On Friday, April 5, Vampire Weekend released its long-awaited fifth studio album Only God Was Above Us, a pioneering, genre-disruptive collection that the band introduced as its “magnum opus” months ago. At long last, fans were treated to this bold new phase for the group, which pairs its trademark wide-eyed witticism with an eclectic and pioneering array of sonic influences to put forward a pertinent, cathartic and undeniably catchy score to thoroughly modern problems.
Over the weekend, the band marked the live debut of these anthemic new entries with a takeover of SiriusXMU, which figured the trio of Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson alongside violinist Ray Suen and vocalist Amber Coffman. Together, the ensemble broached preview tracks “Capricorn” and “Classical,” as well as “This Life,” from 2019’s Father of the Bride, and a debut cover of the traditional standard “Peggy-O,” which is most commonly associated with its revival by the Grateful Dead. Watch a clip of this crossover moment below.
The members of Vampire Weekend have their affinity for jam music widely known, both in the band’s recent decision to expand its live performances with more personnel and a more improvisatory, unpredictable format, and in its recent collaborators, including Goose and Sam Gendel on the 40:42 EP. In a conversation for the April-May 2021 issue of Relix, Koenig shared, “I always liked the Dead, and I’ve definitely gotten more into Phish as I’ve gotten older. But, I also gotta shout out our drummer C.T. [Chris Tomson]. We both grew up in New Jersey, but we came at it from different directions. He’s like a jam dude—he’s seen Phish all these times… He has this Phillies parody Phish shirt and he wore it on TV once; he was always trying to subtly fly the flag.” Indeed, as Tomson, who is traditionally the group’s drummer, took up his first instrument of the guitar for the cover, he proudly represented the scene in a The String Cheese Incident T-shirt.
Vampire Weekend will kick off its Only God Was Above Us Tour today with a special performance in the path of totality at Austin, Texas’ Moody Amphitheater. This will set off a 39-show run that will keep the band on the road through mid-October. For more information on the band and its upcoming engagements, visit vampireweekend.com.
The post Watch: Vampire Weekend Cover Grateful Dead’s “Peggy-O” on SiriusXMU appeared first on Relix Media.
