Vampire Weekend play first ever festival set

Vampire Weekend made their first ever festival appearance at Coachella today (April 25).

The New York band marked their debut playing the festival's Outdoor Theatre in the late afternoon by debuting two new songs.

The band, who all sported shorts except bassist Chris Baio, attracted one of the first big outdoor crowds of the 2008 event, including the likes of Pink and Alicia Silverstone.

Vampire Weekend's new tracks were so fresh the group have yet to definitively name them.

"We've just got some working titles," singer Ezra Koenig told NME.COM, "but we don't want to put them out there yet just in case we change our minds."

Both songs reflected the delicate, intricate nature of the band's album, but included new elements like drum machines, while the first one saw keyboard player Rostam Batmanglij switching to guitar, while the first song's lyrics referenced Manhattan, while the second appropriately enough mentioned California.

The band's first festival set to demonstrate the summer anthem potential of tracks from their self-titled debut album.

"This song is vaguely about being in the desert. It's good to dance to too," the band's frontman told the crowd ahead of 'A-Punk', "but if you feel to hot don't push it!"

The band then tried out a bit of audience participation with 'One (Blake's Got A New Face)'.

"Thanks for been nice to us, we're going to try something," warned Koenig. "I sing 'Blake's got a new face' and people sing it back. You can yell if you want."

Testament to the big crowd the band attracted, the refrain was loudly and warmly screamed back.

They then proved their greater appeal further when a child stepped out of the guests watching from the side of the stage, and stood transfixed behind Batmanglij during 'Kids Don't Stand A Chance', before shaking the keyboard player's hand at the end of the song.

"Thanks so much, and thanks for making us feel at home," Batmanglij told the crowd as the New Yorkers finished with 'Wallcott'.

Vampire Weekend played:

'Mansard Roof'
'Campus'
'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa'
'M79'
'Bryn'
'Boston'
'A-Punk'
'I Stand Corrected'
'New Song'
'One (Blake's Got A New Face)'
'Kids Don't Stand A Chance'
'Oxford Comma'
'Walcott'

Stay tuned to NME.COM for complete coverage of the Coachella Festival with news, blogs and photos throughout the weekend.