Vampire Weekend is coming out of its relative musical dormancy with the announcement of their first live performance since 2014. The band has been confirmed as one of the headliners for the UK festival End of the Road, which takes place at Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset, England from August 30 to September 2. St. Vincent, Yo La Tengo, Ariel Pink, (Sandy) Alex G, Omar Souleyman, Julien Baker, Japanese Breakfast, and more will also join Vampire Weekend in southern England this summer.
The festival headlining slot will be the band’s first performance without founding member Rostam Batmanglij, who split from Vampire Weekend in 2016 in pursuit of his own solo work. Talks of a new album have been brewing since late 2017 when frontman Ezra Koenig revealed that the album — working title Mitsubishi Macchiato — was “80% done but the last 20% is always the hardest.” In addition to working on the follow-up to 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City, Koenig has been busy with his Netflix anime show Neo Yokio, which he created and produced.
Although the End of the Road performance will be Vampire Weekend’s first official performance in years, its members have had small, makeshift performances since taking the stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2014. The news of the band’s return comes on the heels of the 10-year anniversary of their self-titled debut.
