The stars aligned at Austin's Moody Amphitheater, but not just those twinkling above. Onlookers got an eyeful of the solar eclipse, only to have their ears graced by the tunes of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. While the eclipse was the celestial headliner, the band kicked off its national tour by injecting music into the mix at Waterloo Park on Monday.
The event, a chart-topping combination that featured the beginning of Vampire Weekend's fresh album tour, "Only God Was Above Us," also became a groundbreaking midday affair for the venue. In a classic Texas drawl, one might say the concert-goers bet on a cloud-parting miracle, and according to CBS Austin, their faith was rewarded. Just as Dustin Lentz, who trekked from Wichita, Kansas, quipped, "I believe the powers that be will part the clouds right at the perfect time during the concert, and we’ll see the eclipse."
Liz Land, the general manager of the venue said, "It’s an open-air, outdoor venue with perfect views of the sky. So, I can’t imagine anywhere that anyone would want to be other than in this park at the Moody Amphitheater, listening to Vampire Weekend and watching the eclipse with thousands of their friends," in a statement obtained by KXAN.
Fans from afar like Jodi Caddell, who hauled to Austin from Virginia, expressed their euphoria despite the overcast skies, as per CBS Austin. "It’s cloudy, but you can still see a lot of it happening, so it's still pretty cool. Having the community and stuff, and everybody around here is neat, too," spilled Caddell, eclipsing the event's drawbacks with her community-driven optimism.
Even with Mother Nature being a bit gloomy, the band didn't shy away from their stellar performance, doling out guest appearances and crowd-pleasing prizes. And for those who somehow missed the melodious eclipse, fear not. Vampire Weekend, ever the innovators, offered a free livestream for the masses, now available with a subscription to the platform Veeps, as reported by KXAN.
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