There’s nothing like a hometown show to really get a feel for a band’s best, and for LCD
Soundsystem, there’s no hometown show quite like a Brooklyn Steel performance. The band has
graced the venue over sixty times since playing its inaugural show back in 2017, and they began
a 2023 NYC residency once again two weekends ago.
That Saturday’s crowd reflected the significance of the show. People of all ages—from
glittery-eyed girls to older, bearded hipster types—packed into the massive pit to welcome the
band to the stage with feverish energy. The group opened with “Us vs. Them” and frontman
James Murphy repeated the opening lines into the mic —the time has come, the time has come,
the time has come—as the lights flashed blue and blinding white. It truly felt like the beginning
of a homecoming, and primed the audience for what would be a wildly energetic and explosive
two hour show.
LCD Soundsystem is no stranger to a well-timed build-up, and the structure of the show
mimicked the rising tension of many of their best known songs. The beginning of the setlist
featured a mix of popular hits (“I Can Change”), and songs less experienced fans may not have
heard before (“Yr City’s a Sucker”), but left the audience in anticipation for the band’s biggest
hits—which were saved for a two-part encore.
Thanks to a full band—featuring two drum kits, a synthesizer and multiple guitarists—the performance had a powerful, danceable sound that filled the venue. From the
center of the pit, the crowd might’ve been mistaken for a packed club, as hundreds danced under
multi-colored lights. By the time the first encore rolled around, I was drenched in sweat and
deeply impressed by the band’s seemingly endless stamina, even two decades into their career.
But the encore—which included the band leaving the stage twice—brought a new jolt of
energy to the entire crowd. When the band finally played the thrumming bass of “Dance Yrself
Clean,” someone in the audience screamed: this is what we came for everybody! And it was a
fitting climax to an already incredible night. By the time the lights came up after the final song
(their classic closer “All My Friends”), it really did feel like we had all danced ourselves a little
cleaner, that we were all a little lighter. And what else could you want from a live show,
anyway?