Click here for the slideshow, also by Andrew Youssef!
The Hype: Can you feel it? It's Coachella fever. It strikes Southern California a few days prior with warm up shows dotting various venues, as bands tune up for their moment under the sun. Pomona was extremely happening for a Wednesday night with a sold out Vampire Weekend show at the Fox Theater and Deerhunter packing in the folks at the Glass House.
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The Show: A gigantic line of fans snaked the circumference
of the Fox Theater as the marquee was affixed with a sold out
designation. Chants of Vampire Weekend started to emanate from crowd.
The electronic hand claps of “White Sky” started to tumble over the
audience as Ezra Koenig slid in front of his microphone to sing while
delicately plucking out the guitar notes on his Epiphone hollowbody.
keyboards ignited the crowd on the floor to start dancing during
“Holiday” as Chris Baio kept the rhythm humming with his Rickenbacker
bass. Released in January, their second album Contra hit the
number one spot on the Billboard 200 and all those people who purchased
the album were definitely in the building. Koenig asked the crowd to
sing along during “M79” requesting for more “Del Taco and less Baja
Fresh.”
with the beat during “Bryn.” A ramped up version of “California English”
was slick enough to make me forget about the autotuned vocals. Koenig
dedicated “Cousins” to the special people in our lives whether they be
your “first or second.” It was impressive to see Koenig and Rostam
Batmanglij harmonize their guitars during the tremolo breakdown.
was slightly depressing to see the stripped down mellow vibe of “Taxi
Cab” get ruined by the inordinate amount of camera flashes and cell
phones in the air–have some respect, people. The amusing lighting trick
of the evening occurred during “Run” when the eyes of female pictured on
the cover their album glowed a demonic red. One can envision the sea of
people going crazy at Coachella judging by the amount of dancing during
“A-Punk.”
Son,” a fist pumping “Giving Up the Gun” and a medley of “Campus” and
“Oxford Comma” brought their main set to end. For the encore, “Horchata”
was as refreshing as it sounds with the crowd singing along. A two
minute blast of “Mansard Roof” and “Walcott” had Koenig wondering out
loud if it will be any better at Coachella. Good thing is that I will be
there to find out.
sea of girls on the front barricade and outnumbering guys almost 4:1.
My suspicions of a Coachella crowd were proved wrong judging by the
lukewarm response of who was going to Coachella when the question was
posed by Koenig.
gushed to her friend “I told you they were amazing!” In case you don't
believe the hype, they will return to the Hollywood Bowl in September.
Impressive.
