It's 7:11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10 and there is a crowd of teenagers worming around the Main Street Armory in Rochester, N.Y., impatiently waiting for the headliners of the night: Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend is an indie rock band made up of a cast of colorful characters: lead singer Ezra Koenig, percussionist Chris Tomson, keyboardist/guitarist Rostam Batmanglij and bassist Chris Baio. The four men met and formed the band while they attended Columbia University in 2006. Smart boys that can play solid tunes? Everyone is a fan, especially the night of the concert.
Smoke machines in the venue made the air feel thick, a contrast to Vampire Weekend's light and airy tunes. The smell of alcohol, sweat and anticipation hung in the air while everyone waited for the music to start.
Suddenly the lights turned red and the Dum Dum Girls, a band of women with fringed hair and black lace dresses took the stage. The group played an interesting set, but murmurs in the crowd told of some disappointment in its delivery.
Half an hour later Beach House took to the stage, welcomed by enthusiastic cheers and applause from the formerly bored crowd. The band played its set sans smoke machines, and everyone floated to the breathy, almost underwater sounds the band produced. Complete with blinking triangle lights and hues of silver and blue, Beach House rocked.
The show wasn't over yet, though - the seemingly restless crowd waited eagerly. Nobody wanted to miss a beat when Vampire Weekend took to the Armory stage.
What lasted only several minutes felt like an hour to die-hard fans. Soon enough, however, the lights dimmed one last time and Vampire Weekend walked on stage with skinny jeans and messy hair. People jumped, smiled and closed their eyes to feel the music and sing - the crowd looked like rock stars performing at their own show. The energy in the room was tangible as the Armory became filled with life.
Vampire Weekend's long set included some popular songs from its first album such as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma," but the guys also satisfied their new fans with more recent tracks like "Cousins" and "California English."
As the band played through the set, the floor of the Armory was filled with swaying bodies unleashing their emotion through movement and enthusiastic head nods. Everything was vibrant and the circular symbol that lit up the background of the stage with the lyrics to the song "White Sky" using constellation lights made the show not only a musical but an artistic experience as well.
The band's stint in Rochester certainly could not have disappointed neither longtime nor new fans - it was a night of Vampire Weekend, no blood loss included.