Kimya Dawson w/ Angelo Spencer, L'Orchidee D'Hawai April 15th 2008, The Pabst Click photos for larger view /
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Remember, Milwaukee: There's always a Milwaukee connection. The hypothesis held true Saturday night, as Turner Hall welcomed the band whose bassist is related to the man who played "Chachi" on "Happy Days." Vampire Weekend played to an enthusiastic crowd of fans who sang and bounced along to the quartet's Afropop-inspired indie rock. Playing a 45ish-minute set proved to be a bit of a challenge for the young band, with just one album and one EP in its discography. Perhaps it explains why frontman Ezra Koenig chatted up the audience after each and every song. Every audience appreciates acknowledgement from a band, but that much "blah, blah, blahing" broke down any momentum Vampire Weekend began to build. (Between Koenig and keyboard player Rostam Batmanglij, we must have heard at least a half-dozen times that it was Vampire Weekend's first Milwaukee show.) Another jolt to the system came in just the third song when Koenig stopped the band and told the audience he needed another guitar. It was unclear whether the problem was a broken string or Koenig's incorrect guitar choice, but does it matter? Whatever happened to "the show must go on"? Maybe he was just trying to kill time. The New York band certainly has talent and a unique sound (if you chose to forget The Police cultivated it back in the late '70s); the members just need some seasoning and more experience. More material wouldn't hurt either. The band worked through its eponymous album, it's "Mansard Roof" EP and even treated Milwaukee to at least one song from its second, forthcoming album. The quartet closed out the show with the high-energy "Walcott" as the encore. Opening act YACHT proved more interesting than the headliner. The creative alter ego of Jona Bechtolt, one-man YACHT served up enough showmanship the fill the stage and then some and enough sound to fill the hall. He explained his other half was stuck in transit somewhere, but with his electronic-music Read More...
