Last Friday, while the cool kids were en route to Indio, the collared-shirt set gathered in to hear Band To Watch Vampire Weekend do their Paul-Simon-meets-the-Walkmen thing in the basement of Brooklyn’s Union Hall. As the bocce balls rolled overhead, the band tore politely through most of the cuts off their demo CD-R demo (notable omission: “Boston” – perhaps in deference to the drubbing going on up at Yankee Stadium?).
Standouts included the African bop of “Mansard Roof,” the skinny-tie burner “A-Punk,” and “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” which lead singer Ezra Koenig dedicated to Metallica before leading the crowd in a spirited call-and-response. It was hard to guess the proportions of homers, buzz-chasers, and friends-of-the-band (Russell from I’m With Rolling Stone gets his own category; he was there, looking downright sober), but more than a few in the packed house knew the chorus to “Walcott,” and the vibe was upbeat throughout. Technical difficulties prevented us from taking pro-style pictures (this is what happens when Amrit goes on assignment: we curl into a fetal position and take pictures of our thumbs), but we were able to gain some insight into the band’s Cape Cod fetish…
They’ve never even been there! Except for Ezra. Once or twice. Apparently, they just like the idea of Cape Cod, which makes sense. Who would want to do the “Jersey Shore Kwassa Kwassa,” anyway? The boys will be playing NY’s Cake Shop on Saturday, the Mass MOCA on Memorial Day weekend (with Freedy Johnston), and the Bowery Ballroom on 6/2. Download two songs here.
[Pic from Flickr/ThatGreenPlant, 4/15/07]
SETLIST
01 “Mansard Roof”
02 “Campus”
03 “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”
04 “M8″ (new song)
05 “Bryn”
06 “A-Punk”
07 “One (Blake’s Got A New Face)”
08 “Collected”
09 “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance”
10 “Oxford Comma”
11 “Walcott”
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oh man. Not only do they all go to Columbia or something, but they insult Jersey, in deference to Cape Cod. C’mon guys, I like your tunes, don’t be such stereotypical private school kids.
Shit, I’m FROM Cape Cod, and I don’t act that way.
I still like their tunes, though. Just don’t be toonces.
Ugh, this band sucks.
For the record, that was our NJ joke, not theirs, so if you’re really sensitive we’ll take the heat. I think we can all agree that Cape Cod and the NJ shore are both excellent places to summer.
A toonces is bad, right?
Ah, well I misread it. Apologies. A toonce is like a mook, only a little more jejune.
Hi all!
I found a live music site which is pretty cool: YouSwitch.tv
You can look at four video streams simultaneously with 4 different camera angles during a live show. You just have to choose the stream you want to watch. (if you want to see the drummer, the guitarist during a solo?) The nice thing is, switching allows you also to create a mixture of individual streams, and thus, you build your own montage of the concert and keep it.
http://www.youswitch.tv
Al.
Can’t stop listening to Oxford Comma.
Oxford Comma Riddim!
rude boys
http://www.myspace.com/theenglishmartyrs