What we want ... is what you want ... and what we want is free concerts. HA HA HA HAH
What we want ... is what you want ... and what we want is free bandannas. HA HA HA HAH
Hey, did the show you went to tonight give out bandannas made from some junky synthetic material? I think not, so don't be jealous of my swag.
It's about damn time that I catch LCD Soundsystem this year. Luckily, I was in the area for the day and high tailed it over for the Myspace.com sponsored show that was free of charge. Well, if you factor in gas, tolls, parking and pre-show beer then it's about $200 or so.
In any event, a rapturous performance full of enough cowbell, electronic beats and funky grooves that will make even the most jaded concert goer want to go crazy in their Chuck Taylors. I know I've been missing out on the LCD experience this year (I saw them 2 years ago), so I go all the LCD I ever wanted and now feel like part of the cool crowd now. What was more exciting was that they played a 11-song set -- about 75 minutes of free music goodness. Thank you, oh bless you kind Tom. You are my best myspace friend I've never met.
As expected, the Philly crowd were ready to get their dance on and proved to be the excited crowd the filmed event was looking for. Although, the crowd was loving every minute of the show, until the final song, where James Murphy was booed.
The reason why can be found in the setlist:
- Us Vs. Them
- Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
- Time To Get Away
- North American Scum
- All My Friends
- Tribulations
- Watch The Tapes
- Movement
- Yeah
- Encore: No Love Lost
- New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
You can't play a song about New York in Philly. Not kosher, but it would been lame to change the lyrics. I saw Billy Idol in concert once (don't laugh) and he changed "L.A. Woman" to "Jersey Woman." That's about an 11 on 10 scale of dorkiness. Anyway, it wasn't a major boo fest, just a few grumbles and shouts.
The music itself is so damn exciting to experience live with the live instruments and all the electronics cranked up to body shaking levels. LCD are one of the best dance acts to see live, but here's how I would rank them among who I think are the best...
5. Groove Armada
4. LCD Soundsystem
3. Gotan Project
2. Royksopp
1. Basement Jaxx
When you experience something like "Yeah" live, it's such an invigorating, simple song with continuous beats on top of electronic flourishes. Then James busts out his drumsticks and just goes to town on the drums. You want to stop on admire the skill, but then you just want jump around and act like an idiot. With the new material off Sound of Silver, you have more lines to shout back at the band, especially a phrase like "North American" or "We Got the Tapes."
At the center of the party is Mr. James Murphy, a hero to music snobs far and wide. "Losing My Edge" is could be theme song tothis blog or snobs everywhere. He doesn't look like a guy who reinvented American Dance music. He looks like a guy who's been working too long at Championship Vinyl. His combination of rock with dance is not new, but he succeeded in making dance music for people who don't like dance music. Face it, techno is a dirty word. It's dull, lifeless and comes with a bunch ancillary things that could make you sick. You know, I-ROC-Zs blaring crappy music at 2am, the "OHH OHHH, Awww Yeah!" interjections and those atrocious vocals, beats and keyboard tones. James takes his inspiration from 70s disco and 80s new wave, but uses it in a rock setting and makes it entirely his own.
As a performer, he puts on a persona of an awkward, reluctant frontman. He doesn't move wildly, preferring to jerk his head around and occasionally moving around on stage. Tonight, he did have an amusing story about how this is as close as he'll get for a homecoming gig. He lived for a few months in Philadelphia, but grew up in Princeton Junction, NJ. He explained he use to be a bouncer at a club in Trenton in 1988, and he apologized to anyone he had to kick out. Well, most of these kids were toddlers or weren't even born yet.
As you'll notice, no pictures. I was turned down for a photo pass and no cameras were aloud due to the taping, which turned out to be fine by me because I could dance and jump around freely and loose myself in the moment. So when "The List" is live on myspace, I'll point to it and all will be well with the world. I deliberately stood next to the camera crane so I wouldn't be seen. Nobody needs to see me.
While it was good to get a free show, it took a while for things to start. We had to fake enthusiasm for the cameras while waiting outside to get in. Then the show was suppose to start at 8:30, it started at 9:15, meaning we waited an hour and 45 minutes for the action with no opening act. Well, beggars can't be choosers. What was funny was that a guy got on the loudspeaker and told everyone to report to the floor and get out from the bar areas. I'm sure the TLA staff enjoyed that one. I can picture a bartender saying "Well, there goes my tips."
The deal is that myspace picks up the tab and films the whole thing. Then, they can sell advertising on their site when it's streamed. Yes, we love those lovely 30-second ads before we watch videos. Basically, we were all puppets so that Tom can light cigars with $100 bills. The joke was that the cameras were scoping for girls to show in those annoying and creepy True or Match.com video ads.
So that's the report from Philly. Sorry couldn't take any pics.
P.S.- Is it me or does the drummer from LCD Soundsystem, Pat Mahoney, look like Mr. Rosso, the guidance councilor from Freaks and Geeks?
Got to this show - it was amazing, thank you for the heads' up.
Posted by: Pamela | June 07, 2007 at 03:06 PM
aw man, i was supposed to go to that show but at the last minute had to change my plans. sounds like i missed a great one. and i for one wouldn't have cared if he played nyily . . . that's one of my favorite songs. thanks for the write up.
Posted by: mjrc | June 11, 2007 at 05:10 PM