Vampire Weekend takes the stage in Houston

Cindy Rivas Alfaro/The Cougar

Vampire Weekend took the stage Thursday night at 713 Music Hall to perform to a near capacity crowd.

The venue was packed all three floors with die-hard fans singing along to the lyrics to every song they played.

Before Vampire Weekend took the stage, instrumental group LA LOM played a 45-minute set with a modern Latin twist. Even though the band didn’t sing a single word, people were swaying and tapping their feet to the beat, especially on their latest album “Danza de LA LOM.”

LA LOM let the public know that he would be releasing his self-titled debut album in August before leaving the stage to let Vampire Weekend perform.

The band opened their set with “Mansard Roof” from their self-titled album “Vampire Weekend”, “Holiday” from their album “Contra” and “Ice Cream Piano” from their most recent album “Only God Was Above Us”.

Cindy Rivas Alfaro/The Cougar

The crowd went wild for songs like “White Sky” where the colorful guitar intro seamlessly flows into the verse. Colin Killalea stole the show for a few seconds with his saxophone mixed with the guitar melody.

Once “Unbelievers” started playing, the audience was jumping up and down, clapping to the drummer’s beat and singing along to the catchy chorus.

The backlighting of their stage highlighted each member beautifully, with the lights flashing in time with the tempo of certain songs. The guitar in some songs also excited the crowd by quickly transforming the song into unforgettable bridges and verses.

With mostly older adults in attendance at the show, the audience slipped through the crowd to grab a few drinks at the bar before finding their way back into the packed crowd. Towards the end of the show, people were happily raising their cups towards the stage to cheers.

Vampire Weekend ended the concert with fan favorites like “A-Punk” and “Mary Boone” before launching into their encore.

For their encore, they performed a few covers like “1901” by Phoenix, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House and “Wonderwall” by Oasis.

The last song of the evening was “Walcott” from their self-titled album to take a trip back in time to 2008.

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