Vampire Weekend: Behind the Scenes
"Things like this are so different from normal concerts," says Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig, sitting in a downstairs dressing room at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The band has just finished taping a special episode of Q – the CBC radio show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi – where they played three songs from their upcoming third album, Modern Vampires of the City (due out May 14th), in between interview segments with Alan Alda, David Cross, Cyndi Lauper, progressive journalist Amy Goodman and more.
"It was very reminiscent of having a minor role in a school play, which I haven't experienced in a while," adds Koenig (pictured, at right, with bassist Chris Baio). "So it made me a little nervous. But I think it went well."
Click through for more exclusive images of Vampire Weekend hanging out backstage before the show.
By Simon Vozick-Levinson
-
(no title)
Drummer Chris Tomson kicks back in the band's dressing room.
-
(no title)
Some of the pedals and gear the band brought to the Q taping. At right is the set list for the show they played two weeks earlier at SXSW, including three new songs.
-
(no title)
Baio grins backstage.
-
(no title)
Tomson before the show.
-
(no title)
More gear, with the band's name written in their signature sans-serif font.
-
(no title)
Keyboardist-guitarist Rostam Batmanglij (front) soundchecks "Unbelievers" with the band.
"It definitely had a different feeling to American TV shows," Batmanglij says after the show. "Deconstructing Harry is one of my favorite movies – Woody Allen directed that, and Alan Alda was in it. But I didn't get to tell Alan Alda that. There wasn't enough time."