Vampire Weekend cancel gigs for Saturday Night Live

Vampire Weekend have announced the cancellation of a handful of gigs in order to play a set on Saturday Night Live this weekend (March 8).

The band have pulled out of their Florida shows tomorrow (March 5) until March 8 in order to perform on the popular American television programme. They'll resume their tour in Atlanta on March 9.

In a posting on the band's MySpace page, drummer Chris Tomson wrote: "We have been invited to play on next Saturday's (3/8) SNL, and were honored to accept!

"Unfortunately, this means we'll have to postpone our appearances in Orlando and St. Augustine and cancel our set at the Langerado festival. The Walkmen will still be playing on those dates. We are looking forward to meeting up with them in Atlanta and continuing our regularly scheduled tour."

Tomson also spoke about the accident he was involved in last week in London after the NME Shockwaves Awards in which he was hit by a car.

He said, "I would sincerely like to thank everyone who lent me their support and good vibes. I feel incredibly lucky to have sustained only minor injuries, and would also like to thank the Royal London Hospital (Dr. Lewinsohn!) for taking care of me.

"I'm currently recuperating with a steady diet of Nando's chicken and Tom Petty, who, appropriately, pointed out that even walls fall down."

--By our Los Angeles staff.
Find out more about NME.


The NME Awards USA 2008 are coming soon -- and it's time to have your say. Vote now by heading to [url=http://www.nme.com/usaawards ]Nme.com/usaawards [/url]and you could win VIP tickets to the ceremony, which takes place in Los Angeles on April 23.

Vampire Weekend tickets: