Vampire Weekend | Red Rocks Amphitheater | July 19th, 2024
Photo Credit: Juli Yanai (instagram — @jbelle.photo)
“Raise your hands if this is your first Vampire Weekend show!” Yelled Ezra Koenig, frontman for the indie rock band. The crowd cheered as hands flew up across the amphitheater.
“Now raise your hands if this isn’t your first Vampire Weekend show!” Koenig yelled again, and as the massive crowd again erupted in cheers, it seemed like almost every hand in the amphitheater could be seen waving through the air.
Vampire Weekend was formed in 2006 by Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio in New York and the group have continued to have a wildly successful career. The current tour for the release of their fifth album, “Only God Was Above Us”, also marks their fifth time performing at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., and the crowd’s response only cemented their status as a staple in indie music.
“Only God Was Above Us”, features songs that don’t stray from their alternative style, experimenting with a mix of electronic, jazz and alternative rock. The album is easy on the ears and lyrically rich, making references to different points throughout history as the band seems to go soul searching through the different time periods.
The 10 track album takes all sorts of unexpected twists and turns, both lyrically and sonically, highlighting the band’s musical prowess while also emphasizing their glimpse into the universe and where they fit among everything. The album is a spectrum of different emotions from quirky and charming to haunting and existential.
And as for their performance at Red Rocks, Vampire Weekend didn’t disappoint.
Standing before the large crowd the band acted as maestro, weaving through timelines with playful ease as they took the audiences with them on a journey through their sonic universe. The performance delved into the band’s own history as well, as they played songs from their entire music catalog, ranging from “Ladies of Cambridge”, to “Harmony Hall” and their latest releases.
Their set was not wildly elaborate, consisting mainly of some simple lighting design and putting the band’s multi-instrumental talents and charisma at the forefront. Throughout the show, the band kept audience members engaged with their charming and at times sensual set that had a wild west twist fit for Colorado’s history of cowboys. The band also performed a track titled “Cocaine Cowboys” for their Colorado audience and engaged the audience in a game of bean bag tossing to go along with the western theme.
Finally, to end the show after a whirlwind performance the band played “Hope”, their longest track to-date (sitting at about 8 minutes long), and finished on a high note. Closing out the song, each member slowly put down their instrument and bid farewell to the stage until only one member remained, playing their guitar to complete the song. After a lively performance, the ending beautifully stressed each performer’s contribution and the final notes of the guitar felt like the last strings of hope that we, as individuals, cling onto.
As the lights dimmed after each member had quietly made their exit, everyone was left pondering questions about existence and standing in silent wonder.
And that was that… Or so we thought.
After a suspenseful silence the band returned to the stage with more surprises in store. Instead of a typical encore, Vampire Weekend opted to test their limits by taking open requests.
“We thought, this is getting too easy.” Koenig explained to the crowd, before asking people to request any song they wanted to hear and giving it their best shot. Among their attempted requests were “Do It Again” by Steely Dan and “The Middle '' by Jimmy Eat World. And to finish out, the band gave a high energy performance of their song “Walcott”, one of my personal favorites.
To say that Vampire Weekend brought an air of magic to the Rocks would be an understatement, and we wish we could go back through their time capsule and do it all over again. The staff at Ultra5280 are sad to see them go, but look forward to the next time Vampire Weekend graces the stage at Red Rocks.
