LCD Soundsystem @ Mezzanine, 4/30/07
LCD Soundsystem has received a lot of buzz for being one of the best live acts today. You could tell they were riding high off of their performance at Coachella, where Rolling Stone’s ‘reporter’ claimed that LCD was ‘best of the fest’
Mezzanine was packed, especially for a Monday night. This dude called YACHT opened for them. Initially, it reminded me of The Gray Kid, so I though it could be cool. But it was far from that. At some point during his set, I told my friend “I feel like I’m peeking in on someone’s 12 year old brother jamming out to some music in his bedroom”. It was weird, not in a good way.
One of the allures of LCD is that they look like a band of misfits. Even with their current members- the guitarist form Hot Chip and the drummer from The Juan McLean, they just are atypical. James Murphy just looks like a guy that would work in the cube next to you, and then there’s the unassuming Asian chick keyboardist. I guess you could say that I haven’t come to terms with musicians who don’t wear their music on the outside.
Unfortunately, while I love Mezzanine, I find that when I have seen the band perform somewhere else, I usually prefer that show. I think the number one factor is the tiny stage- when I saw LCD at The Fillmore almost 2 years ago, they did this cool visual effect where they had a live video feed behind them with some sort of treatment- like a live music video. Can’t do much with that tiny stage. The second thing is the people- Mezzanine is full of drunken amateurs. A girl hopped up and down in front of me through 4 songs. Now that is just downright disrespectful.
While I find their debut album better than Sound of Silver, it did round out their setlist nicely. ‘Daft Punk is playing at my House’ is always a favorite, but my main tunes are the darker ‘Tribulations’ which was played, and ‘Too Much Love’, which I didn’t catach unless they played it at the very end when my old self had to leave. I love the old school looking mic that Murphy uses, and I’m sure I’m not alone saying that I absolutely love it when he plays the cowbell. He’s a really good cowbeller.
video from youtube (not mine):
2 Comments
Eryn
05.03.2007
You know, aside from a few songs, I realized that I didn’t know the music as well which usually spells bordem for me. I like to prepare. a lot. I like to sing out loud. a lot.
still, I found myself content in a bouncy-knee jam-band smiley rhythm. (it was too crowded to do much more than bob my head and bouce my knees) So sad I missed the “New York I love you, but…” song (great video), must have been at the tail end. What was that, 1am on a Monday? Talk about dedication to live music!
I agree, that for stage performance the bands are quite limited on the mezzanine stage. But as far as crowd vibe goes, the Mezzanine and the Independent always win me over. People are not afraid to dance and sweat and sing at the top of their lungs (nor are they afraid to step on your feet, pour drinks on your shirt or as described earlier – bounce around as if on a pogo stick in front of you). I guess you just take the good with the bad, right?
getinet
05.09.2007
‘Tribulations’ was GREAT.
I do agree that that the stage was very constraining for an act like LCD…..Hopefully the Daft Punk/rapture show will make up for it
Thanks again for the video… a great moment in the night
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