- With the dreaded Icelandic volcanic dust cloud postponing their two Dublin gigs, London's famous Brixton Academy accidentally played host to the start of LCD Soundsystem's UK tour. You could tell, too, as James Murphy later protested on stage that the whole night's timing was a bit off, leading to the weird and wonderful DFA labelmates, Yacht, coming on to a half empty venue at 8 PM.
This wouldn't normally be such a problem, but as the group only played for half-an-hour it meant that the majority of the potential audience—this reviewer included—managed to miss the quick-paced spectacle that is their live show. Given the amount of kit that had to be assembled on stage for the main act, it's understandable that there was an hour's gap, but it apparently still wasn't enough time to iron out all the technical problems, giving the evening a rather obvious opening night feel.
Photo credit: Aziza Azul
The first song, "Us vs. Them," was played again in its entirety due to Nancy Whang's keyboard malfunctioning, and judging by her lack of enthusiasm throughout, one suspects that she may not have been getting full use of it at any point. Unperturbed by the constant fiddling with machines and correcting of levels, Murphy's band ploughed in shambolic but entertaining fashion through a variety of their back catalogue. The classic "Losing My Edge" was accompanied by a brief explanation of what the band have been up to since the last album: "Ruining our lives, paying tax bills, getting drunk at local bars, you know, the important stuff."
There have been a few line-up changes since last time around: the man behind the two great synth rigs, Gavin Russom, lingers at the back sporting a fantastic white-trash mullet, while Melvins guitarist David Scott Stone thrashes through the band's best riffs, and the all important basslines are provided by the return of Tyler Pope. Given the amount of instrument swapping between songs, there was ample time for Murphy's trademark banter, with his next speech concerning how he hated bands that only played stuff from their new album.
Predictably, the band launched directly into their irritatingly catchy new single, "Drunk Girls," which became the catalyst for those promised golden oldies, "All My Friends" and "Tribulations." The real musical force behind the band, drummer Pat Mahoney, then got to indulge in a powerful percussion session, complete with psychedelic lighting and lashings of smoke before the obligatory encore.
Photo credit: Aziza Azul
The last three songs were well chosen, with the electronic half of the band gradually bringing in the elements of "Someone Great," before launching into a suitably raucous rendition of "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and finishing with the tender "New York I Love You," topped off with the release—and applause-like popping—of a hundred or so white balloons.
Even if there were numerous technical problems, the spectacle of seven talented musicians jamming through some of the best music of the last decade, is still something to behold. And considering this is apparently the last album and presumably the last tour, whatever you do this year, try to catch this fantastic live act before they disband forever.