A couple of years ago, Ezra Koenig recorded a new song for the second season of Tim Robinson’s great Netflix sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave. That song -- formally titled "Dangerous Knife," but often referred to as "the sloppy steak song" -- got its live debut Wednesday night at Vampire Weekend's Hollywood Bowl show. Better yet, Robinson himself made a surprise onstage appearance.
"Dangerous Knife" soundtracks a sketch in which Robinson's character reflects on how he “used to be a piece of shit.” That shitty behavior often presented itself in the form of eating "sloppy steaks" -- or, perfectly fine steaks deliberately soaked in water. Koenig and Robinson co-wrote the melodramatic tune along with frequent Vampire Weekend collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid and I Think You Should Leave co-creator Zach Kanin.
Robinson tends to be a little bit shy when he's not on his own show, so at the aforementioned Vampy Weeks gig, he only came on for a brief moment near the song's end. "Now, you know this song is about a guy," Koenig said as his bandmates continued an extended outro. "This guy used to be a real piece of shit. But people can change, and I know some of you have changed. So if you believe people can change, I got something to tell you. This guy's here right now... Show some love for this man! He was a real piece of shit, but he changed!"
Robinson gave a big hug to Koenig and a big wave to the audience before retreating back. Afterwards, Vampire Weekend continued their encore with a few fan-requested covers: Steely Dan's "Peg," Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey," and the B-52s' "Rock Lobster." See some clips of the night below.
Tim Robinson makes a surprise appearance as Vampire Weekend plays their song “Dangerous Nights” from ‘I Think You Should Leave’ at the Hollywood Bowl pic.twitter.com/e14caIox9W
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 13, 2024
being surprised by tim robinson at the vampire weekend show sent me into a tailspin pic.twitter.com/mjjzzehm0L
— smelvin gemstone (@smelvingemstone) June 13, 2024
...omg
our hard work paid off THANK YOU @vampireweekend @HollywoodBowl https://t.co/Os9Ro0oAwp pic.twitter.com/aVxAYdiyrd— #ConcertPeople ✌❤🎶 (@Concert_People) June 13, 2024
