Big Thief Give New Song ‘Vampire Empire’ Its TV Debut on ‘Colbert’

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Big Thief Perform In Berlin - Credit: Redferns
Big Thief Perform In Berlin - Credit: Redferns

Before Big Thief finish their current U.S. tour on March 2 at Radio City Music Hall, the band stopped by another New York institution — the Ed Sullivan Theatre — to perform their new-ish song “Vampire Empire” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

The track didn’t feature on Big Thief’s latest album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, but has been a mainstay on the setlist during the tour in support of that LP; “Vampire Empire” was first performed by Adrianne Lenker and company when the trek kicked off in Nov. 2022 in Southeast Asia, and has been played upwards of 30 times since then despite not having a studio counterpart yet.

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Big Thief last appeared on the Late Show nearly a year ago to the day — March 1, 2022 — when the band performed their track “Simulation Swarm” virtually from their living room; Big Thief also made their late-night debut on Colbert back in 2019.

The 20-song Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You arrived in 2022. Since then, they’ve been touring in support of the record, including an upcoming slate of European dates, followed by another string of North American shows scheduled to begin this July.

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