Vampire Weekend at Madison Square Garden [photos + review]

Photos + Article by Will Oliver

Vampire Weekend returned to New York this weekend takeover of Madison Square Garden, performing two shows that saw them play Saturday night and a unique matinee show early on Sunday afternoon (which they also did at Webster Hall in 2019). These shows of course came in support of their new album Only God Was Above Us.

We were in attendance for both shows and photographed the night 1 performance on Saturday – their first time playing a headlining hometown show since they played the Garden in 2019. There was an energy of high anticipation just wandering the street prior to the show.

To mark the occasion in honor of New York and MSG Vampire Weekend asked Florida-based Billy Joel tribute band Turnstiles open things up, kicking off their set as fans began filing into the arena as doors opened. It was a wholesome and gracious way to start the evening, followed by a DJ set from Mark Ronson.

These days Vampire Weekend’s live lineup has expanded tremendously since the depearture of Rostam Batmanglij. But to open the show they turned back to clock to their old days with just the OG lineup of Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, and Chris Tomson playing in front of a giant curtain, leading off with a trio of old favorites – “Mansard Roof”, “Holiday” and “One (Blake’s Got a New Face).”

The curtain fell in dramatic fashion revealing the full lineup and stage set up as they ripped into an energetic performance of the new record’s opening cut “Ice Cream Piano”, and straight into “Classical” which saw the band’s guitar tech perform the same dance that he does in the song’s video.

From there they cut through a handful of new album songs as well as old favorites such as “Giving Up The Gun,” which Koenig told the crowd they haven’t been playing quite as frequently. The setlist features a 90s-esque alt versino of “Bambina” that was a personal standout, as well “Oxford Comma”, “A-Punk” that got the crowd going as one would expect.

The Billy Joel themed night didn’t end with Turnstiles, as the band did a faithful cover of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” that featured a table, two dining patrons, and a waiter to really set the scene. The encore featured a series of fan requested covers that the band have been embracing through the tour, with quick snippets and breezy light covers of everything from Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work”, Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”, The Clash’s “London Calling” and Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down.”

It was hard to believe it had been nearly a half decade since the band last played in New York City but it was as grand of a homecoming as one could hope and had me eager to head back to The Garden in just 12 hours time to catch the matinee performance.

Find a full gallery of photos from both Vampire Weekend and Turnstiles, along with the setlist.

Turnstiles: