Photo Credit: Steven Rood

Last night, June 19, Mike Gordon joined Vampire Weekend again for the fourth of five special guest performances on the indie icons’ Only God Was Above Us Tour. Taking the stage at Bend, Ore.’s Hayden Homes Amphitheater, the Phish bassist joined the band during their headline set for the second time, this time adding bass and vocals to the classic “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” This sit-in followed a first on Tuesday, June 18, when Gordon supported a treatment of the Father of the Bride standout “Rich Man.”

Gordon set off the engagement with another closely-tailored selection of originals including “Say Something,” “Louisiana Sun” and “Guilty Pleasures,” driven home with scattered Phish cuts and “Human Nature,” a late arrival for the band’s upcoming 16th studio album Evolve that the bassist debuted in his first summer shows over the weekend. After the opener, Vampire Weekend assumed the spotlight for the main event, delivering a thrilling 22-song set and six-song encore. Among its offerings were six songs from the recently released Only God Was Above Us and an array of classics from throughout its two-decade catalog, including “Campus,” “Step,” “Cousins” and “Sunflower.”

At the set’s midpoint, Vampire Weekend called Gordon to return to the stage to join in a rendition of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” an enduring standout from the band’s triumphant self-titled debut album. Together, the artists pushed the jangling, uptempo song past the seven-minute mark with freely flowing jam, reminiscent of the staggering 30-minute treatment the trio staged with Goose at the Capitol Theatre in April. After the song had drawn to a close, the band gave another salute to the jam community with its medley of “Married in a Gold Rush,” “All the Gold in California,” “Sin City,” “Possum” and, of course, the Grateful Dead’s “Cumberland Blues.” This arrived as the second Dead cover in as many days from the indie frontrunners, who staged a partial treatment of “Uncle John’s Band” on Tuesday.

Gordon and Vampire Weekend will perform again tonight at Seattle’s Climate Pledge arena, concluding the artists’ collaborative West Coast run. For more information on next moves from each, visit vampireweekend.com and mike-gordon.com.