Watch Goose & Vampire Weekend Team Up For 30-Minute ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’

Goose wrapped a four-night run at The Capitol Theatre that marked the start of new drummer Cotter Ellis’ stint as a member of the band. Night four at The Cap featured an extensive sit-in by the members of Vampire Weekend, who came out at the start of the second set and played a pair of their songs with Goose.

Goose keyboardist/guitarist Peter Anspach addressed The Cap audience as he and his bandmates emerged from set break.

“All right, we’re gonna have some special guests come up here,” Anspach said. “I want everyone to give a big round of applause for CT, Baio and Ezra from Vampire Weekend.”

At that point, Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson, bassist Chris Baio and guitarist Ezra Koenig — who on Monday played a special eclipse concert in Texas — took the stage. Tomson, also a member of Taper’s Choice, used Goose percussionist Jeff Arevalo’s kit while Arevalo played guitar. Koenig said hello to the crowd before leading a performance of “Gen-X Cops,” a song off Vampire Weekend’s freshly released album, Only God Was Above Us that featured Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda adding backing vocals.

Koenig then played the signature guitar riff that signals the start of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which appeared on Vampire Weekend’s 2008 self-titled debut album. An expansive jam ensued as the eight musicians dug into a sprawling improvised sequence. Spanning 30+ minutes from start to finish, the “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” jam flowed through several different themes, getting funky at times and angularly aggressive at others.

“Those guys can hang out,” Anspach said after the VW members exited, adding “Go check out their new record, it’s incredible.”

Goose filled in the rest of the second set with “Arrow,” followed by “Borne” segueing into “Hungersite,” which saw Anspach tease the ensuing “Dripfield” that closed the set. Goose’s four-show run at The Cap was capped with a “Slow Ready” encore.

Prior to the second set shenanigans, Wednesday’s first set kicked off with staples “Turbulence & The Night Rays,” “Earthling or Alien?,” “Silver Rising” and “Atlas Dogs.” The first set also featured the first Goose performance of “How It Ends,” a song previously played by Goose offshoot Vasudo. The debut segued into “Tumble” to bring an end to the first half.

Watch Vampire Weekend join Goose last night at The Capitol Theatre via the videos below (VW segment starts at 1:56:34):

Setlist (via El Goose.net)

Set One: Turbulence & The Night Rays, Earthling or Alien?, Silver Rising, Atlas Dogs, How It Ends[1] > Tumble

Set Two: Gen X Cops[2], Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa[2], Arrow, Borne > Hungersite[3] > Dripfield

Encore: Slow Ready

Notes:

• [1] FTP.
• [2] Vampire Weekend. FTP. With Ezra Koenig on guitar and vocals, Chris Tomson on drums, and Chris Baio on bass.
• [3] With Welcome to Delta and Dripfield teases from Peter.