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| Lead singer of Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koeing strums away on his guitar during the band’s performance of “California English”from their second studio album, Contra. |
The concert opened up with Baltimore, Md. based band Beach House.
The indie rock duo of Victoria Legrand (vocals and organ) and Alex Scally (guitar and keyboards) formed in 2004.
Beach House took the stage at approximately 7:30 p.m. and played a set list that lasted around 45 minutes.
Their stage design, which included purple tinted lights and a starry night backdrop, was meant to convey the concept of their third full album entitled Teen Dream.
Teen Dream is the band’s first release after signing onto the Sub Pop record label.
The band’s genre of music has been classified as “dream pop” due to their songs slowed down tempo and atmospheric rhythms that come from the band’s sound structure and haunting harmonies provided by the lead and backing vocalists.
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| Vampire Weekend performs at the Raleigh Amphitheatre on Oct. 17. The performance marked their last show in America before they embark on their world tour. |
This genre of music has remained dormant for years but may be approaching a second generation revival with Beach House currently leading the way.
This was definitely noticeable when the band played the first track off Teen Dream, entitled “Zebra,” which also serves as the inspiration for the design of the album cover. The song has caught on after being used in an episode of the CW’s hit show, Gossip Girl.
It was because of this exposure that many people use this song to get into Beach House and why it was the only song from their set that a substantial number of concert goers recognized and cheered for after only a few notes.
Other than “Zebra,” the band played select songs from all three of their albums, including their first two independent releases, Devotion and their self titled debut.
The band’s blend of ambient sounds and synth pop complemented the headlining act of Vampire Weekend extremely well.
In between sets, the audience was transported to the 90s with bands such as Boys II Men playing on the loud speakers.
Vampire Weekend rushed to the stage with the rap song, “All I do is Win” by Dj Khaled blaring from the speakers.
Vampire Weekend hails from New York City. Each band member attended Columbia University.
The band opened up with “Holiday,” a single from their second album, Contra. Contra has gained high marks in the industry, some even naming it one of the best albums of 2010.
It was also their first album to gain the number one spot on the billboard charts.
The lawn was filled with a subtle dancing mosh pit of fans. The mosh pit was perhaps the most dance synchronized mosh pit ever to appear at a concert.
Vampire Weekend has established themselves as the indie rock band of this generation. With their fast guitar riffs and out of the box lyrics the band can draw just about anyone to their music.
Along with their fast paced riffs, they performed a number of chilled out songs, such as “Taxi Cab” and “Horchata.”
They also performed amost every single from their two studio albums, minus “The Kid Don’t Stand a Chance.”
As a beach ball was being bounced around in the crowd during songs, the band said that this was their first time in Raleigh. “We couldn’t ask for better weather,” lead singer Ezra Koeing said.
Koening also asked the audience to put their hands in the air and wiggle their fingers, “It’s an amazing sea of humanity,” he said.
They played “I think UR a Contra,” from the album Contra. They said it was their last time playing the song in the U.S.
The band contributed a single, “Jonathon Low” to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. The album debuted at number two on the billboard charts in June.
The audience stayed lively and energetic throughout the night, never missing a beat.
They ended the night with three encores, “Horchata,” “Walcott” and “Mansford Roof”.
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