Cafe Eleven

   Vampire Weekend came to public attention via a variety of blogs, first on the African music audioblog “Benn loxo du taccu”[3] and then six months later on Stereogum,[4]on which they claimed to “want to be like the nogs” leading many to cite them as another example of the “blog band” phenomenon. The band is influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music. They describe their genre of music as “Upper West Side Soweto”, performing such songs as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which references Congolese soukous music.

“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” was #67 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[5] The band made a television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on February 1, 2008, and on March 8, 2008, performed on Saturday Night Live.

The members of the band met while attending Columbia University. Lead vocalist Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson first collaborated as members of the comedy-rap band “L’Homme Run”.[6]

The band takes its name from a film they made together titled Vampire Weekend. The film told the story of a boy named Walcott charged by an elder to dispatch a vampiric horde in Cape Cod and escape. The song “Walcott” from their debut album details the plot of the film.

They were declared “The Year’s Best New Band” by the March 2008 issue of Spin magazine and were the first band to ever be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut CD. [1]

The band also played on the BBC TV program Later with Jools Holland on Friday 29th February alongside Supergrass and The Kills.

On March 8, 2008, Vampire Weekend was featured on NBC’s Saturday Night Live as the musical guest with host Amy Adams. They performed “A-Punk” and “M79″.

They were also MTV’s Artist of the Week for the week of March 3, 2008, being featured during commercials and show credits.