Last night Vampire Weekend, Beach House and Dum Dum Girls played at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. Vampire Weekend, as you would expect, played in front of a sold-out crowd. The night kicked off with Los Angeles girl band Dum Dum Girls. The quartet, completely decked out in lace, was a bit disappointing; an energetic ‘Jail La La’ was the only song that raised the heads of the people people that were slowly trickling to their seats. Dum Dum Girls didn’t seem to be opening for Vampire Weekend, rather the next band to take to the bright lights.After a short break, and a quick gander at a youthful trio, Art Decade, sharing a single mic by the bar, I returned to see Beach House hit the stage.
    The Baltimoreans, along with a backing musicians on the drums, guitar and synth, instantly put the crowd, which was rather plump by then, into a deep and glorious daze with a five-minute ‘Walk In The Park’. The chilled out mood drew on until they hit ‘Norway’. The intense strobe lights and overall energy was something that I didn’t expect from the usually glazed over Beach House. This reinvigorated beat carried on throughout the rest of the set. Victoria Legrand’s vocals and hair bounced around the white tent and Alex Scally’s stunning guitar and reverberated throughout. Beach House’s set finished off with a splendid rendition of ‘10 Mile Stereo’, and as with almost every song they played last night it was better than the album version. The Beach House set was truly spectacular, the vivid lights and heavy drums added something that I didn’t find on Teen Dream.

    Twenty minutes after Beach House sauntered off, the New York boys strolled onto the stage to a fresh dose of hip-hop beats before picking up their instruments and hopping into ‘Holiday’. The headliners moved onto flashy hits like A-Punk and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. Then Ezra Koenig autotuned his mic, played around by hitting ridiculous notes before diving into a beat-bopping ‘California English,’ which I really enjoyed although I don’t appreciate it at all on Contra. They then slowed things down a bit, dropped a glowing coastline behind them and slipped into an intimate ‘I Think Ur a Contra.’ Not wanting to dwell on such a relaxed atmosphere, they quickly transitioned into ‘Cousins.’ They moved on, covering Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m Going Down,’ ‘Giving Up The Gun,’ and ‘Oxford Comma,’ before finish their main-set with ‘Mansard Roof.’
    Looking back as they skipped off the stage, the four were soon back on the stage again for an encore, they kicked off the three song set with a popping ‘Horchata.’ Ezra Koenig talked on and on about Vampire Weekend’s close relationship with the city, “Boston holds an important place in the Vampire Weekend universe,” he said wisely after the final note. This connection was manifested in an enthusiastic ‘Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)’. Bassist (and crafty dancer) Chris Baio pointed to the distance as Koenig belted out the city’s landmarks. Leaving the crowd begging for more, the band moved onto their final tune ‘Walcott,’ which is definitely the most invigorating and paciest songs in their repertoire; they sang about leaving Massachusetts, leaving Cape Cod for another city (in this case New York). After four minutes of thumping drums, fiery guitars and soft cello plucks, Vampire Weekend left everyone under the tent, including the Dum Dum Girls sitting next to me, drowned in the satisfaction of a proper dance party.

Vampire Weekend - Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)

Vampire Weekend - Horchata

Beach House - Walk In The Park

Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La

Links // Beach House // Vampire Weekend // Dum Dum Girls