A Big Reason to Go to Lolla

By Jocelyn Geboy on Aug 6, 2007 7:00PM

One of the reasons I love to go to Lollapalooza is the fact that I can see bands that I love or know I'm going to love (e.g., The Fratellis; Rodrigo y Gabriela*, Peter, Bjorn and John; Paolo Nutini -- just to name a few), but another huge component is going to hear bands I've heard of but don't really know anything about. Last year, I was rewarded greatly by going to check out Broken Social Scene. (I'm beginning to think I have a thing for bands with no less than 10 members.)

This year, I headed over to see LCD Soundsystem thinking I'd probably dig it, but I had no clue what I was really in store for. Usually a one-man dynamo in the studio, James Murphy brought an A game to the myspace.com stage on Friday night. The songs were completely, utterly danceable, and it was practically impossible not to dance. The crowd was absolutely caught up in the magic, and danced the sun away. If Murphy is the king of his studio realm, he certainly was master of the stage that night. He moved from band member to band member, creating the exact sound he wanted. Rhythmically stopping cymbals, tuning the bass while the bassist was playing, playing with the guitarist's amp/feedback, and messing with the synth player's dials and buttons. I love to see a dance act use real instruments, and I was not disappointed.

This may sound strange, but James Murphy reminded me of Brian Wilson in some way. Looks or the wonderful falsetto he wholeheartedly managed to bring forth in so many of the songs. I also loved his stage commentary (it wasn't banter, as there was no one talking with him). On pauses between songs -- "(humming) I don't have anything to say ... (speaking) That's why people say shit like 'Are you ready?' What do you need to be ready for? We're the ones that need to be ready. That's why we lumber into songs ..." On crowd control/dancing -- "Congrats to the group of guys that started dancing enthusiastically ... sometimes it can be a 'girl bummer'; if you're dancing and no one's around, you're dancing wrong. You did a good job. Some guys dance so hard -- 'I'm gonna fuck you up!'"

I was completely captivated by the music, the dancing, the performance and the general attitude of this band. I can't wait until LCD Soundsystem comes to Chicago again. (Looks like St. Paul or Louisville will be my next chance.)

*To the guy who told his friend that if Rodrigo y Gabriela had a child, it would be interesting because they were brother and sister ... nope. I thought I was right, but a phone Google confirmed it. However, I've left my know-it-allness to this post and didn't tell the guy to his face.

Photo courtesy of Chicagoist Photos