valentine's day The Walkmen and Vampire Weekend @ The Earl (Atlanta) - 9 March 2008 (pics, video)

valentine's day This past Sunday evening, The Walkmen (above) made it very clear why they were headlining The Earl and why Vampire Weekend - though riding the comet tail of hype and adulation - were still better suited as openers. The former are rock stars, plain and simple, having matured from carving a studied and distinctively narrow niche for themselves to blossoming into a dynamic beast of a live act, shape-shifting from stadium-sized waves of rock one moment to pensive and cavernous dirges the next and back again with ease.

And after feeling the bass saturate the room, the drums rattle my chest and then witnessing Hamilton arch waaaay back to hit that shrieking final note for an extra 20 seconds, I’m almost convinced they could have gone down the road a few miles and filled Turner Field with the wall of sound they created. It was an absolute privilege to see them play up close again in such an intimate venue as The Earl, where the sound was LOUD but mixed to perfection.

This is not to suggest at all that Vampire Weekend was disappointing or unworthy of praise; in fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how incredibly tight these guys are live. This is music that’s made for a live and social setting, i.e. party music. And one night after playing Saturday Night Live, Ezra Koenig did his damned best to bring the enthusiasm and the party to the sold-out crowd (who were all doe-eyed and all there to see them - see picture below). As I overheard the doorman say, “I like it, sounds like Jimmy Buffet.”* See more pics and watch live videos from this show after the jump...

The Walkmen

valentine's day
valentine's day
valentine's day
valentine's day
valentine's day Watch:
"Little House Of Savages" by The Walkmen live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"If Only It Were True" by The Walkmen live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of The Walkmen (from this show) HERE.

Visit The Walkmen on MySpace.

Vampire Weekend

valentine's day
valentine's day
valentine's day Watch:
"A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of Vampire Weekend (from this show) HERE.

Visit Vampire Weekend on MySpace.
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*words by Mike, pictures and video by Matt.