Last Saturday marked the final performance by LCD Soundsystem at the historic area in midtown Manhattan, Madison Square Garden. Weeks leading up to the concert, many could not control their excitement knowing that the band, famous for putting on high-energy, utterly entertaining performances, would not hold back for their last hurrah. People from all over the globe descended on the city to witness a concert that will be talked about for years.
LCD Soundsystem kept reminding people that the opening act for their final concert was Liquid Liquid and that no one should miss it. With so many people needing to pick up tickets at will call, we all headed to MSG with enough time to check out the opening act. Before going through security, traveling the endless escalators and using the bathroom before the show I received a text from a friend who was already inside: The garden is empty! To say the least I was confused. Besides to see My Morning Jacket on New Years a few years back I have only been to the MSG to see Phish and whenever that circus comes to town, it always feels like MSG is going to burst at the seams. When I finally made it inside, I realized my friend was spot on and the sight threw me off. The garden was certainly empty and it felt as if it was if the concert had ended than 30 minutes before an epic three-hour dance marathon was about to take place.
I took advantage of the open space, found the guy selling too-expensive beers, and went out to find my friends in section 47. I strolled solo, sipping my beer, taking in the sight of everyone dressed in black, white or both. The mood was joyful even though it was the beginning of the end for remarkable musical group. When I arrived at my section to find no one there yet, I kept moving. I went back out to the bathrooms, concession stands and the sea of swirling black and white to immediately bump into the group I had just said goodbye to on the street before entering. I went with them up to section 202 and set up shop for what would be a sweaty three-plus-hour performance. With the band letting everyone know they would be hitting the stage at 9PM sharp, MSG was packed in a blink of an eye. The room went from half-filled to jammed in a matter of 10 minutes. Still, with enough people I knew around me and making friends with the security guards, we were able to post up in the large aisles, giving us the room to dance comfortably. People were all smiles before the start of the show. All around you you saw smiling faces, people hugging and fist pumping. Something beautiful was about to take place and it was going to be a night to remember.
If you have seen LCD more than a couple of times you know that band does not switch up their setlists too often. Their shows often start and finish on the same note. With a band like LCD Soundsystem, it does not matter. They are a band you can see over and over, with an almost identical setlist and the concert will be just as fun as the first time seeing them. In typical fashion, they started of with "Dance Yrself Clean", a song that is just perfect to get the party started, a song that is slow at the beginning and then - BAM! - just drops off and throws you into wonderful, musical free fall where all you can do is dance. From there, the show did not stop. There were technically three sets of music but they did not have traditional set breaks. The lights stayed dark and the music kept coming. This was good. And bad. Normally I would take the time during a traditional set break to use the houselights to my advantage and go find friends in other sections. With the music going and the lights turned down, it was so hard finding your other friends. After a couple failed attempts, I decided to stay in section 202 and keep dancing.
I will not break down the whole show for you. It simply is not worth it since you can listen to the soundboard-quality recording and let the music speak for itself. This concert was certainly one of the best I have ever seen and it seemed like the band was enjoying themselves just as much as the fans were. It is sad that there are no more LCD Soundsystem shows to look forward to but their concert on Saturday was certainly a nice way to say goodbye to the music.
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