Live Review: Vampire Weekend - Victoria Warehouse 08/11/2019

In support of their latest album ‘Father of the Bride’, Vampire Weekend played a career spanning setlist on their first night of two sold-out shows at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. Proving they are so much more than the ‘A-Punk’ days, we were certainly given a festival headliner worthy performance.

It had been a long wait for fans in the UK to see Vampire Weekend again, prior to the gig they hadn’t played a show in Manchester for 6 years, so this tour was long overdue, but very much worth the wait! With Orchestral music playing beforehand and the venue full to the brim, it was nearly time for the New York City based band to show Manchester what we’d been waiting for.

Support act Songhoy Blues were unable to perform at both nights in Manchester due to ‘circumstances beyond our control’, and with no last-minute support slot up for grabs, instead, we were treated to an earlier stage time and a much longer set from Vampire Weekend.

Appearing on stage with a seven person strong band, two drum kits and a whole lot of energy, a well-established Vampire Weekend had arrived! Opening with new album track ‘Bambina’, much loved songs ‘Unbelievers’, ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ and ‘White Sky’ came next. This was just a taster of what the rest of the show was going to involve, one song from each album for the opening tracks left the crowd with a lot of anticipation.

“Hi Manchester, it’s been a while”, singer Ezra Koenig eventually addressed the crowd and in return got huge appreciation. As expected, ‘Father of the Bride’ stood firmly on the setlist, with the first half of the show pretty much dedicated to this, playing ‘Sympathy’, ‘Rich Man’ and ‘My Mistake’ back to back. Although after new single ‘This Life’ we had an epic throwback to the songs that made us fall in love with Vampire Weekend.

‘Horchata’ came before second ever single ‘A-Punk’, which saw fans on shoulders and phones in the air recording. In the midst of excitement hearing new songs and old faves, I almost forgot about this song, but it brought back instant memories. Being played in nightclubs across the North of England probably isn’t what Vampire Weekend ever expected from the song, but it’s one that you can’t ever get sick of. Although the song helped them rise to fame, over the years they have proven to be so much more than ‘A-Punk’. 

Fast forward to 2019, the band now demonstrates a career spanning setlist, a 2-hour long set, jam packed with memories and fan favourites. The band were comfortable in the knowledge they were playing to a room full of fans who had been there since the early days. 

Highlights came in the second half of the set, which saw upbeat singles ‘Diane Young’, ‘Cousins’, ‘Oxford Comma’ played back to back, before going into a long instrumental rendition of ‘Sunflower’, this eventually led to the band going off for an encore.

After playing ‘Big Blue’, Ezra Koenig started taking requests from the crowd, the bands full back catalogue was on offer and it was in the hands of those who Ezra had handpicked to decide, no pressure at all. Picking fans often for wearing old merch, the band where ready for anything! This gave us the chance to see some absolute bangers that wouldn’t usually be on a setlist. The first request was ‘Boston – (Ladies of Cambridge)’, a bonus track on the bands self-titled debut album, what a throwback! The second was a Crowded House cover of ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, a track the band had played at a recent show in Cleveland. There was still time for one more request, what could it be? ‘Campus’ was the song of choice and big thanks to whoever requested this as it’s always been a personal favourite!

Final song ‘Walcott’ saw two huge ‘Father of the Bride’ blow up Earths thrown into the crowd, fans were almost too busy dancing to keep them afloat.

What we have here is Vampire Weekend at their best. A band who have been around for over a decade, 4 albums in, they have established themselves with a loyal fanbase and a pristine live show, which offers a guaranteed good time. What’s next we don’t know, but the band certainly wouldn’t be out of place for a 2020 UK festival headline slot. Could it happen?

Words and Photography by Abbie Jennings