Photos by Randall Vasquez
LCD Soundsystem has given a reason for everyone to hate them. They finally started to get recognition and called it quits right before they become the next huge thing making a ton of indie kids sad, while simultaneously perplexing everyone else wondering who the hell was this band making all this fuss. They’re too punk, they’re too electronic, they sold out, their new music sucks, James Murphy’s interviews make him seem like a spoiled brat, when they came back they bit off more than they can chew by demanding to headline festivals when they weren’t enough of a draw etc, etc, etc. I don’t know if it is cooler to like LCD Soundsystem or to hate on them, and frankly it really doesn’t matter. They are the zeitgeist band from New York in a way we haven’t seen since The Talking Heads and might never see again. While the band played Wayhome last summer, they haven’t come to Canada since the release of their “comeback” album, american dream, was released in September.
Bathed in all red light save for a single spotlight on lead singer and architect James Murphy the band played oh baby from the new album as they announced their grand return. The many band members filled up the entire stage with drum kits, key boards, large and complex synthesizer machines, amp stacks and lights crowding the already busy stage making the whole thing seem like a maze. A giant disco ball hanging over the middle of the stage lit up during the second half of the song and a minor cheer formed. The crowd started standing and dancing at the start of the first song and didn’t sit down all night.
The influence of New York’s music scene was definitely felt with Yr City’s a Sucker, a track that sounds like it was ripped right out of the hands of the early punk styling’s of The Talking Heads. The opening notes of I Can Change, one of their most popular songs, got a big cheer as the dancing became more feverish in the stands. The flood lights on stage flashed to the tinkering beat syncing everything together as the band was in peak form. After the song, Murphy, who doesn’t do a lot of stage banter said “Let’s do this quickly” as he rattled off all the names of the musicians playing with him on stage, so fast that each member only got a half second of applause before he moved on to the next one.
When you have so many people playing, it becomes hard to separate who is bringing what to the soup, but Pat Mahoney’s drumming stood out as being glue to the whole set up. His constant and steady beats kept the pace to be easily danceable while the synths and guitar riffs swirled above the clouds racing towards the heavens. Tribulations live sounded like a mix between The Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams and Metric’s Dead Disco. As the song started Muprhy held an extended arm out ceding the spotlight to Nancy Whang as she played the entire opening riff on her own before the rest of the band joined in.
The best bit of banter came when Murphy explained that he wanted to inform the audience that they were going to play a few more songs, then take a break to go pee, then play a few more songs but them coming back was not dependent on how loud the crowd cheered. He continued that the crowd can do anything they want during the break like buy a hot dog or a Leafs jersey, he just “likes an informed audience”.
One of the new songs tonight had a chest rattling bass beat that was exhilarating to hear. The song seamlessly transitioned into Home from 2010’s This Is Happening, the last song of the night before the bands little break. The time the band spent off stage was short for an arena show, maybe only a minute or so, leaving me to doubt if Murphy actually went to the bathroom, unless he had a portapottie back stage.
The encore started out with two new songs change yr mind and emotional haircut, the later of which featured an epic xylophone and two drummers soloing. They then switched over to a true encore playing classic songs like Dance Yrself Clean, where a bunch of balloons filled with LED lights magically appeared in the middle of the crowd on the floor and people bounced them around. The night ended with All My Friends, a joyous explosion of a song that showcased why the band is as revered as they are. The audience sang along to the chorus of ah ahh’s and everyone shouting out the refrain of “Where are your friends tonight?” over and over again.
LCD Soundsystem is a band that doesn’t really fit in anywhere. They might be the perfect festival band, but unless there are some really big headliners to also play they aren’t a big enough draw on their own, but in a city like Toronto the Air Canada Centre was too large of an arena to play. The upper bowl was closed and there were still seats available for purchase, quite cheaply, but the next biggest venue would have been something like Rebel or Danforth Music Hall, which is far too small for them. They occupy a land where they are both a headliner and a club act, just like how they are simultaneously the coolest and most uncool band around, something James Murphy has been fighting inside him for well over a decade now as the ring leader of LCD Soundsystem and might be the truest thing about them.
