"Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight" - Hot In The City, Billy Idol
Are LCD Soundsystem the most consistently brilliant band of the 21st century? I think there's a good case to be made that they are. They haven't released an album for eight years but that's a minor caveat. For twenty years now I've done a metacritic, number crunching, rundown of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year and LCD are the only band to have topped that poll twice.
Live, they're even better and they're one of the few bands around in our atomised era that manage to bring together oldies (myself, Pam, Stu, John) and youngsters (Stu's son Luke). There was a lovely moment during last night's gig at Brixton Academy when father and son were jumping up and down, arms round each other, in abandon and sheer joy.
In fact, there were A LOT of lovely moments at Brixton Academy. It's the first time in nearly three years I've been in the venue (the last time was also for LCD). Partly because it was closed down for over year following a fatal crush at an Asake gig in December 2022. It seemed clear to me that security would be tighter than normal (part of the reason we missed support act Working Men's Club - although an extra pint in The Prince Albert on Coldharbour Lane in the sun also played a role) but what surprised me was just how efficient and friendly the security staff were.
Yeah, it was a bit more of a faff getting in but once in there was room to breathe (not, in the past, a guarantee) at Brixton and security staff were endlessly handing out plastic glasses of water. Rightly so, LCD didn't come on to Billy Idol's Hot In The City for no reason. It was, indeed, hot in the city last night. It's not for everyone but I fucking loved it. The ice cream (a Crunchie ice cream) on the walk down to Brixton went down a treat.
James Murphy's been doing this for a while now (even if he was 34 before LCD put their first album out) so he knows his way around a live gig. The fact the band are doing a residency (ten nights at Brixton Academy - mostly weekends or close to) meant that the sound was tight. That's not something I normally fixate on but it was hard not to appreciate it last night as the band launched into an impressively banging opening salvo of You Wanted A Hit and Tribulations.
Arms were waved in the air and asses were shook from the front to the back, at the bar and up in the balcony. I couldn't help notice that nobody seemed to be filming it on their phones and everyone was living in the moment. I felt almost guilty taking a handful of snaps but this is how gigs should be. It's how social gatherings should be. People present for each other and for the thing they're doing. We all spend enough time on our own. Phones can wait and if they can't who's in charge? You or your phone?
There were a few songs I was less familiar with (Tonite and Oh Baby, both from American Dream - clearly an album I've not spent enough time with) but old favourites like I Can Change, Yr City's A Sucker, and North American Scum were delivered as the expertly rendered punk-dance crossover bangers they've always been.
I don't think anyone was thinking of Mark Carney when they played North American Scum. There was a moment when Murphy seemed to evoke the spirit of Steve Malkmus and Pavement and another where he seemed to adopt what sounded like an Irish accent (well he is a Murphy) but more than that they managed to combine the influence of Bowie, The Fall, Gang Of Four, and New Order brilliantly.
Kraftwerk too - they even interpolated a few lines from Radioactivity into the set. New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down was possibly the only damp squib of the night. Stu claimed it to be the only LCD song he doesn't like it. I quite like it but it didn't sit well in the live set. Even as the penultimate song.
It would have been a shame to end the set on that note and, we've established that Murphy, Nancy Whang, Al Doyle (still doubling up as a member of Hot Chip as well as LCD) and the rest of the gang are pros, of course they didn't. All My Friends was an epic, arms in the air, arms round your mates, set closer. I wished all my friends could have been there. I was very glad that some of them were.
On the note of friendship, Someone Great was so, er, great that I couldn't help thinking that EVERYONE should have it played at their funeral. It could have gone on for another ten minutes and I wouldn't have got bored. But pipping it to the title 'tune of the night' was Dance Yrself Clean which has just edged ahead of Tribulations as my favourite ever LCD song.
The slow build, the epic drop, the cathartic release. It rocks but it also rolls. Just as LCD Soundsystem always have and still do. What a great night. Great venue, great pub (Brixton does sunny days so well), great pals ("friends who always make it feel good"), and a great great band. Thanks to Stu, Luke, John, and Pam for joining me (and for photos in this blog). Let's do it again next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment