On first impressions and sartorial codes, you might be tempted to dismiss HOT CHIP as some kind of novelty act (anyone remember Electric Six?).
You would be so wrong, because beneath the enormous sunglasses and feather boas beat the hearts of men firmly committed to the pleasures and possibilities of electronic music. Hot Chip’s set peaked with a warm, synthy reworking of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’ which segued into a lovely housey shimmer all of their own.
They present a pleasingly unified front, playing in a line, rejecting traditional hierarchical stage positioning, and, more importantly, playing off each other. They also distributed their rider amongst the crowd during LCD Soundsystem’s set, which makes them all right by me.
So Hot Chip were a tough act to follow, but having had the pleasure of seeing LCD SOUNDSYSTEM’S live act before, I was pretty sure that they were up to the task.
James Murphy is an endearingly awkward-looking 30-something punk –there is no doubt, however, that he is fully in charge of the proceedings. He brings a producer’s ear to sound levels – constantly making adjustments and giving instructions. This may sound anal – it isn’t. It just means that we can hear everything that is going on, instead of the sonic soup that bedevils so many live performances.
Tonight LCD Soundsystem keep the blissed-out moments to a minimum, sticking to a speedy disco punk template. The venue is full to bursting, leading to the stage barriers being taken away – just in time as it happens, as the Ritz’s legendary bouncy dance floor is tested to its limits during the set’s high point, the refreshingly irony-free ‘Yeah’. Fortunately most of the crowd appears to be following keyboardist Nancy Wang’s request to dance nicely.
|
Technical problems delayed an encore, affecting the momentum of the evening and leading to a finale that could have been heavenly being merely awesome. A cover of Paper Clip People’s ‘Throw’ served to remind us what lies at the heart of LCD Soundsystem’s magic - James Murphy is a man deeply immersed in the history of popular music, and with LCD Soundsystem creates something that is both totally of the moment and redolent of all the great music you’ve (n)ever heard.
My only gripe was that there was no ‘Disco Infiltrator’, but there was ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’, which for me is the weakest track in their oeuvre. This is nit-picking though, as LCD Soundsystem are one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen -not bad for an ironic side-project.
|
