Thankfully Vampire Weekend care a lot more about the 2024 solar eclipse than about the Oxford comma. They'll be taking the stage at Austin's Moody Amphitheater on April 8 and playing while Central Texas is shrouded in darkness. Although there will be plenty to do near San Antonio, this show under extremely rare circumstances should be worth traveling for.

Vampire Weekend, led by the enigmatic and perpetually collegiate Ezra Koenig, is known for buoyant guitar riffs, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and the euphoric energy that drove indie music in the late aughts and early 2010s. The band announced the show on February 8 in conjunction with their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us — a fittingly ironic title for the occasion in the sky.

Although a press release does not offer an album release date, it does confirm that it will happen the week of the Waterloo Greenway show. Like much of Vampire Weekend's catalog, the first album in five years was "inspired and haunted" (per the release) by New York City. It will "[show] the band at once at its grittiest, and also at its most beautiful and melodic."

Music festivals have been taking advantage of celestial events recently. Austin City Limits Musical Festival seemed to have timed itself with the annular eclipse by coincidence in 2023, and no one was playing when it was at its peak — but festival-goers did gather at Zilker to appreciate the spectacle. Next up, we have UtopiaFest in the Hill Country, an outdoorsy camping festival with a mostly local lineup.

The Hill Country has also been getting lots of national attention as potential travelers start scoping out their year's plans. Unfortunately, even vampires can only be in one place at a time.

Nostalgic indie lovers can enjoy this show as part of Waterloo Greenway's bid for folks' attention during the rare crossing of heavenly bodies. It's alongside — but apparently not apart of — an event series called In the Path of Totality, which has curated "poetry and storytelling, family-friendly educational programs, music, and more," according to the Greenway's website.

An eclipse viewing party will start at the Long Center at 11 am. Vampire Weekend is scheduled for noon. Nationaleclipse.com places the event at 1:36:11 CDT. It's hard to say what song the band will play for the one minute and 44 seconds of full eclipse, but it should be towards the end of the set — probably "A Punk" if they're going for impact via popularity.

Tickets go on general sale Tuesday, February 13, at 10 am via Ticketmaster. Various pre-sales start running February 9. Event organizers will hand out eclipse glasses at the show. For every concert at Moody Amphitheater, Waterloo park gives away 100 free tickets through an online giveaway system. More information from the release below:

Submission forms open at least two weeks prior to the show, and randomly selected winners are notified one week prior to the show. This ticket giveaway is made possible through a unique partnership between Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, C3 Presents, and Live Nation. Please visit waterloogreenway.org for more information.