With the Iowa caucuses officially kicking off on Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders enlisted the help of a few special guests to for a concert and rally in Iowa City on Saturday.
Ezra Koenig and Chris Tomson of Vampire Weekend stopped by to perform the band’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Unbelievers,” joined by members of the Dirty Projectors, the Lucas Brothers, and the Hawkapellas, a University of Iowa a capella group. (Koenig also shared a video on Instagram of him rehearsing “Unbelievers “ with the Hawkapellas, below.)
“It feels a little funny playing a song called ‘Unbelievers’ when there’s a big sign up there that says, ‘A future to believe in,’” Koenig told the audience. “Maybe when this song was written, it came from a place of frustration or nihilism about the world, but we’re so excited to be here and we feel the same way that you do about Bernie. He’s somebody that we believe in.”
Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio was busy on tour with his side project, and founding member Rostam Batmanglij announced earlier this week that he’s left the band.
After Vampire Weekend’s short set, Sanders took the stage to address the audience, but the band soon returned to lead the crowd in a rendition of “This Land is Your Land,” joined by Sanders himself.
Watch a full video of the rally above. (Vampire Weekend’s performance starts around the 46-minute mark, and Sanders joins them onstage around 1:24:00.)
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