LCD Soundsystem, YACHT @ The Showbox - 05/02/07

There’s not much to add to Kurt’s matrimonially-blissed out review of last night’s LCD Soundsystem show, as we seemed to have been moved by all the same moments. But here goes anyway.

I was fortunate enough to be right up front, at the foot of Pat Mahoney's drum kit, with both a great view and enough room to move around a little. People around me were pretty nice as far as rock shows go, and the crowd in general seemed really enthusiastic and well behaved. (There's always the odd douchebag that tries to rush to the front for the band's encore, or that crowd surfs during their Joy Division cover, but whatever). Some dude shouted, "Hot Chip is in the house!" when Al Doyle took the stage, and during "New York I Love You" some of the crowd took the opportunity to let James Murphy know that they loved him too (was that you, Kurt?).

The show started out very "rock," with dangerously sped-up versions of "Us v Them" and "Daft Punk Are Playing at My House" segueing into the tense funk of "Time to Get Away" and the fist-pumping "North American Scum." "All My Friends" may be my new favorite song from Sound Of Silver, an epic prog-pop fraternal love song that's basically five or six minutes of build and a couple minutes of sustained release. It was every bit as awesome live as I'd hoped it would be. Everyone but the drummer huddled around keyboards for the space-blip outro of "Get Innocuous." "Someone Great" is one of those weird songs that's more transcendent and powerful on headphones than it is live, don't ask me why. "Yeah" however is a fucking monster. Their version of "No Love Lost" is great; under the stark white lights you could squint and see Joy Division.

Finally, when Murphy killed all the lights except the disco ball it was a magical moment. I don't know if they do this often, or at least whenever there's a disco ball, but it was pretty cool. Murphy gazed at the ball as he began singing, and turning to look back at it, I realized it was like he was staring down his old album cover, like he was addressing this symbol, the disco ball, that has clearly meant something to him over the years. Sound of Silver is an incredibly nostalgic album, with all the longing and bittersweetness that implies, and "New York I Love You" is that nostalgia at its peak, a longing for something that maybe never was or at least can never be again (its also one of the most lyrically clever songs he's written since that other sarcastic nostalgia fest, "Losing My Edge"). It was a triumphant end to an awesome show.

Can I say enough nice things about YACHT? Yes, I can. But let me also say what he lacks in LCD Soundsystem's live band department he makes up for with singular gawky charisma and energy. He does the Q&As even at the Showbox, jumps rope with the mic cord, dances like a goofball, and introduces songs with Bad Brains referencing motivational speeches. Also, the song made entirely from Nirvana samples that he begins his set with ("Who remembers 1991? Who remembers grunge?") is great.