Everybody keeps on listening in / Nobody's listening up

I went to Pitchfork Music Festival just to see LCD Soundsystem. I was at the park for a few other acts, but nothing I was interested in. On a very hot and humid day, I met up with some friends, had a few beers, and basically hung out waiting for the Saturday night headliner.

Finally, at about 8:25, LCD Soundsystem took the main stage. We were pretty far back from the stage (I did not want to be crushed by sweaty hipsters and high kids), but I still had a good view, plus two giant screens broadcast the show as well. I was very excited, since I love the new album (overdue review coming soon), the old albums, their whole vibe, etc.

(Pictures are from Pitchfork. Mine aren't very good.)

And basically this show rocked the balls off of Pitchfork. James Murphy, singer and mastermind, is an old dude as hip electrorockers go, but he owned the stage and put everything into the show. The musicians played fantastically well, combining rock guitars, electronic keyboards, and huge drums.

The show started with "Us v. Them," from Sound of Silver, and the crowd really got into the show immediately, and LCD followed with "Drunk Girls," the superbly silly song first single from This is Happening.

I knew because this was a festival show, the band would not be playing a full set, so I did not know what to expect from the rest of the setlist. What surprised me was how much early stuff (from the first album) they played, and I was really expecting "North American Scum." But I'm not disappointed. Here's the set list:

Us V. Them

Drunk Girls

Pow Pow

Daft Punk Is Playing at My House

All My Friends

I Can Change

Tribulations

Movement

Yeah

Someone Great

Losing My Edge

New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

My favorite song from the new album, "I Can Change" arrived with a major tempo change. The band slowed the song way down, and though I still loved the performance, I prefer the full speed version to the live one.

Perhaps the surprising highlight of the show was "Yeah." Though this early LCD song is always fun, it was so pumped up and big for the show. Murphy went back and forth from singing (which is a pretty one-word affair for this song) and banging on his drum kit. This song had everyone in the huge crowd dancing, singing, jumping, and cheering, and probably most of them had never heard it before.

And though "Yeah" provided the best dance energy, the emotional energy of course came from the sumblime performances of "All My Friends," one of the greatest songs of all time (Yes, I really mean that.) and "Someone Great." The crowd really felt both of these song, and Murphy delivered heartfelt renditions. Here's someone's YouTube video of "All My Friends," which shows some good crowd shots.

For the finale, the band added a beautiful a cappella chorus of "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z to the already beautiful "New York, I Love You . . ." and the result was pure greatness.

Despite what he said in the great second-to-last song, Murphy is definitely not losing his edge. This concert made me so happy.