Vampire Weekend – Total Solar Eclipse Concert

Clouds swirled above Austin on April 8th, 2024 – the day of a total solar eclipse for a stretch of the United States. Throngs of people below massed at Moody Amphitheater for the opening ceremony of Vampire Weekend’s upcoming tour and release show for their fifth studio album, the music paused in anticipation of the celestial miracle. Seconds ticked by, totality passed above the clouds. For one, brief moment, a break in the coverage, the eclipse shined through: Only God Was Above Us.

Vampire Weekend debuted a number of OGWAU songs at their release show at Austin’s Moody Amphitheater – skipping Prep School gangsters, Pravda, Mary Boone, and The Surfer (I missed half of the new ones while waiting in line for merch and an 18 dollar miller lite). A track by track deep dive on the new album is already available at Gone Gazing, btw.

Ezra Koenig remarked on the eclectic mix of t-shirts amidst the crowd, vintage Vampire merch mixed in with Time Crisis bootlegs sprawled across the venue, everyone additionally carrying Vampire Weekend branded eclipse glasses for the occasion. The Crisis Crew was also in the building, Jake Longstreth and gang walking around before the show, and I found myself next to Winter in line at security while wearing my “Sonic Says No to Fascists and Racism” tie dyed grail.

Opening the show with the first two songs off the new record was an electric start, sure to be used again throughout the upcoming tour. In honor of the eclipse, they played as many sun and moon related songs they had, including the Steve Lacy numbers “Sunflower” and “Flower Moon” and their Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack feature “Jonathan Low”. The live debut of “Connect” was stunning, putting to work the original Vampire Weekend trio along with their new touring band mates.

Koenig invited a handful of special guests onstage: Thomas Mars of Phoenix playing his song with Koenig “Tonight” for the first time with both of them live, a Chromeo cover with Dave 1, and past touring member Brian Robert Jones hopping on for a “Harmony Hall” solo.

The band debuted a new medley called “Cocaine Cowboys” – a dynamic rearrangement of “Married in a Gold Rush” with classic country songs mashed in. Their stage tech came out to play a round of cornhole, and on successfully nailing one bean bag toss, gold-wrapped chocolate bars were flung into the crowd as a prize – gold rush!

And for the grand finale, what else could it be besides “Walcott”?

While storms obscured most of the sky, the crowd stole a few glimpses of totality in between the set break. Celebrating his 40th birthday, Ezra Koenig and company put on a once in a lifetime show underneath a total solar eclipse, ushering in a new era for Vampire Weekend and promising an amazing run of shows in the coming months.

Only God Was Above Us, five albums in stores now.