Vampire Weekend visited the Moody Center in Austin, TX on Thursday and delivered a dynamic set that wove through fan favorites, unexpected deep cuts, and an impressive array of covers as part of its Only God Was Above Us tour.
After an opening set from Cults, Vampire Weekend set the tone for the night at the start of its headlining set with “Mansard Roof”. From there, the band effortlessly navigated between “Holiday” and “Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)”. Fan favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Oxford Comma” reaffirmed the group’s knack for infectious melodies, but Vampire Weekend’s current tour isn’t just about revisiting the group’s beloved hits—this tour has taken on a life of its own, expanding to include a wide array of covers that showcase the band’s influences, versatility, and sense of humor.
Peppered among the main set, the band included SBTRKT’s “New Dorp. New York.”, a contemporary electronic track that featured Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig on the original recording, and “Mountain Brews” by the band of the same name.
The genre-spanning covers didn’t stop there. Later in the night, Blind Melon‘s “No Rain” kicked off an encore of wide-ranging covers requested by fans—a custom of this ongoing tour. Put on the spot, the band typically gets through the chorus of a popular song and perhaps some of a verse before obliging more fan requests, as it did with Frankie Valli‘s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade”.
After subsequent covers of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Eagles, and Paul Simon, the band paid homage to Texas with a rendition of George Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning” and ZZ Top’s classic “La Grange”. Finally, the show wound down with one more cover, Blur‘s “Song 2”, and closed with Vampire Weekend’s own “Walcott”.
This tour has become a celebration of the vast tapestry of music that Vampire Weekend both draws from and adds to. The band’s bold approach to blending original songs with unexpected covers has turned each show into a unique spectacle, where no audience knows what they might hear next. Thursday night’s performance in Austin was a prime example of that, leaving the crowd eagerly anticipating what the band would pull out of its hat next.
Vampire Weekend will keep fans on their toes as the band continues the Only God Was Above Us tour with a sold-out performance at the intimate, 200-capacity Clive Davis Theater at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles tonight, October 21st. After this special evening, the band will head to Europe and the U.K. for a string of performances across the pond. Head here for a full list of upcoming shows and ticketing details.
Click below to view fan-shot footage and a gallery of photos from Vampire Weekend at the Moody Center in Austin, TX courtesy of photographer Lauren Hartmann.
Vampire Weekend – “Mansard Roof” – 10/17/24
[Video: Avery Roelse]
Setlist: Vampire Weekend | Moody Center | Austin, TX | 10/17/24
Set: Mansard Roof, Holiday, Boston (Ladies of Cambridge), Ice Cream Piano, Classical, Connect, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Step, This Life, Sympathy, New Dorp. New York (SBTRKT, Classical tease), Pravda, Horchata, Campus, Oxford Comma, Capricorn, Gen-X Cops, Diane Young, Cousins, A-Punk, Mountain Brews (Mountain Brews), Mary Boone, Hannah Hunt, Harmony Hall, Hope
Encore: No Rain (Blind Melon), Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli), Bulls on Parade (Rage Against the Machine), Moondance (Van Morrison), The Surfer (Chorus only), Big Blue, Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan), Hotel California (The Eagles), Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon), Amarillo by Morning (George Strait), La Grange (ZZ Top), Song 2 (Blur), Walcott
