The incredibly crowded space was crawling with an audience that was brimming with excitement. Their excitement had been curtailed while Grand Ole' Party and San Francisco's own, Still Flyin' opened for this seemingly "members-only" band. Based out of New York City, this four-piece afro-pop band met while attending New York's best, Columbia University. The incredible buzz has been everywhere - ranging from blogs to the New York Times.

In June, the Times said, "Even without an album, Vampire Weekend have made one of the most impressive debuts of the year." Impressive is headlining a show without even having a CD released. The two songs, "Mansford Roof" and "Ladies of Cambridge," which have been available on iTunes were some of the crowd favorites. The live versions of "A-Punk" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" were off the hook. The pianist, Rostam Batmanglij and bassist, Chris Baio were both equally as talented though a few dance lessons might improve the whole aesthetic. You also can't forget the audience participation in "One," when everyone was screaming "Blake's got a new face!" over and over. Apparently, Blake is from Palo Alto, a Stanford biochemistry major who disappointingly didn't show up for the concert. How do you not show up to a concert when a song is written about you? Koenig and the rest of the band were severly disappointed. Shame on you!

Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight, to check out San Francisco's unsigned best at Live 105's "Top 5 Local Bands Contest." Tuesday, venture over to Great American Music Hall to catch San Francisco's own, Scissors for Lefty. (You'll want to purchase your tickets soon to their off-the-hook New Year's Party at BotH.) Oh, you'll also get to see Juliette and the Licks headline. (It looks like they like to perform sans clothes. Woot!)

Back in July, we briefly mentioned a "band-of-the-moment" named Vampire Weekend. They are back and this time they are headlining at The Independent. We listened to Mansford Roof (listen here) and we couldn't get over how catchy and quirky they are. We love them; their infectious bite style is called: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", "Upper West Side Soweto", "Campus", and "Oxford Comma Riddim". We feel it safe to assume that the inside joke is for Columbia University's alumni only. Look for a full length album late January.

Friday we'll be hanging out at Live 105's "Not So Silent Night." Our attentions will be focused on the local band (who won Monday night's competition), Jimmy Eat World and Modest Mouse (two of our favorites). Saturday, quirky sock-loving violinist, Andrew Bird, from Chicago is back in town. We saw him earlier this year and was overwhelmed by the incredible process that Bird goes through to create his minimalist folk electronic-art music.

Don't forget Tori Amos' three-night stint over in Oakland at Paramount Theatre, Friday through Sunday.

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