Feb

20

Vampire Weekend - Live @ The Gypsy Hut

Posted by Administrator

February 20, 2008 |

vampireweekend.jpg
(photo credit, from a previous show)
What’s that? The show was a week ago? And there are already two very good reviews out there? Well, no worries, we had our very own live reviewer undercover at the Vampire Weekend show last week here in Cincinnati. Caitlin attended the sold out show and gives us her thoughts below. Thanks Caitlin!

Indie’s buzz band of the month, Vampire Weekend, stopped by in Northside last Wednesday to play to a sold out show at the Gypsy Hut. I wasn’t very familiar with the band, but, like, it was totally Pitchfork-approved, so I felt practically obligated to see what all the hype was about. I gave a few tracks off their self-titled debut a listen before I headed down to the show. Granted, it was cute and refreshing, but I didn’t see it as the godsend that people were raving about. Seeing as I’m still underage, Vampire Weekend brought me to the Gypsy Hut for the first time. The narrow venue was packed with hipsters and 30-somethings when I walked in during Matthew Shelton’s set. I’ve never been especially keen on Matthew Shelton, perhaps because his deep, mellow folk just doesn’t do it for me in the loud, crowded venues in which I’ve seen him play. Instead, I became engaged in conversations with a friend about Ryan Adams and Wilco…so engaged that when we finished talking, I realized the next band (Brooklyn band, Sam Rosen) was almost finished with their set. Oops.

When Vampire Weekend finally took the stage, I became fully aware of the 299 other people that were so tightly packed into the Gypsy Hut. People pushed and compacted themselves to the point that the atmosphere got tense at times. I had no complaints, since, being under five foot, the only thing I was going to be seeing for the next hour was the small of some dude’s back. Nice Members Only jacket, by the way.

The band launched into “Mansard Roof”, the first track off their album. Their performance was solid, with keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij hitting every key with energetic fervor. One song that stood out in particular was “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, a perfect example of the band’s unique use of afro-beats and Life Aquatic-esque harpsichord. And those hand drums? So damn cute. The band also engaged the crowd in a call-and-response to “One (Blake’s Got A New Face).” Overall, their sound was pretty spot-on to what you’d hear from the album. Simple, catchy indie pop, strong vocals, and some killer harpsichord solos. They covered all 12 tracks on the album, with a couple new songs thrown in. Keep in mind that during this time, my face is still in Don Johnson’s back, so occasionally, my friend would describe the on-stage action. For instance, he described the lead singer’s movements at one point as being “herky jerky, like he’s been watching a lot of Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense.”


Afterwards, bass player Chris Baio and drummer Christopher Tomson were signing autographs. Both were very sweet guys, even when one girl pulled Tomson down and kissed him on the neck, much to his embarrassment. When I asked Baio why he decided on Cincinnati, and more importantly, why did the band choose such a tiny venue, he informed me that they had such a great show when they came here in the summer that when they had the opportunity to choose anywhere to play after Toledo, they chose Cincinnati. As for the choice of the venue, the promoter just really liked the Gypsy Hut.

Related Posts:
Coming To Cincinnati - Vampire WeekendRecord Store Day Hangover - Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma (Rehearsal Version)Islands / Pomegranates Live @ Southgate HouseWh!te Girls EP Release Show This WeekendRa Ra Riot Live @ Decibel Lounge

Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. J-Love on February 22, 2008 8:52 pm

    Great review, Caitlin! I was most disappointed with the venue - not really their fault, but 300 people is a lot of bodies to cram into that shotgun show space. You weren’t alone - a lot of the non-vertically challenged folk like myself were unable to see anything as well. Narrow rooms like that always have terrible acoustics.

    Overall, I enjoyed their performance. I know it’s not really their style, but I’d love to hear a wider dynamic from them - I felt like they rarely rise above mezzo-forte. The result, in my opinion, is a general boredom on the sparser, more down-tempo songs (I’m definitely not talking about cuts like “A Punk”).

    I know they just put out an album, but I’m keenly interested to see what they do next.

    PS - Isn’t this really a summer album? It does help brighten up the winter, though.

  2. Islands / Pomegranates Live @ Southgate House : Each Note Secure on March 13, 2008 9:53 am

    […] you recall we got a great live review of the Vampire Weekend a couple weeks ago that ended up vaulting the band into a SNL performance, is that next for Pomegranates? Maybe not […]

  3. blake shelton on March 24, 2008 9:32 pm

    […] and the two singers performed it together Wednesday night March 12 during …www.cmt.comVampire Weekend - Live The Gypsy Hut photo credit, from a previous show What??s that? The show was a week ago? And there are already two […]

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