Indie band Vampire Weekend played the O2 Academy Brixton on December 11th, 2024, as their final night of shows in London this month. The show started with the Liverpool synthpop band, China Crisis, instantly transporting the audience back to the 80s. They ended their set on a festive note by playing a cover of “Last Christmas” by Wham! before leaving the stage. Vampire Weekend opened their set with “Mansard Roof” from their 2008 self-titled album. The three original members Ezra Koenig (vocals), Chris Tomson (drums), and Chris Baio (bass) performed the first two songs in front of a giant backdrop with the band’s name. When the curtain dropped it revealed the whole live band all dressed in white.

The band is currently touring their album “Only God Was Above Us,” released earlier this year. Their two-and-a-half-hour set was well-balanced and packed with songs from all of their previous releases as well as the newest album. During the encore, frontman Ezra Koenig announced that the band would now take song requests, specifically mentioning that they wouldn’t play any Vampire Weekend songs because that would be too easy. Instead, they played various short covers of songs such as “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey or “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” He jokingly added that the show had now legally and officially ended and they were simply hanging out.

Koenig emphasized that they hadn’t played a show in London for five years. The energy seemed to pick up more towards the end of the set as the crowd became more enthusiastic. Throughout the night, the band put on a very entertaining and showy performance, during one song for example a crew member danced in the spotlight on stage. There was lots of audience engagement, too; during their 10+ minute long country style medley which Koenig called “Cocaine Cowboys,” they invited a fan from the crowd on stage to participate in a game of ‘Gold Rush,’ where the winner would take home 300 pounds. Despite not being able to throw the bean bags into the hole, the fan was still awarded the full prize.

Throughout the night, the band incorporated a lot of instrumental solos, for example a Saxophone and a Violin, demonstrating the band’s musical prowess. The show concluded with their song “Walcott” from their 2008 self-titled album, leaving a memorable finale. The band delivered a fun night of music, with the crowd fully engaged until the very end, making it an evening to remember. Fans can only hope that it won’t be another five years before the band returns to London.