Vampire Weekend may be well past their "smartass" era, but they're certainly not above giving fan service to a classic from that time — which is exactly what they did last night (April 10) when they treated a Goose audience to a 31-minute version of ancient classic (and, tellingly, the soundtrack to this writer's graduating year), "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" from the band's self-titled debut.
Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson joined Goose on stage during the closing set of their four-night run at Port Chester, NY's historic Capitol Theatre. In addition to the Dead-indebted meandering jam-band-y rendition of "Cape Cod," they also performed Only God Was Above Us cut, "Gen-X Cops," a song which Exclaim! Editor-in-Chief Alex Hudson writes in the album's 8/10 review, "conveys the group's 2024 perspective, with jagged slide guitar that slices through a thoughtful exploration of cross-generational conflict."
You can check out both below, and cross your fingers that you get to see some epic-length Vampire Weekend songs on their upcoming North American tour.