The mainstream moves in mysterious ways. At the turn of the year, who would have placed four buttoned-up Ivy Leaguers paying barely disguised homage to Paul Simon's Graceland at the top of an A&R man's guaranteed money-spinner list? And yet this is the position in which Vampire Weekend find themselves - selling out the cavernous Kentish Town Forum three times over, every mumbled between-song pronouncement from singer Ezra Koenig greeted like a Barack Obama victory speech.

The crowd tonight, a mix of both those around for Graceland's original release and their offspring, might not be able to pick the band members out of a police lineup. But when the choruses of singles A-Punk and Oxford Comma are rapturously belted out with a gusto normally reserved for a spin of Wonderwall at chucking-out time, personality and charisma can afford to take a back seat.

Vampire Weekend's Afro-tinged sound is one of space and light, each track gently wielded, never threatening to get out of hand. While this reserve helps explain the popularity of their breezy popisms, it also reveals their flaw. After a few songs, it all starts to feel inconsequential; there's nothing here to really engage the listener, no emotional pull or outpouring of passion. Even their stage presence seems calculated - bassist Chris Baio engages in a little jumping, and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij wears a sparkly red bobble hat, presumably to demonstrate that hey, Columbia University kids know how to have a good time too, but it never feels as though they are giving away more than they have to. Perhaps when what you have given has led to such success, there is little need for anything else.