I have been a fan of Vampire Weekend from the very beginning. I instantly fell in love with the cheerful melodies, playful keyboards, and Ezra’s perfect falsetto. Every time Vampire weekend came to D.C., I made sure to go to their shows. In fact, Vampire weekend was my daughter’s first concert when she was 10 years old. Vampire Weekend was a house-hold name – we played them regularly and enjoyed every one of their albums.
Now, 6 years after their album, Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend have returned, but not quite the same as when we left them in 2013. I remember the day the new single came out. I was very excited, but when I heard it, I wasn’t overly impressed. “Harmony Hall” was the first song that I heard, and ironically, it sounded very much like a Vampire Weekend song. So, why didn’t I instantly love it? In looking back, I think I was hoping for something different. What I was hoping for, I wasn’t sure. However, I didn’t want a repeat of all their previous albums. After hearing that single, I allowed the excitement for the new album fade, and I just left it at “Harmony Hall”.
The Father of the Bride Tour
Then earlier this summer, Vampire Weekend announced their tour and upcoming show at Merriweather Post Pavilion. I was instantly jolted back into the feelings of excitement. So, I signed up to photograph the show and immediately purchased tickets for the family. I was unbelievably excited for this show, even though I knew that the new line-up was missing a key member, Rostam Batmanglij. I went without having heard much of their new material but was anticipating a great show regardless.
The show at Merriweather on August 29thwas so much fun and it was at this show that I was truly introduced to the new album, Father of the Bride. The setlist included 10 tracks from this album, in addition to classic Vampire Weekend songs such as “Mansard Roof”, “Diane Young”, and “A-Punk”. For the encore, Ezra took requests from the audience (which was pretty awesome) and included “Hannah Hunt” and “Diplomat’s Son”. They ended their show with a religious-themed combo: “Worship You” (which hasn’t been performed live often) and “Ya Hey”. Despite hearing so many of my favorite Vampire Weekend songs at this performance, the new songs were what stuck with me the most. Therefore, I picked up their latest album at the merch booth and gave it a proper listen.
Reflections on Father of the Bride
Rather than do a song-by-song review of this album, I want to share my thoughts on the album as a whole, as well as a few stand out songs. However, I do recommend listening to this album all the way through, from start to finish, a few times to take it in.
Hold You Now
“Hold You Now” is an interesting song to open this album. There is a peacefulness about the music that contrasts with sadness in the lyrics. This song is a duet with Ezra and Danielle Haim. The song begins with Erza singing to an acoustic guitar – the faint sounds of birds chirping, and then transitions to his spoken word, “Alright”. Haim’s portion of the duet is reminiscent of a Loretta Lynn song, and the acoustic guitar is joined by the faint sound of a lap steel.
In between the two parts of the song (and rounded out the end) Ezra includes a sample from Hans Zimmer‘s Melanesian choral song, “God Yu Takem Laef Blong Mi”, from the 1998 war film The Thin Red Line. The translation of the choral selection is “God take my life and let it be, Consecrated Lord to thee; Take my hands and let them move, At the impulse of your love.” I find this an interesting section to sample as it holds a bit of meaning to the lyrics, but it also provides an element of beautiful sadness in the music. To end the song, we get Ezra saying “Alright” again – as if to say, let’s get this started. “Hold You Now” is the perfect song to start this album, in my opinion.
Sympathy
Vampire Weekend has restructured their line-up a bit. Ezra Koenig and fellow co-founding members, bassist Chris Baio and drummer Chris Tomson have been joined by new touring members, guitarist Brian Robert Jones of Human Natural and keyboardist/guitarist Greta Morgan of Springtime Carnivore. The addition of Jones really does take this band to the next level in my opinion. Overall, the band sounds a bit “looser” on stage and not so “scripted”. This was most noticeable in the performance of “Sympathy”. On stage at Merriweather, the band took the time to let this song roll with a bit of a jam session towards the end. This song steps out of the standard sound of Vampire Weekend and explores jazz-funk and jam rock which was great to hear from this band. The recorded version features guitarist, Steve Lacy; however, touring guitarist, Brian Robert Jones made this song a hit for me the night of the show.
How Long?
I cannot get enough of this song. You have this catchy bass line alone with Ezra’s vocals, right from the start. Then you get a little hint of funky guitar combined with a sing-song keyboard melody. After the first verse, the song drops the rhythm of the drums along with some fun sound effects. Instantly, you want to sway and dance. The song changes dynamics throughout keeping it interesting. “How Long?” is your typical Vampire Weekend song with a bit more jazz, and I love it!
Rich Man
Have you ever heard a song and fell instantly in love? This was how it was for me when I heard “Rich Man”. It’s a very simple tune, yet compelling. The most striking moment of this song comes in nearly mid-way through, after 4 short verses. There is a very old and classic feel that seems to come from the deep bass and airy strings along with the guitar repeating throughout the entire song. When I started doing a little research on this song, I found that it included samples from S.E. Rogie, a singer/song writer from Republic of Sierra Leone, a country on the southwest coast of Africa. His contributions to this song are what make it beautiful and impressive that Ezra Koenig wrote a song including music from this musician.
These are only a few songs that I selected to discuss; however, the album as a whole is fantastic. I have listened to it all the way through several times now and the more I hear it, the more I love the small pieces within the recording that make it spectacular. I’m thankful that the setlist at the Merriweather show included so many songs from this new album because it prompted me to give the new album a proper listen, and Father of the Bride is easily becoming one of my favorite albums.
Here are some photos from Vampire Weekend performing at Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 29th. All photos copyright and courtesy of Shantel Mitchell Breen.
