I'm getting really tired of people rolling their eyes at me when I tell them I love Twitter. Yes, I agree it's completely self-indulgent, but I also think you really wanted to see how awesome my new leopard print manicure is.
But the real reason I'm Twitter-obsessed is for the music. If you follow the right bloggers and musicians, you get excellent new music recommendations. If you follow venues in your city, you can find out when coveted tickets for a sold-out show are being released or if your favorite artist is playing a "secret gig."
Twitter is how I scored tickets to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show at Music Hall of Williamsburg last year. And it's how I knew that LCD Soundsystem would make their comeback in a small, unpromoted show at the same venue just last week.
James Murphy & Co. haven't played live together in about 2 years, a fact that a loveably-drunk Murphy reminded the audience of between almost every song. But they sounded like they haven't missed a beat. Opening with "Yr City's A Sucker," LCD Soundsystem played their dancey/punky/funky tunes to a crowd that couldn't stop moving and I don't think anybody really wanted to. I loved it when a rightfully concerned Nancy Whang warned the moshy boys ten feet in front of her keyboard stack to be careful and considerate and that if the person next to them wasn't a girl, they were "dancing the wrong way." The fact that LCD Soundsystem can evoke this kind of movement is what makes them so unique as a band. Their recordings border on too-weird-to-be-listenable for the casual music fan, but I've yet to go to a LCD concert where the entire room wasn't dancing uninhibitedly by the last song, from rabid fans, to people who barely know the band, to bros that would never be caught dead dancing in public.
LCD Soundsystem has a new album coming out at the end of May and as of the night of the show, the songs that had been released were not well-received by fans. In my opinion, "Pow Pow" is not something very original (coming from LCD Soundsystem anyway) and "Drunk Girls" sounds a bit like an attempt at a mainstream hit. A lot of people were concerned that the new album, titled This Is Happening, would be a huge disappointment. Luckily, Murphy explained that he hated going to see bands that had an album coming out and would only play songs that no one had heard before. So LCD would be playing mostly old stuff. However, they did play "Drunk Girls" and a song that hadn't leaked yet (until the following morning) "I Can Change." For me, "I Can Change" pushed all doubt out of my head. I love this song. The full album has since been available to stream on LCD's website and all concerns have been put to rest. This Is Happening is great and "I Can Change" is my favorite song on the album.
The day after the MHOW gig, a bigger show at Webster Hall was "secretly" announced. While the Brooklyn show was more intimate and it was amazing to see LCD's return to the stage, I have to say that the Webster Hall show was the better of the two. Murphy was a bit more sober for this one and the laser light show during "Yeah" was mind blowing.
So glad this band is back and I really hope This Is Happening isn't their swan song, as Murphy has previously claimed.
Both shows ended with the can't miss trio of songs "Someone Great," "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House," and "New York I Love You." At MHOW, Murphy forgot most of the words but both nights it was the only way to end the show. Singing "you're still the one pool where I'd happily drown" along with Murphy and other fellow New Yorkers is definitely something I'll always look forward to. Can't wait to do it again at Terminal 5 (ugh) in May!
You can see my head in this pic... unfortunately the bearded guy wearing flannel is blocking the rest of me, but fun find nonetheless!
Photos courtesy of BrooklynVegan.
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