Concert review: LCD Soundsystem at the Aragon
LCD Soundsystem performs at Aragon. (Marina Makropoulos, for the Tribune) View more pictures of LCD Soundsystem at Aragon HERE.
James Murphy is in many ways the antithesis of cool. A chunky guy in a checkered shirt and gym shoes with a frazzled salt-and-pepper beard, he could walk down Michigan Avenue this afternoon and melt in with the crowd just like your average, everyday video-store clerk.
But with LCD Soundsystem, he has made some of the most galvanizing club music of the last decade and he has evolved into a surprisingly dynamic front man. After a series of club singles and three superior albums, he has turned his solo studio act into a roaring live septet, shimmying at the intersection of postpunk rock and postmodern dance music.
It translated beautifully Monday at the sold-out Aragon in the first of two Chicago shows (a few tickets remain for the encore Tuesday at the Riviera). Though the ballroom’s muddy acoustics have tripped up many a band, LCD sounded remarkably clear in the vast space, and the fans to the very back of the room were in celebration mode throughout, cheering everything from cowbell solos to spinning mirror balls with an enthusiasm that was met by the band’s energetic performance.
Murphy used to spend a lot of time fidgeting and tinkering with his electronic gadgets on stage, but now he focuses on his vocals, which have expanded in range and nuance over the years. It’s remarkable to note the difference between a key early track such as “Losing My Edge,” a sarcastic sing-speak ode to a hipster grappling with mid-life crisis, to the expressiveness of set-closer “Home.” From the frothing stomp of “Yeah” to the gloriously surging “All My Friends” – one of those songs that feels like riding a big ocean wave – Murphy spiced his grab-bag of growls, yelps and yips with falsetto, a soul man dressed in car mechanic’s drag.
His band was playing short-handed with regular bassist Tyler Pope out on paternity leave, but Al Doyle of openers Hot Chip kept the rhythm oil flowing and got into the proper dance-party mode by stripping off his shirt. Epic tracks that routinely check in at seven or eight minutes, Murphy’s songs were built on a matrix of rhythm, everything from maracas and cowbells to thundering drums and electronic loops. Keyboards sounded like guitars (the crunchy riff on “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” was triggered by Nancy Whang’s synthesizer) and guitars sounded like drums, especially when massed together during a thundering “Movement.”
It was a night of music aimed at the hips, songs with big choruses exploding out from underneath the disco beats. But what makes Murphy resonate, one of those artists who has defined his time, is the emotional punch he has brought to the party. There's soul inside those Godzilla grooves.
“Look around you, you’re surrounded,” Murphy sang, “it won’t get any better.” He was enjoying his moment, and everyone was invited to join in.
greg@gregkot.com
LCD Soundsystem set list Monday at Aragon
1. ”Dance Yrself Clean”
2. “Drunk Girls”
3. “Get Innocuous!”
4. “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”
5. “I Can Change”
6. “All My Friends”
7. “You Wanted a Hit”
8. “Tribulations”
9. “Movement”
10. “Yeah”
Encore
11. “Someone Great”
12. “Losing My Edge”
13. “Home”
What's a video store clerk? Time to update your analogies, Greg ;) Seriously, though, "Yeah" might be right up there with my all-time favorite musical moments.
Posted by: Steve | October 26, 2010 at 08:25 AM
no hot chip review?
Posted by: meg | October 26, 2010 at 08:25 AM
"All My Friends" was so magnificent, I was on the verge of breaking down and sobbing like one of those girls you'd see in films about the Beatles. It really is the greatest song ever. And I'm not using hyperbole. It's the greatest song ever made.
Posted by: Mike! | October 26, 2010 at 09:19 AM
This band sucks. Clearly they could not handle the jock straps of a great band like Kansas!
Posted by: Don Kosin | October 26, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Seeing as how the Aragon Ballroom (along with the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater, I might add) has had a reputation for being an echo chamber for decades now, it's a shame that current and past owners have never seen fit to do anything to enhance its acoustics. I guess as long as the concert-going public continues to attend shows there, and the bands allow themselves to be booked there, the owners will pocket their profits and turn a deaf ear (pun intended) to the consistent complaints about muddy sound.
Posted by: Kevin | October 26, 2010 at 02:19 PM
This show was amazing. As soon as Dance Yrself Clean "popped", everyone around me went (nuts). Wish I was going to see them tonight, they were that good. .
Posted by: Mike | October 26, 2010 at 03:08 PM
No Paperclip People's "Throw" cover? One of my favorite moments of every time I've seen LCD.
Posted by: newswatcher | October 27, 2010 at 02:51 AM
That show is in my Top 3 of greatest shows. Being in the middle of the "dance pit" was insane. The energy was fantastic. And you couldn't help but move with everyone else.
Posted by: vanessa | October 27, 2010 at 08:12 AM
Kansas was a great band before I stopped listening to new musicc. Guess what? They still are! HCIT!
Posted by: Joe Worker | October 27, 2010 at 07:38 PM
"Has made some of the most galvanizing club music of the last decade" ???!!!!
In what context, Mr. Kot? Do you hit Underground and Beauty Bar and Vision and Sound-Bar and Spin ever, if with any regularity? Something tells me you're totally unqualified to gauge what people outside of the sphere of Spin, Paste, and Pitchfork are dancing to.
And if I have to read anymore about what a regular guy Murphy is, I'm gonna puke. As if David Guetta spins while dressed like Lady Effing Gaga.
Posted by: Steve | October 28, 2010 at 12:10 PM
Check out another perspective of the show here:
http://gozamos.com/2010/10/review-lcd-soundsystem-at-the-aragon/
Enjoy!
Posted by: TRC | November 04, 2010 at 10:16 AM