I unfortunately weren't one, however this did not stop me on missing out on all the fun. For those who were unlucky such as myself, there was an option to go into the "Stand by queue" which meant if there were any spaces in the venue, they would let people form the queue go into the gig, which was a decent thing to do.
It was the second week into the very busy, band packed festival and a band called Vampire Weekend were set to play the stage on a very wet cold Sunday night. Liking the band a fair amount to spend my Sunday in the stand by queue while it chucks it down with rain didn't sound like a bad idea. A free gig is a free gig, and what you have to do to get in is most probably worth it! The waiting around wants that bad, as we got the Chinese take away shop right opposite the queue to come and deliver us food whilst we ate it in the queue.
Whilst we waited a good four hours in the cold rain, the security guards finally let a few people from the stand by queue into the venue, attaching on orange wristbands to everyone as they packed up the venue of The Roundhouse. We were of course one of the lucky ones who got in, I guess all that waiting around did pay off as now we were inside the venue, watching the support band, waiting for Vampire Weekend to take to the stage.
Before they arrived, a countdown appeared on the two drop screens in the venue, where the whole crowd could wait in anticipation together for the band to start playing. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.VAMPIRE WEEKEND all bounced out of thin air and onto the semicircular stage, belting "Diane Young" to a very aroused crowd.
Instantly, everyone started to soft moshing, with their hands in the air, connecting with the music as the band carried out their opening song.
I had never seen Vampire Weekend play live before, and to see them for the first time, instantly have the crowd on their side was impressive. I hadn't been much of a fan but always loved hearing them on the radio because they just made such happy, weird, unique, bouncy music which was easy to pick up on with the repetitive beats and techno vocals.
For a iTunes festival concert, it was more than I expect, as just previously witnessing Jake Bugg before, I had previous expectations as to it being relativity dull and boring, due to the crowd not moving around. However I was completely wrong with this as, a small group towards the middle had the right idea, and soon the rest of the crowd joined in.
Every single detail about the gig was perfectly matched to their music, the lighting at the Roundhouse is defiantly one of the best, as it kept changing with all sorts of effects, along with the back screen with its hipster, floral print, matching the atmosphere and vibe of the gig. They certainly did know how to put on a show.
The next few songs were all upbeat and live ans they played, Cousins, Unbeliever followed by Holiday which got the whole atmosphere pumped up right to the top. The music they play is so diverse in the rhythm, beats and tempo which makes them so surprising and enjoyable as nothing is predicable.
This song in particular reminded me of the summer and took me back to a warm day on the beach, forgetting the cold, rainy, British weather outside which was amazing for them to make me feel that way.
Even though each song was relatively short, it added to the build up of the next and how each one slotted into each other so perfectly and pristine. Resulting in the next song taking a step back and being more quiet and slow, this got the whole mood to be calm and quiet as the main focus was glued on Ezra Koenig and his beautiful voice. The lighting then matched this chaining it all to be a sad blue, with the spotlight on the lead singer.
The vibrant colours which flashed next introduced "Unbelievers" which was their recent single, just been released, lifting the mood back up to its energetic self. As well as playing the music, the band also then interacted with the crowd, asking us how we were going but also if we wanted to learn a song, they would say the words then we would all simply reply, which was a perfect way of interacting and making everyone feel involved which was a lovely thing to do, especially as the song had a tropical, Caribbean feel to it.
I loved the way the band could just play any one of their songs but also export you to a different place each time, making you feel as though you were in a completely different place, but each time you were exactly where you wanted to be. Which was one of the many unique things about this band and why I enjoyed it so much.It was fast approaching the end of the night as Vampire Weekend had played a massive 17 songs to the crowd tonight, but we still wanted more, chanting
ENCORE, ENCORE, ENCORE!
Which were all absolute bangers, lifting the crowd back to gig mode and having their final mosh whilst they could still enjoy it. For a free gig, Vampire Weekend certainly did make the most of it, as they shared a few banter jokes with the crowd before playing their final song, in which we all repeated back with tired, yet still energetic faces, enjoying "Walcott" as this was their last song for the night.
They had disobediently done the show justice as the fast pace of the keys hitting the board and harmonic drum clashes finished finely with the sharpness of the violins, the crowd began to disperse from a remarkable gig in which Vampire Weekend played a part in.
Surprised I enjoyed myself more than I expected I would rate this band a strong 8.5/10 on Performance, interaction and overall vocals of a 9.9 as they are truly better live than on CD.
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