Vampire Weekend have played a special gig to mark the recent total solar eclipse – see what surprises the band had in store below.
Last night, the New York band took to the stage at the scenic Moody Amphitheater in Austin, Texas at approximately 6pm BST and played through the solar eclipse, treating those in attendance to a handful of surprises from debuting new songs live and special guests joining them for covers.
Kicking off with Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of The Heart’ playing on the speakers as the band took to the stage, they opened the show with the live debut of ‘Ice Cream Piano’, off their newly released album ‘Only God Was Above Us’.
Other songs from ‘Only God Was Above Us’ that got their live debuts during Vampire Weekend’s special eclipse gig include ‘Connect’, ‘Gen-X Cops’, and album closer ‘Hope’. ‘Hope’ was performed after the band took a break to watch the eclipse with those in attendance.
Absolutely unbelievable moment. @vampireweekend took a break from their INSANE set, and the moment the clouds parted enough to see the eclipse, everyone just went ballistic. https://t.co/9Ywxm7AdsA pic.twitter.com/4nT03iSbtF
— Michael Adkison (@madkisonews) April 8, 2024
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Later in the show, Vampire Weekend invited Phoenix‘s Thomas Mars onstage to perform ‘Tonight’ from Phoenix’s 2022 record ‘Alpha Zulu’, and features Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig on guest vocals. This also marks the first time the pair have performed the song live together.
Following ‘Tonight’, Chromeo‘s Dave 1 joined them onstage to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Koenig, who was celebrating his 40th birthday. After, Dave 1 performed Chromeo’s ‘Needy Girl’ with Koenig and Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend played:
‘Ice Cream Piano’ (live debut)
‘Classical’
‘Unbelievers’
‘Cap Cod Kwassa Kwassa’
‘Holiday’
‘White Sky’
‘Connect’ (live debut)
‘Sunflower’
‘Capricorn’
‘This Life’
‘Gen-X Cops’ (live debut)
‘Diane Young’
‘Cousins’
‘Jonathan Low’
‘Flower Moon’
‘Hope’ (live debut)
‘Tonight’ ft. Thomas Mars (Phoenix cover)
‘Needy Girl’ ft. Dave 1 (Chromeo cover)
‘Harmony Hall’
‘Oxford Comma’
‘A-Punk’
‘Married in a Gold Ranch’/’All the Gold in California’/’Sin City’/’Cumberland Blues’/’Possum’
‘Walcott’
‘Only God Was Above Us’, which was released last Friday (April 5). In a four-star review, NME wrote: “It’s an ambitious concoction of sounds that don’t seem to exist in the same realm, yet intertwine naturally beneath [frontman Ezra] Koenig’s increasingly sullen vocals.”
The band will head out on tour in North America, as well as in Europe, the UK and Ireland this year. Vampire Weekend are due to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton next month.
Other festival appearances for the season include Primavera Sound, Kilby Block Party and Hinterland.