Vampire Weekend played two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden this weekend, as they continue to tour in support of Only God Was Above Us. The first show took place last night (October 5), and featured support from Mark Ronson and a Billy Joel tribute band called Turnstiles. Not to be outdone by their openers, Vampire Weekend also covered Billy Joel, playing “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” complete with a couple dining and being waited upon onstage. (The man in the couple was Definitive Jux rapper and former Time Crisis host Despot.) Watch the performance below.
Famously, Billy Joel had a concert residency at Madison Square Garden from 2014 to 2024. He played his purported final show at the venue on Thursday, July 25, 2024. It was his 150th concert at the arena, with the first taking place on Thursday, December 14, 1978.
Read Pitchfork’s Sunday Review of The Stranger, the 1977 Billy Joel studio album that houses “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”
