Words: Alex Wood | Photo: @liorphillips
A year after headlining Lollapalooza and months before the release of their next record, LCD Soundsystem returned to Chicago for a Friday-night set at Pitchfork Music Festival.
Fans waited at the stage hours before the band’s headlining set, and were instantly treated to a different setlist than that of last year’s festival set and aftershows.
The band came on early and opened with “Yr City’s A Sucker,” an obvious reference to the Brooklyn group’s hometown relative to the Chicago setting, and a beloved older track from the band’s first record. The song built energy throughout its duration, building to fan-favorite “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House.”
The set featured an even split from LCD’s three primary albums, sandwiching Sound Of Silver’s “Get Innocuous!” between This Is Happening’s “I Can Change” and “You Wanted A Hit” early on.
Even with the changing styles and tempos, the momentum never slowed.
A pairing of “Tribulations” and “Movement” brought the show to a climactic height, both songs adding a punk energy to their electronic-based sound.
Yet the moment most fans were truly waiting for came with the performance of the band’s two new songs released earlier this year, with “Call The Police” and “American Dream” performed back-to-back.
“Call The Police” opened with wobbly synthesizers and Murphy’s repetitive vocals, before hitting an upbeat, bass-driven sound that could have come straight from the late 70s. Intentionally less electronic than past work, the song demonstrated a serious growth following the band’s infamous hiatus.
Though “American Dream” featured a stronger electronic influence, its simplicity and bass-heavy sound were still a sign of new things to come for the band, and felt made for the live stage.
Live favorite “Home” followed, the audience singing along loudly with its blissful harmonies, before the more dramatic “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” slowed things down temporarily.
Though the band didn’t perform a proper encore, the last two songs felt like one.
“Dance Yrself Clean” and “All My Friends” were paired together, the effect an absolute party, both songs arguably amongst the greatest live tracks of our era.
Not long after leaving the stage, the band announced a return to the city. Their previously announced fall tour has been expanding to include two nights at Aragon Ballroom, November 6th & 7th.
Setlist:
1. Yr City’s A Sucker
2. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
3. I Can Change
4. Get Innocuous!
5. You Wanted A Hit
6. Tribulations
7. Movement
8. Someone Great
9. Call The Police
10. American Dream
11. Home
12. New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down
13. Dance Yrself Clean
14. All My Friends
“All My Friends” and "Someone Great"
