Live! LCD Soundsystem @ Metro (5/26/10)

May 27th, 2010 by Oswald Hobbes / Comment on this post

First things first: LCD Soundsystem’s latest record, This Is Happening, is my favorite record of the year so far. (I have to include the “so far” so as not to jeopardize my journalistic credibility, but I honestly can’t see anything topping TIH, unless Prince drops Purple Rain 2 or some shit.) It’s ostensibly a dance record, but I hardly ever dance while I listen to it – I get the most mileage out of it late at night, after a few glasses of wine, when everybody’s asleep and I’m feeling blue. It’s a bracing snapshot of interpersonal warfare in the new millennium, with re-purposed ’70s art rock where all the blips and bloops should be. James Murphy, LCD’s mastermind (and only in-studio member), has gotten sharper at breaking down the tortured hipster psyche with each record, and the beats have grown increasingly compelling. This Is Happening is the kind of dense record that you play and play for weeks on end without unlocking all of its mysteries; I haven’t been so obsessed with a shiny plastic disc since Sunset Rubdown dropped Random Spirit Lover in 2007. So, I love it.

And I was psyched to see its best moments taken out for a live spin last night at Metro. Metro’s not my favorite venue, but its generally one of the lesser evils. The place was packed by the time I got there (accompanied by Assault.it’s own inestimable Cory Tendering) and I mean to tell you it was hot. Judging by the number of sweaty bearded dudes crushed up against me, the band could’ve sold the venue out twice over. At times I almost wished they’d picked somewhere bigger and sacrificed a smidge of intimacy – there was very little room to dance, although I did get some furious pogo action in when the band kicked into “Tribulations” and “Movement.” The set overall was heavy on party-starters: “Yeah,” “Losing My Edge,” “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” and “Yr City’s A Sucker” all got trotted out, with “Yeah” turning into the night’s most intense jam.

But the night got really interesting when Murphy and co. dug into the more sensitive side of the LCD catalog. “Someone Great” and “All My Friends” received warm, enthusiastic responses from the crowd, and “All I Want” was the evening’s true highlight. Pitchfork already noted the track’s similarity to David Bowie’s “‘Heroes,’” and it is unmistakable, but the song is so achingly sincere (and Murphy loads it with so much rich detail and texture) that it becomes wholly an LCD thing. “Pow Pow” and “Drunk Girls,” also from the new record, got played, but I missed the absence of new power-slams like “Dance Yrself Clean” and “You Wanted A Hit.” I appreciated that the band really drove home the “party” side of their sound, but This Is Happening finds Murphy concentrating so much on internal action that it’s almost disconcerting to hear the material jammed up against relatively shallow statements like “Yeah.” But that’s just my personal thing – I’m not a big dancer, so I’m sure some of the show’s impact was lost on me.

I mean, take it from Cory. His direct quote to me as we parted ways: “That was the best show I’ve seen, ever.”* And then he predictably said something about Radiohead maybe being better. If you know Cory, he’s not the easiest dude to please; he didn’t even like the new Ted Leo record that made everybody else at the office puke with delight. And he loved this. I did, too. It was a consistently fun, rambunctious show that never felt overlong even though it started to get pretty long. The sound was top-notch, which shouldn’t be surprising considering Murphy’s background – but it was pretty surprising anyway to hear such a great live mix. If LCD Soundsystem bring this party to your city, you’d be a sucker not to go. I dropped thirty bucks on my ticket, which is more than I would usually ever pay, but I haven’t had thirty dollars work so damn hard for me since I bought a bottle of Campari in 2008 and drank the entire thing watching the Oscars. Sometimes you just gotta splurge – you’re worth it!

* This is not a direct quote, but my half-assed remembrance of what Cory actually said. I’m sure he’ll correct me angrily on Facebook.

Setlist:
Us v Them
Drunk Girls
Yr City’s A Sucker
Pow Pow
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
All I Want
All My Friends
I Can Change
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah (Crass Version)
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

(Due to exceptionally poor planning, we missed the night’s openers, Holy Ghost!. Actually, we caught the tail end of their performance, and it sounded pretty cool. We regret being late; it’s usually our policy to show up early and support the opening acts.)