WHAT A TEMPER!: BLOWN AWAY BY VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Friday brings both a snow storm and another night out listening to live music. The snow began in the morning and continued all day, dropping several inches, but not the 6 to 8 originally forecast. Wet roads presented no obstacle. I stayed late at the office after which I did some shopping at REI and then on to the Ogden Theater for the sold out show. When I drove by shortly before 8 oclock, a line of people stood outside in the cold and wet. By the time I parked the truck and walked to the theater, the doors had opened and people began staking out their area of floor space near the stage and along the second floor balcony railing. I found my spot near the front row. The show started at 9.

First up was The Blow, a Portland, Oregon based visual artist and performer Khaela Maricich alone up on the stage who sang her unique style song and danced to prerecorded music prepared by her invisible partner, Jona Bechtolt. The Blow "set lyrics that sound like unverbalized thoughts to herself to minimal, often electronically textured basic pop melodies." I like her sound, the songs accompanied by story telling about her experiences writing music and her association with an unnamed famous bad girl artist and performer (Lindsay Lohan) who Khaela apparently collaborates with to write music. The high heels she wore on stage for one song were given to her by that bad assed "girlie girl." I wish I had taped her show.

At the end of the evening I purchased her latest CD from her dad in the theater lobby that Khaela signed "Hey! What Gives?! Thanks for listening." Its worth seeing her perform if you have the chance.

I heard about Vampire Weekend from DivaDiana77 through The Bunnymen Underground forum. I listened to a sample of their music and like the sound, leading me to buy their latest CD, Contra, which I enjoy. I had to go see them perform live when I learned they were coming to Denver.

Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006. Wikipedia says:

"The band claims to be influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music, describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto", with such songs as "Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa" referencing Congolese soukous music."

"In 2007, Vampire Weekend's song "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of the year. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album. The band's debut album Vampire Weekend was released January 29, 2008. It was a success in the US and UK, peaking at number 15 on the UK Album Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200. In December 2008, Vampire Weekend's debut album was #2 in Under The Radar magazine's "top 50 albums of 2008" issue. In the January 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, their self-titled album was dubbed the 10th best album of 2008."

Their sound reminds me of Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland. Nice beat to it that makes for good dancing. And that's all I did during their entire show, loving every minute. Vampire Weekend will also be performing on the first day of the Coachella Music Festival a month from now . I hope to see them there too.

Snowbound crowd gets hot at Ogden
March 19, 2010
Credit:Matt Farley

Vampire Weekend was a long way from both their beloved Mexico and their home state New York Friday night when they played Denver in the midst of a major snowstorm, but the sold-out house at the Ogden Theater was as enthusiastic as any they could expect from either.

Songs such as "A-punk" belied the band's mellow theme by bringing the crowd nearly to a full mosh, while calmer tracks kept things interesting regardless.

Opener The Blow threw down a confusing but danceable set of electro-pop tunes, hinting repeatedly and heavily that the songs were inspired by a certain nameless pop star (we were never certain if we were being directed toward Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, but it was definitely one of the two) whom singer Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich claimed to have had a long-term relationship with.

http://denver.metromix.com/music/photogallery/vampire-weekend-drinks-deep/1829114/content