Concert Review – LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5, 5/22/2010

2010
05.23

Concert Review – LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5, 5/22/2010

New York’s foremost dance rock band, LCD Soundsystem, had the city bumping during a 4 night string of sold out shows at Terminal 5. After personally witnessing a shortened set opening for Jay-Z at Coachella, James Murphy and the rest of the band seemed a lot tighter and more comfortable in a smaller space (and without the added pressure of getting off the stage so Jay-Z could set up). This was my 5th time seeing the group and this show sits just behind the 1st show I saw during the Sound of Silver tour in Boston. I can’t help but draw comparisons to the Talking Heads if the Talking Heads were solely dedicated to getting your ass shaking. Someone once said that David Gilmour, guitarist of Pink Floyd, could do more with one note than most guitarists can with the whole fretboard. James Murphy can do more with one bass note than most others can with their best attempt at getting funky.

LCD got started with a rousing rendition of Us v Them, which has always been one of my favorites. Although I feel its fairly campy, Drunk Girls was certainly a crowd pleaser and I am really starting to love the last half of the song, especially live. Pow Pow was a rollercoaster type song with ups and downs and lots of crowd participation for the easy background vocal parts (it’s always fun to hear a crowd singing in unison about Bruce Vilanch).

The definitive highlight of the night was All My Friends. It’s one of those songs that builds for so long that it’s entirely impossible to resist screaming “Where are your friends tonight?” at the top of your lungs while dancing around with those you hold dear. I know that James Murphy always ends shows with New York, I Love You, which was fantastic as usual at this show, but he should consider ending with All My Friends. It’s just that great live and the crowd energy goes off the charts.

The rest of show consisted of a mix from all three studio albums, however the standout tracks were generally from Sound of Silver. Unfortunately, the choices plucked from the latest album, This is Happening, weren’t generally my favorite tracks, nor what I consider their strongest. The finale of New York, I Love You ended with a surprise deluge of black and white balloons all over the crowd. A fitting ending to a solid two hours of ass shaking tunes.

Overall: 8.5 out of 10.

Full setlist and video from the show after the jump.