Vampire Weekend Play Like Veteran Rockers at Coachella

This is a summer jam," Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koening told the audience before launching into the Peter Gabriel shout-out 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' during the band's Friday set at Coachella. Taking the stage before Jay-Z at the adjacent Outdoor Stage, the reggae rock of the New Yorkers drew a similar crowd to the headliner's.

The band, playing beneath chandeliers, kept it playful throughout the evening. flip-flopping between songs from their 2008 self-titled debut and their 2010 follow-up, 'Contra.'

The highlight of the evening came when the band performed their autotuned track 'California English.' Not only was it a nod to the land of 70 degrees and sunny, but it served as a nice little teaser for Jay-Z's 'Death of Auto-Tune,' from his most recent album 'Blueprint 3.' Koening schooled the enthusiastic crowd on the refrain to one track, asking for a 'tameful scream for life,' but he didn't have to ask for the audience's help during the chorus of 'Blake's Got a New Face,' which the crowd schreeched at the top of their lungs.

"This song is about a very important group of people," Koening told the crowd before launching into new fan favorite 'Cousins.' Vampire Weekend sounded more like veterans of Coachella than a band that has lept into people's hearts in just three short years. Their entire set, which also included the punchy 'A-Punk,' felt comfortably like a greatest-hits lineup, an impressive undertaking for a band that only has two -- albeit critically acclaimed -- albums under its belt.

Vampire Weekend on AOL Music