Vampire Weekend make live return with surprise LA appearance

The band played two songs at a show hosted by HQ's Scott Rogowsky

Vampire Weekend made their live return with a surprise LA appearance earlier this week.

Aside from some performances at Bernie Sanders rallies in 2016, the New York band have not played live since appearing on the main stage at Reading & Leeds in 2014.

On Monday night (April 23), the group turned up at LA’s Largo Theater for Running Late, a show hosted by HQ Trivia presenter Scott Rogowsky. Pitchfork reports frontman Ezra Koenig was booked to be a guest at the show, alongside comedians Nick Kroll and Sarah Silverman, but the whole band showed up to play two songs.

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Rogowsky has since confirmed Vampire Weekend played ‘Unbelievers’, taken from their last album ‘Modern Vampires Of The City‘, and ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, which featured on their 2008 self-titled debut. The latter segued into a cover of The Beatles‘ ‘Here Comes The Sun’.

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#MartyMemes with @arze

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According to fans who were present at the show, the band features a new line-up following the departure of founding member Rostam Batmanglij. Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, and drummer Chris Tomson are now reportedly joined by a percussionist, keyboard player, and lead guitarist. There has been no confirmation at present whether these players will be permanent fixtures in the band.

Vampire Weekend are currently working on their fourth album, which has the working title ‘Mitsubishi Macchiato’. Koenig told a fan on Twitter in September 2017 that the record was “80% done but the last 20% is always the hardest”.

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The band have confirmed a handful of festival dates for this summer, with an appearance at Australia’s Splendour In The Grass currently their first proper show back. They will also play at Fuji Rock in Japan, Chicago’s Lollapalooza, and Salisbury’s End Of The Road.

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