Vampire Weekend @ the Riviera - 4/26/10

First time I've seen them live, and they pretty much lived up to the hype. It might have been the few beers beforehand, but this was a really easy show to get into. A nice thing about Vampire Weekend is that they've only got two records, and most of their songs are short, so they can play a pretty full set that covers virtually all of their album material. They played the entire new album, except for Giving Up the Gun (surprising, since that's a new single), and and I Think Ur a Contra. They played the entire first album except The Kids Don't Stand a Chance. They also threw in Ladies of Cambridge, a b-side from the Oxford Comma single.

This was only the second time I've been to the show at the Riviera (first show was Spoon about two and a half years ago). It's a little bigger venue than I normally frequent. It's got a capacity of about 2,500 people, about 10-15 times the size of a place like Schuba's, which is a bit more up my alley. But the acoustics at the Riv are excellent, so it's hard to complain. We skipped Abe Vigoda, who opened (a band on my radar that I haven't gotten around to yet), and by the time we got in, the venue was fairly full, so visuals weren't easy to come by. But compared to my companion/date, who is about 5'3", I had it pretty easy.

Spoon: A Quick Recap

1. First time at the Riviera. It's right around the corner from the Aragon, and they're both very convenient for me by train, which is nice. It's kind of like the Vic, only bigger. Not so much side to side, but it extends back farther, and the balcony is larger. But if you get their early enough to see the opening act (I was there about 10 minutes before they started), you can get up pretty close on the main floor.
2. Ponies: They were OK. Better than Liars. Somewhat entertaining, but I was tired, and I just wanted Spoon to start.
3. Spoon, not surprisingly, were very good. They've been at this a while now, and they now how to put on a good show. They played for about an hour and ten minutes, left briefly, and did a three song encore.
4. Interestingly, they played the initial set album to album. Nothing from Telephono, which is kind of a bummer, but they played two from Series of Sneaks, and then proceeded to go through each album playing three to six songs before the set ended. As such, the out of order setlist isn't as out of order as usual.
   
5. Incomplete and out of order setlist:
1. Utilitarian (opened with this)
2. The Minor Toughs
3. Anything You Want
4. Me and The Bean
5. Fitted Shirt
6. Small Stakes
7. Stay Don't Go
8. Someone Something
9. Vittorio E.
10. Johnathan Fisk
11. Beast and Dragon Adored
12. I Summon You
13. I Turn My Camera On
14. Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
15. Don't Make Me a Target
16. The Ghost of You Lingers
17. Don't You Evah
18. Rhythm and Soul
19. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
20. Black Like Me
    
21. The Underdog
22. Chicago at Night
23. The Way We Get By (closed with this)

I would like to have heard My Mathematical Mind and Finer Feelings. And I'd love to someday hear them do stuff off of Telephono. I have a feeling that people who have discovered Spoon recently would be surprised at what their early stuff sounds like, especially stuff like Not Turning Off, Nefarious, and Government Darling. Would like to have heard Car Radio and The Guestlist/the Execution from Sneaks as well. But there's only so much time.