That the members of Vampire Weekend know the Arctic Monkeys’ “505” and the Cranberries’ “Dreams” – but not Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” – is completely on brand.

During the audience request encore of Vampire Weekend’s two-and-a-half hour show Wednesday at the Saenger Theatre, singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Ezra Koenig and his bandmates took a stab at that most cliched of classic rock crowd pleasers. They quickly aborted – their "Freebird" just wouldn't fly.

That “Freebird” isn’t baked into the band’s DNA is perhaps indicative of Koenig and company’s pedigree. Formed on the New York campus of Columbia University in the mid-2000s, Vampire Weekend specializes in smart, nimble and eclectic East Coast indie rock that has little in common with Southern rock standards such as “Freebird

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