Vampire Weekend will play four consecutive nights at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, N.J., from Sept. 15 to Sept. 18, the band and venue confirmed. The two-time Grammy winners will be joined on all four dates by The Sophisticuffs, the high school band that counted frontman Ezra Koenig among its members.
Tickets remained available for each of the four shows at the time of publication, with secondary-market listings found on Vivid Seats starting at about $68 including fees for the Sept. 16 concert. Other nights showed prices around $75 to $90 including fees; all prices are subject to fluctuation on the resale market. The Wellmont Theater has a capacity of 2,137 and sits less than a five-minute drive from Koenig’s Glen Ridge hometown.
Vampire Weekend posted on Instagram that The Sophisticuffs was “a Glen Ridge, NJ band active from roughly 1999-2002. Ezra was a member ages 15-17 along with his good friends Wes, Steve, Dan and Andrei. They played the vast majority of their shows in Montclair, usually at Serendipity (in the Congregational Church) or at the Possible Side Effects improv events under the Clairidge Theater. They dabbled in surf, post-rock, Christmas, punk and pop music. Ezra is thrilled to reunite onstage with the band for the first time since high school. You can expect to hear [their] songs like ‘Chicken Dance,’ ‘Hello Professor,’ and ‘Great Expectations.’ ”
The Montclair dates come after Vampire Weekend headlines the Borderland Festival in East Aurora, N.Y., Sept. 12–14. The band’s North American schedule also includes appearances at Shaky Knees in Atlanta Sept. 19–21, the Iron Blossom Music Festival in Richmond Sept. 20–21, Oceans Calling in Ocean City, Md., Sept. 26–28, and the Dreamy Draw Festival in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 7–8, among other stops. Festival lineups on which Vampire Weekend is slated to appear include acts such as Khruangbin, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Lumineers, Green Day and Weezer, depending on the event.
Vivid Seats was the secondary-market platform cited for the ticket listings; the company advertises a 100 percent buyer guarantee for transactions on its site. Secondary-market prices can be higher or lower than face value depending on demand, and the listings cited included fees in the published amounts.
Onstage, Vampire Weekend has become known for varying its set lists and inserting unexpected covers and medleys. At a Madison Square Garden performance in October 2024, set lists collected on Setlist.fm included a mix of album cuts such as “A-Punk,” “Horchata,” “Harmony Hall” and “Pravda,” alongside numerous covers ranging from Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” to Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” as well as a multi-song medley and other surprises. The band’s live shows have frequently blended its own catalog with offbeat cover choices and playful stage moments.
Vampire Weekend released its fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, on April 5, 2024. Critical notes on the record highlighted its range, from the piano-driven opener “Ice Cream Piano” and the genre-shifting “Classical” to the choir-backed “Mary Boone” and the eight-minute closer “Hope.” The album’s arrangements and song transitions have been described as restless and inventive, qualities that have also informed the band’s live performances.
Fans planning to attend the Montclair residency should be aware that resale prices are volatile and may change rapidly. The Wellmont Theater’s four-night booking offers an unusual chance to see Vampire Weekend in a smaller, hometown-adjacent venue, and the inclusion of The Sophisticuffs provides a local tie to Koenig’s early musical history. The New York Post reported the ticket availability and price figures cited here.