CityLife

LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem
Academy 1
May 1, 2010

"We’re probably coming back," reassures LCD Soundsystem main-man James Murphy, allaying fears tonight will be the last time his troupe of uber-cool, post-punky electro titans grace Manchester.

Having recently turned 40, Murphy has made less than subtle hints that forthcoming album This is Happening will be the band’s last, making any opportunity to see the most vital act of the last decade unmissable.

Opener Us vs. Them sets the tone; more bruising and forceful than on record, its sheer relentlessness demands attention that never ceases throughout a breathless set.

Murphy, the dynamic, magnetic focal point, seems invigorated, spitting out lyrics, dominating the stage with an absorbing presence.

Having promised not to play too many new songs due to This is Happening’s behind schedule arrival (perhaps slightly naively, as let’s face it, most people will have got a copy one way or another) only a handful of new tracks are aired, but fantastic they are.

Lead single Drunk Girls may be a slightly throw-away, David Bowie-esque glam-pop stomp on record, but here it is reinvigorated into something more substantial. Similarly I Can Change, which reveals itself as a dreamy, Human League-covering-Kraftwerk pop gem.

Of the new songs, All I Want best showcases Murphy’s knack of taking something you already know – in this case, giving Bowie’s Heroes a post-punk airbrush – but making it seem markedly original and impossibly exciting. Played in the encore, it strikes an immediate chord, making it an appropriate successor to All My Friends, which, when aired tonight, sounds every bit as euphoric as you’d expect.

Elsewhere, a throbbing Tribulations, Yeah’s techno explosion the menacing rumble of Get Innocuous breathe considerable life into the staples, all sounding colossal. 

Predictably, it is Losing My Edge that not only demands the most ecstatic response, but displays the peerless cool LCD are famed for. Surprisingly omitted from their last tour, its famously sardonic narrative resonates like never before, still sounding like the most significant, multifaceted song for aeons. Tonight, with added crunch, it sounds phenomenal.

A closing New York I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down, complete with incorporation of Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind, brings the night to a suitably epic conclusion, its soaring climax proof LCD Soundsystem can do populist as well as chic. Whenever it is, their swansong is not to be missed.

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