“A band. Again.” So goes the social media bio of LCD Soundsystem – both a sweet, endearingly honest description of them, and also perhaps a tongue-in-cheek nod to the group’s myriad ‘final’ gigs and breakups.
The darlings of 00s indie electronica are firmly back on the touring circuit, headlining All Points East following an electric turn on the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury. They appear at the top of a bill that seems to nod to elements of their DNA, past and future. On the one hand, there’s Pixies – responsible for a run of albums in the late 80s and early 90s that firmly established the loud-quiet-loud dynamics that LCD use with such aplomb. In more recent territory, you only have to consider the live synth-tuning of Floating Points or deliberately sabotaged pop of Jockstrap to see echoes of the work of James Murphy and co.
The variously worrying weather forecasts haven’t come to pass, and the sun beats down on Victoria Park as the first acts take to the stage in the mid-afternoon. Gilles Peterson sets the tone at the 6 Music Stage (a curiously towering structure that would feel more suited to Tomorrowland, or a particularly adventurous late-night corner of Glastonbury). Peterson relishes the kind of setlist freedom only a selector of his vintage can enjoy, shamelessly playing a bossa nova cover of Bill Withers’ ‘Lovely Day’ alongside UK bassline. Delightful.
Speaking of left turns, Jockstrap’s set on the main stage contains almost too many to keep track of. Their sound sees beautiful melodies and yearning ballads twisted through the prisms of dubstep and hyperpop; resulting in a collage that seems to divide the audience almost equally into those who find it sensational, and those who consider it massively overwrought. For us, it makes for a perfectly confounding mix, managing not to jump the shark even when Georgia Ellery returns to the stage for an encore wearing a huge pair of fake stone legs. Brilliant and baffling all at once, the duo clearly know exactly what they’re doing – even if the rest of us don’t.
Over in the tent, meanwhile, Sam Shepherd is constructing a carefully engineered world of synthesizers and drum machines, building in real time the motifs of his forthcoming album, Cascade. A return to clubbier climes after his 2021 jazz odyssey Promises, it finds Shepherd doing exactly what he does so effortlessly – holding a dancefloor in the palm of his hand. Notes echo and flutter as tracks rear their heads and then disappear just as quickly, tempos building and building without ever quite boiling over. It’s a singular experience, and a welcome excursion into the electronica that much of the bill references.
In the support slot for the headliners, we find Pixies – aforementioned indie pioneers, now in the heritage position that so many of their contemporaries would find uncomfortable. It’s true that it feels odd watching the edges be sanded off counterculture, and no one could call the polished set they perform punk. However, it’s fascinating and more than a little emotional to watch a band that never quite crossed over into the mainstream the first time round get their flowers. Many of the audience is too young to remember the release of seminal albums Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, but deep cuts receive just as enthusiastic a response as ‘Where Is My Mind’. A really solid turn from a band that quietly paved the way for so many.
And so to the main event. The East Stage has been cleared, and then reconstructed with a myriad of sound-making devices – LCD have long employed an egalitarian stage design reminiscent of Talking Heads. Above the various amps and instruments is suspended a genuinely massive disco ball. Anticipation, it is safe to say, is high. Without a hello, the lights dim, and the opening drum machine of ‘You Wanted A Hit’ begins to ripple into the still-warm evening, and we’re off. Opening with a monumental and slightly sarcastic B-side immediately establishes the kind of headline set we’re going to get: by turns funny, tear-jerking, and bombastic. By the time the song weaves its way to a propulsive high, almost nine minutes have elapsed. “You wanted a hit / But maybe we don’t do hits.” This is the kind of rock LCD peddle – far from instant gratification, but if you relax into the journey, the highs are very high indeed.
Despite lasting two hours, the headline set passes at a brisk clip. Part of this is down to the spectacle of 10+ musicians locking into groove after groove with mechanical precision. Early hits like ‘Tribulations’ and ‘Get Innocuous!’ are greeted with hysteria, and the atmosphere is jubilant. Midway through the setlist, though, the night takes a turn. James Murphy takes to the mic to explain that they’re dedicating ‘Someone Great’ to the memory of Justin Chearno, a friend of the band and former member who died days before. “We’re trying our best” he says, sounding on the verge of tears. “Thank you for being here with us”. And it’s this, more than the jubilation and hedonism, that colours the set overall – LCD Soundsystem’s ability to wrap moments of devastation and of joy within beautifully crafted indie dance. It’s a moment that acts as a catalyst to renew the crowd’s vigour and passion right through to the end.
Final track ‘All My Friends’ feels like it functions more as a mission statement for an LCD Soundsystem show than anything else tonight. The piano lick is somehow both minimal and massive, building and building into something universal and all-encompassing. “If I could see all my friends tonight” seems to echo everything the band stand for – connection, dancefloor epiphanies, honesty – and turn it into a moment of complete vulnerability for everyone there. As the final notes ring out, it seems that everyone turns and hugs the person next to them, and it’s impossible not to feel that the song deserves a spot in the canon of Perfect Songs.
All in all, it’s hard to compute that LCD Soundsystem ever went away. They remain a beguiling and brilliant live proposition – somehow undulled by the fact that their last recorded album was almost 7 years ago. For a band that endlessly references the totems of rock and electronic music gone by, they seem to have truly joined the ranks of their heroes. It’s very hard to imagine a better way to spend a Friday night.
featured image: Phoebe Fox via All Points East
