![]() | mariecrisss: @jazmyneemaile and then we can all pitch in for a houseboat(; hahaha so we wouldn't have to rent one! Haha or use Kuya jims Yacht! Ahaha about 16 minutes ago |
![]() | JimmyAge: Am I buggin or is GhostFace's song Guesthouse the same beats as Ross's Yacht Club? about 19 minutes ago |
![]() | lele1222: hmmm NEVER walking Chachi outside at night EVERRR by myself/ and or without pepper spray. about 4 hours ago |
![]() | Continental_AJ: Or should I buy a yacht? about 8 hours ago |
| WishInteriors: Rock stars apply . Your designs on real leather for your car, yacht or furniture.www.wishinteriors.com about 13 hours ago |
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Vampire Weekend. |
| By Velia Bolda Special to OnMilwaukee.com Photography by CJ Foeckler E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Velia Bolda |
| Published April 6, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. |
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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-producing laptop and charisma, she was hardly missed. When YACHT worked the crowd, he did a goofy Q&A, answering that his favorite color is sea foam green (excellent choice), that he was not single and that he attended Catholic school but was no longer Catholic. Now that's the kind of stuff that woos an audience.
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6 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Posted by webuiltanotherworld on May 15, 2008 at 3:28 p.m. (report)
you've got to be kidding me. yacht was awesome. he has such a great talent of creativity. i was up in the front and everyone was dancing during his performance.
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Posted by Bettybcool on April 8, 2008 at 2:21 p.m. (report)
Vampire Weekend woo'ed me! I enjoyed how we got clarification on a few of their lyrics! That other guy that opened needs to lay off the meth.
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Posted by EliCash on April 8, 2008 at 2:09 p.m. (report)
Good show overall, but they seemed taken-aback by the crowd and venue size. They kept saying how it was the biggest show of the tour, and the nicest place they've played so far. They seemed kinda nervous, initially, and the show got better/more energetic as it went on. What I really wanted to say was this: People actually like YACHT?! Oh my god. I was so glad I only had to hear the two closing songs because I was running late. That was hot garbage. I couldnt believe anyone was getting into it. It was not at all fitting for a VW opener, they should have found an indie-rock band (local even) or at least a BAND in general. It was just odd, and the music sucked. I shudder to call that 'hip-hop,' that actually pains me to hear someone describe it that way. I don't care if it's "different," it's not listenable. Instant headache.
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Posted by Pooch on April 8, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. (report)
Yacht was quite a character with some decent beats, coming from a hip-hop head who is always looking for new beats. Vampire was solid. For a bad who has only one CD out, I think they performed great....a string break, sh** happens...Id see them again in a heart beat
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Posted by Bee Tee on April 7, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (report)
The short set is common in bigger cities that tend to get bands sooner than we do. Over the years I've seen lots of bands on their first tours and it wasn't uncommon in the past for the encore to be songs that were played in the set because the band had nothing else. But now that seems only to lead to ridicule. But a 45-minute set does seem weird if V.W. has a second disc already written; why not play some of that stuff?
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