Annapocalypse

Top Moments of LCD Soundsystem’s Last Show

It’s hard to put into words what I witnessed last night at Madison Square Garden.  I haven’t seen too many “final shows” in my life, and all the ones that I have seen were nowhere near the level of epic that last night was.  Although I heard people talking about almost crying as I walked out of the venue last night at one in the morning, I think the mood overall throughout the whole show was happy.  People were appreciate that LCD took the time to play older (and lesser played) songs and in return, LCD played one of the best shows they will ever play, period.  Here are my top moments of the night, in chronological order:

Dance Yrself Clean: This opened this show and I don’t know how it happened, but you know the moment when the song bursts open and gets louder?  As soon as that happened and the stage lights switched on, different sections in the upper levels threw bunches of glowsticks onto the floor section.  But it was perfectly coordinated…almost as if it had been planned.  I don’t think it was planned though, so it might just be the most perfect uncoordinated (but coordinated) moment ever.

All My Friends: Since this is my favorite LCD song of all time, I was incredibly anxious to hear it.  I thought they would save it for later in the set; so I was very surprised to hear it just an hour into the show.  This was the first moment in the show where the crowd really woke up and it felt like every single person in the room was dancing like crazy and singing along at the top of their lungs.  It was incredible, albeit a little bittersweet for me to sing “Where are your friends tonight?” when I was at the show alone.  Still, an over-the-top performance and I feel genuinely sad knowing I might never get to hear it performed live again.

North American Scum: By now, especially if you watched the live stream on Pitchfork last night, most of you know that Arcade Fire joined LCD on-stage to sing back-ups for this song.  The cheers when they took the stage and it began to sink in who they were (since I think James Murphy didn’t introduce them by name) were immense.  I mean, who doesn’t want to see Arcade Fire and LCD on-stage together?  Not anyone at the show, that’s for sure.  They sang backing vocals throughout the whole song and did cute coordinated dance moves.  At one point, a close shot of Win Butler’s face was projected on one of the video screens attached to the stage and everyone FREAKED out and started cheering.  It was pretty cool and made me even more excited to see Arcade Fire with The National back in Chicago at the end of the month.

Tribulations / Movement: I was pretty tired by this point (since this was like the 21st song that they played), but not too tired to dance like a mad woman to this one-two punch of greatness.  If there’s one way to get a venue of thousands of people back on its feet, it’s playing “Tribulations.”

Yeah (crass version): This song always kills live and last night was no exception.  Everyone was dancing and waving their arms and the entire floor section was jumping along as James Murphy screamed the “yeah’s” and “hey’s” at the top of his voice.  I’m definitely going to miss hearing this song live too.

Losing My Edge: With the album covers projected on one of the video screens after each one was shouted out in the song and a sample of Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” inserted into the song at one point, “Losing My Edge” never sounded as good as it did last night.

Home: My second favorite LCD song.  I thought the band definitely did this song justice, and the video snippets of highways and clouds outside plane windows being played on the video screens really emphasized the meaning behind the song.  I only wish that the crowd in my section had been more into it, but when it’s the 26th song of the night, what do you expect, I suppose.

All I Want: Another favorite of mine.  David Scott Stone came out and killed it on guitar, along with Al Doyle from Hot Chip.  I was glad this played this since the focus seemed to be on older songs for the most part.

New York, I Love You But You’re Bring Me Down: Last song of the night and (possibly) ever.  Before the opening piano chords even started, a shot of the NY skyline flashed onto the screens and everyone cheered loudly, knowing exactly what song was going to close the show.  To say this song was touching would be an understatement.  It was almost palpable how important this moment was.  This was it, this was the end, and we were all here witnessing it.  Before the song, James Murphy gave a speech and thanked all his family and friends and told us that he was wearing his dad’s watch on-stage.  I think that moment was weighing heavily on everyone’s minds as the song played on.  The stage lights flashed on one last time as the song wound down and the white balloons that I had noticed early on suspended in nets from the ceiling were released and fell slowly on the entire floor section.  It was a beautiful and fitting moment to end on.

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I don’t think this will really be LCD’s last show ever.  I am one of those realistic people that think they will reunite for Coachella or another festival or opportunity at some point.  Not for the money, but just for the chance to make fans happy and share their music again.  However, I do hope that this was their last time playing together, because I don’t think they can ever top the performance they gave last night.

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