I was at LCD Soundsystem’s “last” show, a black-and-white funeral at Madison Square Garden in April 2011. I was not at LCD Soundsystem 2.0’s first show, a celebratory dance party at Webster Hall in March 2016. But I hold no ill will against James Murphy. What happened five years ago is a cherished memory (Was I among the thousands who shed a tear to “Someone Great?” You bet!), and there’s no taking that happiness away, no matter how many reunion shows LCD plays. And last night, they made a lot of other people happy.
LCD Soundsystem played 15 songs over two hours at the tiny (for them) New York venue, in front of 1,500 fans who were lucky (or rich enough) to get tickets. It was a classics-heavy set — there were no songs from the forthcoming new album, only the hits (you wanted them), including “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” “Losing My Edge,” “Dance Yrself Clean,” and LCD’s best song and set-closer, “All My Friends.” Here’s more from Billboard:
Murphy thanked the crowd for its enthusiasm several times, but showed his irreverence hasn’t gone anywhere. “We’re gonna go over there,” he announced two songs before the encore, “and some of us are gonna go pee and then we’re gonna play two other songs.” This held true, as “Dance Yrself Clean” and finally, “All My Friends” played the hometown favorites offstage to a scene of fraternal group embraces. (Via)
It wasn’t a flawless show — when the band started playing “One Touch,” there were “technical difficulties,” and they had to “stop to fix a synthesizer” — but they have time to “play better than we’ve ever played.” This was a warmup, for Panorama, for Lollapalooza, for many dates to come.
For now, it’s just nice to have all your LCD friends under one roof again. Even if you weren’t actually there. Check out more clips from the show below.
