New York City-based and critically-acclaimed indie rock band Vampire Weekend are kicking off their North American tour, in promotion of their latest album, Father of the Bride, and it has been 6 years since their last release in 2013, Modern Vampires of the City, and when they went on the road. After winning a Grammy in 2014 for Best Alternative Music Album and working to develop better music for their fans, they finally decided to go on tour after their latest release and decided to bring Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock collective, Chicano Batman, on the first part of their tour. The first stop that they reached, fortunately, was no other than Toronto, and they performed at the well-known RBC Echo Beach.
During the start of the show, Chicano Batman came out and started off with their song, Jealousy, which is one of their more soft, intimate, tracks. Bardo Martinez, the lead singer of the band, came in a five-piece band (with all 4 original members, and a female pianist for the tour) and performed a variety of psychedelic, tropical songs. The next track, Flecha al Sol (translated in English, Arrow to the Sun) is one of their more band-inspired tracks, due to their Mexican culture and variety to speak Spanish in some songs. Bardo infused English and Spanish to indicate his wording at times. For their last song, Run, Martinez got more vibrant with the crowd and moved around a variety of times. During the midpoint of the track, Bardo jumped a couple of times for joy and crouched a couple of times. Overall, the fans seemed more mellow and satisfied when they performed, and it was something that I enjoyed as well.
Up next, Vampire Weekend came in a 7-piece ensemble with 3 of the original band members, 1 guitarist, 2 drummers, and a pianist for their tour. With a big portrait of the planet Earth, which symbolizes their album cover, Father of the Bride, as their backdrop, the band seemed fairly excited and the band’s lead singer, Ezra Koenig, said at the end of their second song, ‘Unbelievers’: “Hello Toronto, it’s been a while.” The band performed a couple of tracks, such as Harmony Hall and Unbelievers, in which they brought great energy with their stage presence as each band member did their quirky, joyful action on each part.
Ezra delivered an amazing vocal performance, as he performed each softer track with much enunciation and joy in each verse. He also showcased each members’ unique style, especially with the guitarists solo parts and the way they interact with each other. Even with their third track, Holiday, the fans were also quite excited and happy when the band performed, as each band member brings exactly what they want in a show. Overall, there was so much positivity and love in the crowd, as well as in the stage as well, and it was something to enjoy.
The band also performed a cover of Paul Simon’s Late in the Evening, and SBTRKT’s New Dorp, New York. As for their encore, the band performed tracks like Big Blue, Hannah Hunt, A-Punk, Worship You, and Ya Hey. Vampire Weekend will still continue on their North American tour up until October 8th, 2019 at Denver, Colorado at Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre. They will do their Mexico tour dates until October 22nd, 2019 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Mexico City, MX. For their European tour, they will perform until November 19th, 2019 at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, NL. You can keep up with the schedule at https://www.vampireweekend.com/.
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Vampire Weekend
Chicano Batman
By: Joshua Habtwold | Exclusively for @Music, Why Not!
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