Jun 17

Jun 17 Review: Vampire Weekend at Asheville Yards

Considering Vampire Weekend’s unlucky recent history with this area, their mere presence at Asheville Yards on June 9 was a major victory.

The night marked the band’s first local show since making its North Carolina debut at The Orange Peel in 2010 — but not for lack of trying. As frontman Ezra Koenig noted from the mic, the indie rock favorites were supposed to be the first act at the outdoor venue in 2020 when it was known as Rabbit Rabbit. (“You know what happened,” Koenig deadpanned.) Then they were all set to try again last October. (“You know what happened,” Koenig repeated.)

Now that the third time was indeed the charm, neither attendees nor the headliners were about to let a little rain ruin their night. In the wake of a thunderous opening set from Geese — thankfully sans actual, venue-evacuating thunder — Koenig (vocals/guitar) and fellow founding members Chris Tomson (drums) and Chris Baio (bass) got things started with a delightful, back-to-basics mini set of early jams “Cousins,” “I Stand Corrected,” and “One (Blake's Got a New Face).”

Throughout this stripped down trio performance, additional sounds from the familiar studio recordings were audible — albeit not discernibly triggered by the artists themselves. Were these accoutrements being piped in or were these guys just really skilled at disguising foot sample activation or other legerdemaine?

The answer arrived soon enough as the subtle intro to “Ice Cream Piano” gave way to its rollicking second verse and the giant “Vampire Weekend” emblazoned curtain behind the trio was torn away, revealing a five-piece backing band on risers.

Abracadabra, indeed — and as the proverbial smoke cleared, this production quickly established itself as the real deal. Instead of, say, activating a sax sample in the breakdown of “Classical,” Colin Killalea played the part. And in the numerous baroque-pop, string-heavy moments that have given Vampire Weekend’s music an edge over many of its contemporaries for nearly 20 years, Ray Suen swooped in with live violin.

As the group shared more tracks from its 2024 album, Only God Was Above Us, and sprinkled in well-curated selections from their previous four LPs, the big, complex sounds — rounded out by Will Canzoneri (keyboards), Garrett Ray (drums), and Brian Robert Jones (rhythm guitar) — remained consistent, as did the light-to-moderate downpour. True to its reputation, the rain oddly united fans in their mutual appreciation of the artists on stage, promoting a more dedicated attention than sunny skies tend to bring and creating a comparably kind and gentle yet less distraught community than the post-Helene Flerd Fam. Water can indeed be healing, and this mostly gentle reminder wasn't taken for granted.

The reclaimed hydro fun then took on a goofy surprise form with Father of the Bride cut “Married in a Gold Rush” inspiring an extended faux ’70s-style game show stretch in which country rock instrumentation accompanied a fan playing a cornhole knockoff called (what else?) Gold Rush and receiving $700 in cash from Koenig for her efforts.

Closing things out with “Mary Boone,” “Harmony Hall,” and “Hope” — arguably its three best songs from the past two albums — Vampire Weekend returned to the stage for its current encore tradition of playing covers by request. Though fans on stage left chanted “Rock Lob-ster! Rock Lob-ster!” in almost surely audibly fashion, Koenig & crew ignored them and opted for entertaining snippets of “Born to Run” (Bruce Springsteen), “Roxanne” (The Police), “I Want You Back” (The Jackson 5), “Say It Ain't So” (Weezer), “I Can See Clearly Now” (Johnny Nash), “Jolene” (Dolly Parton), “Ironic” (Alanis Morissette), “Ants Marching” (Dave Matthews Band), and “The Only Boy Living in New York” (Simon & Garfunkel).

“Is this the best or worst part of the show?” Koenig cheekily asked. Though an impressive showcase of quick-thinking talent, the experiment paled in comparison to a more prepared set of full-song covers — and the band’s own stellar originals. As such, the shift to “Walcott” (still Vampire Weekend’s greatest hit) proved that the band understands the power of its creations and that performing one of their best is the greatest way to cap off nearly three hours of high-quality rock music.

(Photos by Jonny Leather)