Vampire Weekend stormed through New York City’s Central Park this past weekend, brining with them Flosstradamus female Kid Sister, Canadian rock band Born Ruffians, and Kanye’s Beatmaster General A-Trak. The rain came on harder than Summerstage host and musical utility man Andrew W.K, so let the bad weather metaphors commence. You must first understand that the day’s worth of rain came in stages. There was the calm, cool, and refreshing sprinkle that came after an hour of standing exposed in the 90 degree sun. Alternatively, there were moments when the precipitation came in excess. Coincidentally, the few hours of music pelted in audience in a similar manner.

This reviewer, in fact, was only able to get into the show after much of the capacity crowd fled the venue due to the falling weather, which had delayed the show after the Ruffians’ set. An overzealous A.W.K. brought the crowd back together as A-Trak (who will be performing at Summerstage later this summer alongside Diplo and Santogold) mixed some beats and played some contemporary tunes. Then, like the pounding rain that had just finished, MC Kid Sister began crushing the audience. Aided onstage by two mini-dancers, she slowly and in a seemingly systematic way used her violent screams to injure the ears of all crowd members. She did not stop the torrential downpour of out-of-tune wails until twenty minutes had passed (this is likely the length it typically takes to do this; remarkably quick, no?). It’s more prudent, however, to not waste precious electrons documenting Kid Sister’s place in live music history and move onto some more important musicians.

Vampire Weekend took the stage just after 6pm, like the earlier rain, were a refreshing dose of coolness. The characteristic that stands out most about the local Gothamites is their youth. Just coming off their first tour, the band exudes enthusiasm. While this kind of excitement can cause many young bands to lose control of their sound, these guys use their instruments with the professional precision of a more seasoned outfit. Through the breezy string lines of 'A-Punk' to the tight solo sections in 'One (Blake’s Got a New Face),' they remained cool in a proceeding manner. While I have predicted fro some time that VW’s sophomore album will be a disappointment (due mostly to the high expectations created by the over-hyped nature of their first album), it will not be due to the band’s lack of skills. Drummer Chris Tomson rocks a steady beat and fills the songs’ gaps nicely. Bassist Chris Baio displayed especially impressive talents as well. And I would be remiss if I did not mention the royal fluttering of the groups’ well-trained string section.

The Columbia University Alums’ weaknesses can also be attributed to their youthful nature. Lead singer Ezra Koenig’s voice most often contrasts perfectly against the Afro-pop guitar that has led the band to be compared with the Graceland-era Paul Simon, but there are moments where his yelps leap out of his range. As a young band, they also suffer from a limited catalog of songs from which they are able to pull tunes. This was tempered at one moment during the show when Andrew W.K. joined them onstage for a rendition of Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers’ 'Don’t Come Around Here No More.' The group’s patter also left much to be desired. Their music has such a strong personality to it; it is a shame they could not derive something wittier, more unique to say than something akin to 'You guys rock for staying in the rain to watch us,' over and over throughout their set.

Vampire Weekend has made their mark on contemporary indie-pop music and hold much potential as a musical entity. They possess a distinctive brand and have the physical chops to perform very well live, even at the end of a tour. Let’s all hope they continue to develop and progress.