The four college get-out kids of Vampire Weekend took to the stage of the conspicuously spacious yet sold-out Palace Theatre amid pleasant applause and shouts emanating from a university student crowd apparently adept at blurring the fine nerd-to-indie line. The harder, perhaps more indie-sided, cliques who’d braved the usual hours of waiting (interrupted by a set from the Australian Cloud Control), crowded, delighted, the immediate landing in front of front man Ezra Koenig.
The band opened to a vibrant, vivid portrait of Manhattan (White Sky) immediately followed by the upbeat Holiday and A-Punk as Koenig attempted to incite some energy into the all-too-cool kids in attendance. The New Yorkers skipped around the stage, under flashing lights and dazzling, low-hanging chandeliers, as the crowd sat back admiring the quality of the refrain rather than involving themselves in any form of participation.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa drove the girls in the audience if nothing else, followed by pacier, and undoubtedly superior versions of One (Blake’s Got A New Face), Bryn and I Stand Corrected. The revised, wilder tempo invited dance and had those readily inclined bouncing along with the band. While the crowd favourite Oxford Comma had many singing and swaying but, despite Koenig’s efforts to get all involved, wasn’t overtly received by the majority in the Palace.
The introduction of the much maligned California English didn’t help his cause. Here the front man struggled to keep pace without the help of auto-tune. The crowd fell flat. Then as if having predicted a desired rest for the boppers, the set slowed into Contra’s second half as Diplomat’s Son, Giving Up The Gun and a cold, mellow and ultimately unsuccessful Horchata were rolled out.
The band reappeared for Mansard Roof with Ezra lecturing the crowd “I want some level of movement from all of you, this one is just two minutes” His American accent almost pleading with the Melbournians “Even if you just move a finger, it’s only two minutes”. There was energy in the room, but it seemed many in the class would be too self-conscious for school. Mansard Roof made way for him to finally say their last song was aptly about leaving and that they were Vampire Weekend. There was a hint of resignation. Walcott was briskly shot out, bright and buoyant, and a perfect tune to round out their set; but unable to atone for the preceding lack of enthusiasm and involvement from the audience.
Had the gig been in a warehouse with friends amongst friends in the backstreets of Fitzroy, you'd envisage an utterly ballistic crowd getting their kicks from every single beat pumped out by the American Quartet. Yet in the surrounds of fellow nerd/indie peers, in the more formal setting of Bourke Street, feeling for the nearest seat and railing had been preferential to letting loose for most.
Noticeably lacking were the band’s slower songs The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance and the title-track of their second album, Contra. The two tracks evidently didn’t fit the tempo of the show they’d aspired for, but both serve a purpose in grounding and giving a narrative to the respective albums. The introduction of these songs into the night could have helped fuse the crowd with the band rather than leaving a distinct disparity. Ultimately there was very little apart from tune after tune belted out, and “we’re Vampire Weekend”.
Stadium thrashers they are not. Indie kids of definite quality they are. Vampire Weekend need stay true to their foundations rather than attempting to stretch themselves to a different genre and pursue a Killers type road. The last thing they want to do is to further alienate their fans.
