Vampire Weekend Are Playing A Bernie Sanders Rally In Iowa City
Yesterday, Vampire Weekend co-founder Rostam Batmanglij announced that he was leaving the band. And this weekend, some lucky people in Iowa will get the first glimpse of what the band looks like without Batmanglij. Lately, VW singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson have been campaigning for the progressive Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. This Saturday the band will perform at a Sanders rally in Iowa City, Iowa.
This is a big rally, one that will also feature Sanders surrogate Killer Mike. Also appearing will be Foster The People, Jill Sobule, Awful Purdies, Kay Hanley, Michelle Lewis, comedians the Lucas Brothers, and Hunger Games actor Josh Hutcherson, as well as Sanders himself. The rally goes down 6:30PM at the University Of Iowa Field House, and it’s free and open to the public. You can RSVP for it here.
UPDATE: It won’t actually be a new Vampire Weekend lineup playing the Sanders rally, and bassist Chris Baio won’t be playing, either. Instead, Koenig says on Twitter that he’ll be performing with Tomson, Dirty Projectors frontman Dave Longstreth, the Lucas Brothers, and a university a cappella group. This should be fascinating!
performance will be me, CT, Dave Longstreth, @lucasbros & the U of Iowa Hawkapellas – Bernie can call that Vampire Weekend if he likes 😉
— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) January 27, 2016
also, we are def gonna try and figure out a place to go talk & play some VW and Dirty Projectors songs in Iowa City outside the main event
— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) January 27, 2016