Vampire Weekend, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, Feb 5 (From The Argus)

Vampire Weekend, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, Feb 5

The artwork from Vampire Weekend’s new album Contra features a preppy-looking all- American girl in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt – the brand most treasured by aspirational Ivy League wannabees across the US.

Vampire Weekend, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, Feb 5

Her image hung over four young Americans who are the real deal at the De La Warr Pavilion and as the African-infused Anglophile pop from their eponymous début album mixed with Contra’s Jamaican, Puerto Rican and Mexican influences, her eyes flashed red like a possessed demon.

That nice little touch was only one part of a brilliant light show highlighting the band’s minute attention to detail, and she was not the only one seemingly possessed by New York’s worldliest outfit.

Water bottles and beer flew across the room almost hitting the ceiling and the temperature rose to that of the tropical locations their music references as the place erupted to Oxford Comma and Mansard Roof, and danced and bobbed through the slow skank of Holiday and reggaeton-borrowing California English.

After thundering on to the scene in 2007 with a sound described as Upper West Side Soweto, the band earned a deserved reputation as a live outfit for which no member was outstanding but all accomplished.

Three years on and lanky bassist Chris Baio has become a thudding presence. The rhythm from his low-slung bass fused with Chris Tomson’s driving, more ambitious drumming, and Koenig showed he still has a sharp eye for creating powerful narratives. His vocals, too, have more character, while his angular, noodling guitar was well backed by Rostam Batmanglij’s purposeful programming.