Watch Vampire Weekend & Amber Coffman Roll Out Pretty ‘Peggy-O’ At Berkeley Greek Matinee

Vampire Weekend offered a matinee show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California on Sunday. VW welcomed collaborator and singer-songwriter Amber Coffman to perform their rendition of the Grateful Dead-covered traditional “Peggy-O.”

The Sunday show was the second of two at the Greek for VW. Phish bassist Mike Gordon opened up at both concerts, kicking off his West Coast stint supporting the band. Mike’s sets both days included the recently debuted “Human Nature,” an unreleased cut from Phish’s upcoming album Evolve, along with Phish live favorite “Carini” and more.

VW included the “Peggy-O” cover as the second song in their encore on Sunday. Following a performance of the traditional tune for SiriusXM in April, Vampire Weekend unveiled their “Peggy-O” cover in front of a live audience on April 27 at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, as per SetlistFM stats. The second performance of the song since it’s debut was a fitting choice at the Greek Berkeley, a haunt of the Bay Area’s own Grateful Dead who performed the song over 260 times, as per JerryBase.

VW’s version featured a duet from frontman Ezra Koenig and Amber Koffman framed by a sparse but well-built arrangement from the band. Watch video of Vampire Weekend performing “Peggy-O” at the Greek below via JamBase contributor Benjy Eisen:

VW opened up the show with “Holiday” off their 2010 album Contra. The band also performed seven songs from their new album, Only God Was Above Us, among them “Ice Cream Piano,” “Classical,” “Capricorn” and “Prep-School Gangsters.”

Additionally, VW offered the tour debut of Contra’s “Horchata” late in the set and kicked off the encore with the first performance of “We Belong Together” since 2019. The latter appeared on the band’s album that year, Father of the Bride, and featured Amber Coffman who then stuck around for the rest of the encore save for closer “Walcott.”

Vampire Weekend’s tour continues in Burnaby, British Columbia on Tuesday. Scroll down for their itinerary with ticket info.

Photos & Setlist: