Vampire Weekend had a tall order to follow when deciding on an album cover for their sophomore album Contra, as the cover to the quartet's eponymous debut album featured an off-kilter chandelier and instantly struck a chord with fans. Vampire Weekend did it again with the cover of Contra, however, which depicts a blonde woman wearing a polo shirt, her piercing eyes staring straight ahead. Rolling Stone reports that although Vampire Weekend got approval to use the mysterious photo from photographer Tod Brody-who provided a photo release form that included a signature from the woman in the photo, Kristen Kennis-they are finding themselves in hot water nonetheless.
Seven months after the arrival of Contra, Kennis is suing Vampire Weekend for $2 million on claims that she did not permit the band to feature her image on their album cover. Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig recently addressed the controversy with NME.com, saying that the band is treading lightly, as this is their first law suit and they want to make sure the process is dealt with "properly." "I think I can speak for all of us and say this is the first time any of us have ever been sued, so we're still learning how it works," said Koenig before adding, "There's so many things we could say about it but given we have no experience of it we're just keeping conversations to a journal right now, which is a little frustrating."
Back in January, when Contra first hit the shelves and singles like "Cousins" hit the radio, Koenig spoke about the album cover with MTV.com, saying, "We know where the image came from, but we're not being very specific about her. We don't know her or anything. When we saw this image, we just found it very striking. And part of it is the look on her face. It's not about the color of her hair, or the fact that she's wearing a Polo shirt. What makes it interesting is her face." TMZ reports that Kerris discovered that the photograph was being used well after Vampire Weekend began promoting their sophomore album. For its part, the band's label XL Recordings stands behind the band's innocence in the case, according to a statement obtained by CBS News.
Legal misunderstanding aside, fans are happy to see Vampire Weekend on the road promoting their sophomore effort. After performing at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, Calif. in April, Vampire Weekend played scattered dates in North America in May before traveling Down Under for shows in Australia and neighboring island nation New Zealand in May. Vampire Weekend is spending the majority of their summer on tour abroad, although the band did perform scattered U.S. festival dates, with gigs at the Sasquatch Music Festival near Seattle and the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia.
Vampire Weekend will bring its tour to North America in late August, beginning with an Aug. 27 gig in Vancouver. From there, the band will make stops in Redmond, Wash.; Troutdale, Ore.; Morrison, Colo.; Chicago, Ill.; Rochester, N.Y.; Columbia, Md.; Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; Berkeley, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Tulsa, Okla.; New Orleans, La. and more through mid-October. Beach House and Dum Dum Girls will alternate in joining the band for a few dates on the North American leg of Vampire Weekend's trek. Vampire Weekend tickets are currently available online.
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This article is sponsored by StubHub. StubHub.com is a leader in the business of selling Vampire Weekend tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
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