LCD Soundsystem’s first UK date since the release of their new album, ‘American Dream’ and their first time in Manchester since 2010 (!) ended up being the opening night of Manchester’s legendary Warehouse Project. With Store Street packed as full as you could get it, with every person crammed in as tight as sardines, everyone was excited to see James Murphy and co, which some people thought would never happen again since their break-up in 2011.
After sets by Joe Goddard and Shit Robot which aptly warmed up the crowd, the clock struck 00:00 and LCD were due on. The intro to ‘Get Innocuous’ started and the crowd began to sing along, the baseline pummelled the crowd as the song slowly built up. The members of LCD slowly filtered onto the stage to one of James Murphy’s most insane drum solos which left the crowd in awe; knowing that they would be in for a memorable night.
From song-to-song, the energy didn’t falter from the band to the crowd, it seemed as though a band like this was made for an venue like The Warehouse Project. Even though LCD mainly stuck to their older material, some of their newer songs made an appearance, namely ‘call the police’, ‘i used to’, ‘change yr mind’, ’emotional haircut’ and ‘tonite’. The latter of which was one of my favourite performances of the night.
Cuts such as ‘i can change’, ‘you wanted a hit’ and ‘someone great’ all made appearances. As well as ‘tribulations’ and ‘movement’ which made for some of the most intense minutes of the entire night.
The crowd itself was something to behold, consisting of obvious Warehouse regulars to people easily in their early 60’s, all dancing along to a group of middle aged people occupying the stage. One of the more surprising moments of the night was when LCD Soundsystem performed the deliciously slapstick ‘Yr City’s a Sucker’ – a song from their debut album which doesn’t often get performed live.
LCD Soundsystem play somewhat like a tuned machine, moving from instrument to instrument and executing every song with enough energy in those two hours to make every other live band seem like amateurs.
It’s hard to believe that LCD Soundsystem have been gone for 7 years as they come back to the stage with a gravitas like they never left. Their bombastic return shows that no band has been close to even fill the hole they left. In the words of some friends I went with: “with no visuals or that many fancy lights, they just came to the stage in a shirt and jeans and blew everyone’s minds”.
If it seems like I have nothing bad to say about LCD Soundsystem live, it’s because, well I don’t.
