People from all over the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area packed Randall’s Island to the tits for a glimpse of Arcade Fire, which if you believe Win Butler’s random stage banter may be the last chance to see these guys in New York “for a few years.”
Arcade Fire’s set was, as usual, inspired and well-performed, but a muddied sound precluded it from being the highlight of the evening. Blonde Redhead impressed the hell out of me, and what looked like everyone else as well, but it was also far from the show’s highlight. That honor’s reserved for James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem, which returned home to New York and delivered a memorable punkfunkhouse rager for the fucking ages. Seriously, just top-drawer stuff.
I think what most attracts me to Murphy’s band is how much many of the tunes remind me of the danceable elements of the Talking Heads. Infinite comparisons to David Byrne & Co. are thrown around these days, and most of them are garbage. But if the Talking Heads began to grow as musicians during the ecstasy of the late ’90s instead of the nerds-on-cokeness of late ’70s, they very well might have turned into what LCD Soundsystem is today. They’re not the same band, nor do they do the same things, but go see a show and tell me there’s another group out there that turns you on your head in the manner of the Talking Heads.
Since I can’t get this band out of my head today, let’s look back to this past summer’s Lollapalooza performance on 8/3/07. Here’s All My Friends:
[youtube]2s5L1DTf4ak[/youtube]
And if you want a taste of the All My Friends from Randall’s Island, The YouTube’s got yer fill right here. Damn, it’s grizzappy.
11 Responses
Really diggin’ the video from Lollapalooza. I’ve gotta see these guys live.
Ace would definitely agree with you comparison of LCD to the Talking Heads. I think my exact words to my friend the other night during their set was they were a disco version of them. Though by no means would I say Randall’s Island was “packed to the tits” – the entire lawn area was pretty damn empty.
Actually, come to think of it, that’s pretty true. I think Win said they sold like 24,000 tickets, and capacity is considerably higher than that. But where I was standing: tits-packed.
24,000 tickets is definitely an impressive number. Just compared to other shows I’ve seen there, it was slightly shocking how empty it was. Granted the band has played here 9 times over the last year, so that may have factored into the ticket sales.
I’m with you on LCD Soundsystem…I’ve been listening to them pretty much nonstop for the past 2 days. Awesome stuff.
great show! great band!
you said it. The best band on stage on sat was easily LCD. That was an outstanding set and James Murphy is easily one of the best musicians/producers out today.
I like your comparison to the Heads. You make a valid point. His delivery and lyrics are very much in tune with david byrne. most of these indie bands just sound like bryne but murphy has his own style in both music and appearance.
i can live without arcade live for a few years but just give me more LCD.
LCD definitely has a krautrock thing going on, which like the Heads is a kind of music that borrows from a lot of different world music…and also has uncannily tight rhythms.
Wish I coulda been there…. 🙁
100% agree with you on the Byrne comparison. That was probably one of the first things I noticed after first listening to their self-titled.