It’s always a tricky situation when bands play new, unreleased material at a concert. On the one hand, people come to hear the songs they know, and on the other hand, people go see a live show to experience something different from the recordings they already own. Luckily, last Thursday at the Fox Theater in Pomona, Vampire Weekend was able to flawlessly weave new tracks in with their memorable favorites.
Vampire Weekend’s opening act, Tanlines, didn’t hit the stage until around 8:45 p.m. The synth-pop duo’s sense of humor and loud indie dance beats kept the crowd entertained while they waited for the main event.
Unfortunately, after Tanlines left the stage, another agonizing half hour went by before Vampire Weekend finally made their appearance at 10 p.m. Few bands could make an audience wait that long and still stay in its good graces, but as soon as Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio launched into the high-speed guitar riff of their 2010 hit, “Cousins,” all was forgiven.
Lead singer Koenig’s unique vocal style sounds almost better live than on the albums, and the sound was mixed perfectly so you could hear his every word, even over the roar of the crowd and the instruments. This is important at a Vampire Weekend show because half of the joy of their music comes from the wit and wordplay of their lyrics juxtaposed with the African-inspired drum beats and energy of the guitars.
The set-list weaved new songs from their upcoming album “Modern Vampires of the City” with tracks from their self-titled debut and their 2010 follow-up, “Contra.” The new songs “Diane Young” and “Unbelievers” show signs of their growth since the release of their first two albums. The preppy upbeat pace of their first album is still there, but there is a darker maturity and complexity to the tracks that the band has gained over the years. The crowd seemed to love the new tracks, even though they didn’t know every lyric by heart like they did with the others.
The Fox Theater is an interesting venue for music because in contrast to the traditional pit section on the floor level, the balcony tickets came with actual seats. If you are someone who has trouble seeing over the tall people in the crowd at concerts, the balcony seats might be a better more comfortable and cheaper option.
Vampire Weekend puts on a fairly short but satisfying performance. The length of the concert is most likely due to the fact that they only have two albums out and their songs rarely go over three minutes. However, in the short time they were on stage, they were able to capture the upbeat energy of their albums, and everyone left impressed. Once “Modern Vampires of the City” is released on May 14, the band will surely be able to add another half hour of fan favorites to their show.