Vampire Weekend returned to Atlanta on Tuesday night at the Fox Theatre behind their fourth studio album, Father of the Bride, released on May 3rd via Columbia Records.
Opening the show was Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, a 20 year blues guitar phenom from Clarksdale, Mississippi. At first, Kingfish may have seemed a little out of place opening the show for Vampire Weekend. But the young blues sensation, who released his anticipated debut album Kingfish in May via Alligator Records, proved to be a fitting teaser for what was to come. Showing off his raw guitar playing with soulful, deep vocals, Christone and his band played an emotionally moving set of bluesy guitar steeped deep in the Mississippi Delta that dazzled the audience. It’s clear why this young guitarist is already so highly regarded. It a was a beautiful thing to watch him master the Fox Theatre stage.
Vampire Weekend took the stage next with a backdrop of a huge spinning earth from the cover of the new album, their first new album in 6 years, and first with a major label. Father of the Bride is just another step in the amazing evolution of Vampire Weekend, becoming the band’s third consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200.
Beginning their 27 song set with “Bambina” from Father of the Bride, the band mixed it up with hits from each album scattered across their set. In fact, during the encore, lead singer Ezra Koenig even took two audience requests for the next songs they would play, which included a request for Vampire Weekend’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down”.
That was the most audience interaction Ezra had the whole night, before closing the night down with a crowd favorite “Walcott” and promising Atlanta that it won’t be another 6 years until they return. Of course the joke is that Vampire Weekend will be back in Atlanta in just a few short weeks, headlining Music Midtown on Sunday, September 15th. But Ezra made it clear that they will be back in Atlanta again soon beyond just the upcoming festival.
Vampire Weekend’s set in Atlanta pretty much included every song the audience would hope for, the only exception from the new album was “Unbearably White”. But what we heard throughout the 27 song set is a band that has evolved, perhaps into some quite unexpected territory from their beginnings in 2008 with their self titled debut album. At their core Vampire Weekend is still a guitar band, even if their early influences included world music such as Latin punk, raga, dancehall and more.
But what we got in 2019 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta was a jam band at the top of their game, playing through a true headlining set that wowed the audience as they expanded upon even the earliest and shortest songs in their repertoire. It’s not as though the jam in the band hasn’t always been there, as they were doing that on their tour 6 years ago with their last album Modern Vampires of the City. Maybe the 2019 version without Rostem is even jammier? Or maybe it was that Vampire Weekend was playing the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, a stage that’s hosted some of the greatest jam band sets from so many legends over the years. Whatever the magic came from, it was surprising in a way yet stole the audience’s attention with plenty of sing alongs, huge roars, and standing ovations.
There was “Sunflower” a quarter through the set where the guitarist was ripping through a solo that felt like a Widespread Panic set at the Fox before going into some harder rock ‘n’ roll. There was “I Think Ur A Contra” that ended the main set sounding like the Grateful Dead themselves were on stage. There were times you would have thought you were at a Phish show, other times you could have mistaken for being at a Phil Collins concert. Of course at the end of the day as the band tore through so many different songs that showed off influences throughout rock ‘n’ roll history, they continued to do it in their Vampire Weekend way that only they can do, showing off a band that is their own unique brand from anything in the past or today in 2019.
Check out photos from the show by Mike Gerry below:
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UPCOMING VAMPIRE WEEKEND TOUR DATES
08/30/19 — Norfolk, VA — Ted Constant Convocation Center
09/03/19 — Boston, MA — Agganis Arena
09/04/19 — Philadelphia, PA — Mann Center for the Performing Arts
09/06/19 — New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
09/08/19 — Montreal, QC — MTELUS
09/14-15/19 – Atlanta, GA – Music Midtown Festival
09/20-22/19 – Las Vegas, NV – Life Is Beautiful Festival
09/25/19 — Vancouver, BC — Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park
09/27/19 — Seattle, WA — WaMu Theater
09/28/19 — Portland, OR — McMenamins Edgefield
10/01/19 — San Francisco, CA — Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
10/02/19 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl
10/03/19 — San Diego, CA — CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU
10/06/19 — Salt Lake City, UT— The Complex
10/08/19 — Denver, CO— Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/09/19 – Denver, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/18-19/19 – Guadalajara, MX – Festival Coordenada
10/19/19 – Monterrey, MX – Live Out Festival
10/21/19 – Mexico City, MX – Metropolitan Theater
10/22/19 – Mexico City, MX – Metropolitan Theater
11/07/19 – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall
11/08/19 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse
11/09/19 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse
11/11/19 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy
11/13/19 – London, UK – Alexandra Palace
11/14/19 – London, UK – Alexandra Palace
11/16/19 – Paris, France – Le Zenith
11/18/19 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
11/19/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
11/21/19 – Cologne, Germany – Carlswerk Victoria
11/22/19 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks
11/24/19 – Barcelona, Spain – Razzamatazz
11/25/19 – Madrid, Spain – La Riviera
11/26/19 – Lisbon, Portugal – Lisbon Coliseum
12/30/19 – Marion Bay SA, Australia – Falls Festival
12/31/19 – Lorne VIC, Australia – Falls Festival
01/02/20 – Byron Bay NSW, Australia – Falls Festival
01/04/20 – Fremantle WA, Australia – Falls Festival
