Indie rock group Vampire Weekend didn’t miss a beat throughout their 19-song set Friday night at Meadow Brook Music Festival, offering concertgoers an early slice of summer sun, even as they took the stage when dusk descended.

 

Coming off last year’s Modern Vampires of the City, the band’s star has been on the rise since their self-titled debut in 2008. This was readily apparent in the diversity of the audience, which has expanded well beyond a collegiate crowd and also grown in size.

 

Attendees ranged from hippies and hipsters to young couples and small families, and that variety was also reflected in the repertoire Vampire Weekend drew from during the show. Although their latest record is also their most popular and widely acclaimed, the crowd cheered when the group reached back to play older songs such as “A-Punk.”

 

If anything, this gushing reaction proved that the band’s appeal goes beyond “just the hits.” Doubts about whether Vampire Weekend could connect with a larger audience than they have played in Detroit (their last show in the area was at The Fillmore in 2013) evaporated when the group opened their set by blasting through the surf riffs of “Diane Young.”

 

All four band members felt in sync, dispelling any rumors of internal strife; frontman Ezra Koenig commanded the stage with charm, and his ethnic-print tunic seemed of a piece with the set design. Flanked by four Roman columns of the Corinthian order, a circular mirror formed the centerpiece of this ornate backdrop, which at times appeared to play video clips from the song being performed.

 

This contrast between the contemporary and the ancient was reflected in the preferred lyrical matter of Vampire Weekend — how to make sense of one’s inevitable mortality in the Internet age’s cult of modernity.

 

Speaking of Cults: as the opener, the duo had a daunting task ahead of them — take their girl group-inspired, small club-ready sound and project it to an amphitheatre without any benefit from lighting or scenery. Thankfully, they served as a fitting warm-up and were able to scale their normally intimate reveries into widescreen serenades, all while highlighting their affinity for Motown.

 

That predilection for retro sounds carried through into Vampire Weekend’s set, which drew not only from cheerful Afrobeat, but also from chamber orchestras, ‘80s soft rock, giddy pop confections, and even the more triumphant end of heartland rock. As they played their final song, “Walcott,” imploring the crowd whether they wanted to get out of Cape Cod, it was clear that much of the audience had already taken flight.

 

See photos from Vampire Weekend at Meadow Brook Music Festival below: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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