice Cream Piano, Classical, Connect, White Sky, Step, This Life, Sympathy, New Dorp. New York (SBTRKT), The Surfer, Bambina [1], Giving Up the Gun, Oxford Comma, Capricorn [2], Gen-X Cops, Diane Young, A-Punk, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (Billy Joel), Mary Boone, Harmony Hall, Hope
Encore: This Will Be Our Year (The Zombies), Dirty Work (Steely Dan), Sugar, We’re Goin Down (Fall Out Boy), Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey), Jolene (Dolly Parton), London Calling (The Clash), Karma Chameleon (Culture Club), Jokerman (Bob Dylan), My Life (Billy Joel) [3], Viva la Vida (Coldplay), I’m Goin’ Down (Bruce Springsteen), Walcott, SNL Closing Theme (A Waltz in A) / Flower Moon
[1] Grunge version
[2] with Ariel Rechtshaid
[3] Ariel req’d “Sweet Child O’ Mine” next, but the band did not know how to play it
Setlist: Vampire Weekend | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 10/6/24
Set: Hold You Now, Campus, Bryn, Ice Cream Piano, Classical, Connect, Unbelievers, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, This Life, Everlasting Arms, Sunflower [1], M79, Pravda [2], Run, Diplomat’s Son, Capricorn [3], Cousins, A-Punk, Married in a Gold Rush / All the Gold in California / Sin City / Cumberland Blues / Possum [4], Prep-School Gangsters, Horchata, Mary Boone [5], Hannah Hunt, Harmony Hall
Encore: Seinfeld Theme (Jonathan Wolff), Monster Mash (Bobby “Boris” Pickett), Santeria (Sublime), Theme From New York, New York (John Kander), Mr. Brightside (The Killers) [6], Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones), Burning Down the House (Talking Heads), Wipe Out (The Surfaris), Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush) [7], The Boys Are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy), Worship You, Ya Hey
[1] “Skaflower” version with Super Mario Bros. “Underground” theme interpolated
[2] Ezra had the original Tiecoon sign brought onstage
[3] with Ariel Rechtshaid. Ariel played “Sweet Child o’ Mine” riff to poke fun at the band for the previous night
[4] “Cocaine Cowboys” medley, Ezra gave $700 to a fan during the song for playing cornhole
[5] Ezra singing from the stairs
[6] video request from Brandon Flowers
[7] Chorus played solo by Ezra
Note: This was a matinee performance that started at 1:30 p.m.
