Vampire Weekend surprises fans with BTS cover during 'Only God Was Above Us' tour

A spin-off of the 2024 'Only God Was Above Us' tour, Vampire Weekend came to the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC, on October 9. The lead singer Ezra Koenig is used to spot fans holding up signs that are filled with all sorts of information and recently, his attention was drawn to one fan whose sign read, "BTS J-Hope will be released from federal custody in exactly 1 week. Please cover 'Dynamite' to celebrate?"

The sign referred to J-Hope's imminent discharge from mandatory military service, and though Ezra knew this, he misread 'Dynamite' as the hit by Taio Cruz instead of BTS.

Though not knowing about 'Dynamite' by BTS, he did his best, even shouting a cheer to J-Hope and trying to remember the lines with a nudge from the crowd. It was pretty obvious he knew 'Butter' a lot better, but fans liked the effort and good humor. The performance, along with an amusingly phrased declaration by the fan that J-Hope was being released from 'federal custody,' went viral on TikTok and X and fans enjoyed the playful crossover.

This is the second time that the two bands have played nice. In May, Ezra devoted nine minutes of his podcast to backing up BTS leader RM after he posted on Instagram a picture of Vampire Weekend's song 'Capricorn.' Fans of both bands have loved these good-natured, casual interplay moments.