Vampire Weekend + Beach House + Dum Dum Girls ::: Red Rocks ::: 09.03.10

Sometimes you think certain bands aren’t ready for certain venues. One quick glance with a lineup like the one shown above could easily be dismissed as being a misfire or poor choice in venue by booking. Those in lucky fans attendance enjoyed what could’ve been the last beautiful night at Red Rocks for the 2010 concert season. Dum Dum Girls could’ve easily flourished in a place like the Larimer or Hi-Dive, but they made do with the generous acoustics and led their set off with the classic Rolling Stones tune, “Play With Fire”. The lo-fi experience that I had anticipated in actuality translated into a polished and tight sounding group that were playing as if they were road warriors with more than ten years under their collective belts on the touring circuit. The second misconception turned out to be Beach House being able to play to a large crowd without putting them to sleep. Beach House ‘s music isn’t exactly known to get people to jump out of their chairs in a fit of excitement to rush to the nearest dance floor. However, the perfect combination of the last huzzah of Summer, still of the night, and the “Stevie Nicks-esque” energy that Victoria Legrand channeled culminated into a night that took Beach House from sleepy-timers to the next level. Vampire Weekend keep plugging along with their Sophomore album, “Contra”, and it seems like their freight train of popularity keeps on picking up steam each time they come to town. The quartet show no signs of slowing down and towards the latter part of their set, the East Coasters decided to pay homage to Bruce Springsteen by peforming his classic, “I’m Goin’ Down”. The night also saw a rare performance of the title track from “Contra”.

Vampire Weekend-I’m Goin’ Down (Bruce Springsteen) [mp3] (via the Gum)
Beach House-Norway [mp3]
Beach House-Zebra (UK Edit) [mp3]
Dum Dum Girls- D.A.L. [mp3]
Dum Dum Girls- Jail La La [mp3]