Delayed by storms, Vampire Weekend rocks past midnight at BMO Pavilion in Milwaukee

Well, it happened again.

Storms across Milwaukee have disrupted more concerts this summer than any other in recent memory. Multiple Summerfest shows, and tour dates for Noah Kahan, SZA, Dave Matthews Band, Grupo Firme, and Ludacris at Tacos and Tequila Festival, all have been affected.

Some concerts have been delayed. Others were canceled or rescheduled. And there was another cancelation Thursday night, with storms robbing the Wisconsin State Fair of their opening-night main stage show, with comedian Gabriel Iglesias.

The Vampire Weekend show at BMO Pavilion also seemed in serious jeopardy Thursday night. Lightning flashed in the distance around 8 p.m., 15 minutes before the band was supposed to take the stage. Shortly after, there were announcements — first, to shelter in cars, then followed quickly by a correction to shelter under the roof near the stage instead.

Even then, the fans under cover still got soaked, thanks to the unfortunate combo of heavy winds and a torrential downpour, as thunder roared loudly over the venue and bright flashes of lightning lit up the sky.

But by 9:21 p.m., the weather calmer, the covers came off the instruments and gear on stage as the crowd cheered. Twenty-four minutes later, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson — with four touring musicians — took the stage, 90 minutes late.

"Looks like nobody left," frontman Koenig said to a packed and cheering crowd. "You ready for a show?"

But Vampire Weekend didn't just give patient and wet fans a show. They gave them one of the best Milwaukee shows of the year.

Fueled by the jubilance of an electrified crowd getting their happy ending, Vampire Weekend were themselves a force of nature from the jump. The band kicked off a two-hour-and-16-minute set with the dizzying "Cousins," the crowd strapping in for Koenig's roller-coaster guitar riffs. For "Ice Cream Piano" from this year's "Only God Was Above Us" — which made Vampire Weekend one of the few bands with five universally acclaimed albums to its name — Tomson and touring percussionist Garrett Ray offered face-melting drumbeats, while multi-instrumentalist Ray Suen, a superb new addition to the touring team, sprinkled the euphoria with lush, swirling violin.

On "Classical," also from "Only God Was Above Us," another exemplary new touring addition, multi-instrumentalist Colin Killalea, jumped from absorbing saxophone to a perfectly timed slide-guitar spike, while a roadie stepped onto center stage to offer a liberating, full-body dance break. And then for "Connect," Killalea switched instruments again, jamming on keys while crouched down below the instrument, while Baio, moving and grooving with abandon on bass, had streaks of sweat dripping down the side of his face.

But Vampire Weekend was just getting started.

Breakneck renditions of standards like "Diane Young" and "A-Punk" were true to the source material, but even more visceral than the recordings. Songs like "Mary Boone" from "Only God Was Above Us" and "Father of the Bride" highlights "Harmony Hall" and "This Life" offered more sublime, standalone instrumental moments live, via, respectively, Killalea's crisp clarinet, Suen's gorgeous pedal steel, and touring keyboardist Will Canzoneri's pristine piano outro (a nice contrast to some of Koenig's wry spoken word).

And while Vampire Weekend scaled back on the jam-band tendencies they developed for the "Father of the Bride" tour — which helped make the band's Milwaukee stop one of the best concerts of 2019 — they didn't abandon them completely.

"Sunflower" from "Father of the Bride" was a stunner, from Killalea's killer sax solo, to Suen on violin channeling the Who's "Baba O'Riley," to Baio's hilarious detour into the "Underground Theme" from "Super Mario Bros." After the spotlight breaks, the band joined forces to speed up the arrangement before slamming into a Western swing rendition before hitting the brakes for an equally engaging slow jam.

The thoughtfulness of the arrangements made this show plenty special, but there were several gestures and reactions that were reserved solely for Milwaukee.

The crowd got a big kick of the "Irina grew up in Wisconsin" line from "Only God Was Above Us" tune "Pravda" — which, Koenig said, was based on a true story, inspired by his great aunt and great uncle who moved from Moscow to the Dairy State. The band also offered a dynamic performance of "Diplomat's Son" from sophomore album "Contra," their first performance of the song this year, and another exclusive: a radiant acoustic rendition of Jerry Garcia gem "Reuben & Cherise," in honor of what would have been the late Grateful Dead frontman's 82nd birthday Thursday.

That song kicked off a 30-minute encore that's quickly become a beloved tradition on this tour, with the band playing snippets of fan requests on the spot. Thursday's included Devo's "Whip It" (with Koenig relishing his Mark Mothersbaugh vocal turn), the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry," Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark," a-ha's "Take On Me" and Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash." There were three Beach Boys songs, too, plus David Bowie's "Young Americans," Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "Shallow," a couple of Vampire Weekend requests ("Flower Moon" and "I Think Ur a Contra"), and Michael Jackson's "Beat It," which Koenig transformed into "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Eat It."

"Is this the best part of the show or the worst part of the show?" Koenig asked at one point. Yes, many of the cover snippets were sloppy, with Koenig offering apologies to several of the original artists. But one fan's request of Paul Simon's "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" was an inspired choice, certainly in the band's wheelhouse. Nevertheless, to see a band that could be frustratingly stiff for its first three album cycles having such carefree fun was infectious, and charming.

In the middle of that extended encore, Koenig revealed that the curfew was midnight, closing out the night with fan favorite "Walcott." "Check your phones, midnight on the dot, we're out of here," Koenig proudly yelled after the last note rang out.

Well, according to my phone, the time was actually 12:01 a.m. Hopefully, a stickler didn't slap Vampire Weekend with a fine — but if they did, I bet the band, and certainly the fans, would feel it was well worth it.

5 takeaways from Vampire Weekend’s Milwaukee concert, including opener Ra Ra Riot

• For their last night as an opener on this tour, indie-rock veterans Ra Ra Riot came off a bit like Vampire Weekend-light, from Kenny Bernard’s polyrhythmic drumming to guitarist and keyboardist Milo Bonacci’s sunny and crunchy melodies to frontman Wes Miles’ pretty falsetto. That made them a suitable mood-setter, with some modest showmanship from Miles, including a move that could be called the invisible lawnmower, bringing a bit more, well, “ra ra” to the proceedings.

• The storms may have significantly delayed the show, but there was one silver lining: The pavilion was pretty humid for Ra Ra Riot, but the storm front and winds cooling things down tremendously.

• A couple got engaged in the pit at some point during "A-Punk," prompting congratulations from Koenig and cheers from the crowd.

• Koenig also got a piece of rare Vampire Weekend merch from a fan Thursday — a green T-shirt from 2008 promoting a show at Columbia University where they opened for hip-hop duo Clipse. “This is going in the archives,” Koenig said.

• I noticed when I was in the photo pit Thursday that Koenig had a Buc-ee’s steel tumbler by his feet. Kwik Trip social media team, you know what to do.

Vampire Weekend’s BMO Pavilion setlist in Milwaukee

1. "Cousins"

2. "Holiday"

3. "Ice Cream Piano"

4. "Classical"

5. "Connect"

6. "White Sky"

7. "Unbelievers"

8. "This Life"

9. "Sunflower"

10. "M79"

11. "Diplomat's Son"

12. "Pravda"

13. "Campus"

14. "Capricorn"

15. "Gen-X Cops"

16. "Diane Young"

17. "A-Punk"

18. "Prep-School Gangsters"

19. "Mary Boone"

20. "Harmony Hall"

21. "Hope"

22. "Reuben & Cherise" (Jerry Garcia cover)

23. "Boys Don't Cry" (The Cure cover, fan request)

24. "Young Americans" (David Bowie cover, fan request)

25. "Beat It" (Michael Jackson cover, fan request, with a bit of "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Eat It")

26. "Whip It" (DEVO cover, fan request)

27. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Bill Joel cover, fan request)

28. "9 to 5" (Dolly Parton cover, fan request)

29. "Shallow" (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper cover, fan request)

30. "Monster Mash" (Bobby "Boris" Pickett cover, fan request)

31. "Take On Me" (A-ha cover, fan request)

32. "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" (Paul Simon cover, fan request)

33. "Dancing In The Dark" (Bruce Springsteen cover, fan request)

34. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (Beach Boys cover, fan request)

35. "Surf's Up (Beach Boys cover)

36. "Don't Worry Baby" (Beach Boys cover)

37. "Flower Moon" (fan request)

38. "I Think Ur a Contra" (fan request)

39. "Walcott"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Delayed by storms, Vampire Weekend rock past midnight in Milwaukee