Last night, LCD Soundsystem gave their final farewell concert at Madison Square Garden to a sold-out crowd, most donning the black-and-white attire the band proposed on its website when it announced its departure on February 5.
Supported by New York post-punk group Liquid Liquid as well as a handful of special guests, including The Juan MacLean and members of Arcade Fire, the electronic dance group pulled out 29 songs in total, including a rare performance of “45:33,” to a rabid audience armed with flashing LED lights and glow sticks. Courtney Love, Aziz Ansari, Susan Sarandon, and Donald Glover were all spotted among the attendees.
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“This is a weird experience for us,” frontman James Murphy proclaimed, to howling approval, after the opening number. “In keeping with the history of our band, we hope it’s going to be a weird experience for everybody.”
Video: LCD Soundsystem performs “North American Scum” w/ Arcade Fire
The set was accompanied by animations, slideshows of the band’s own tour photos, and crowdsourced video (acquired by show director Lance Bangs, according to Pitchfork), all displayed on two giant screens adjacent to the stage. (Also present among the stage décor? A disco ball the size of a small planet.)
Video: LCD Soundsystem performs “Us vs. Them”
The adrenaline-pumped response garnered by the three-and-a-half-hour set in no way hinted at the controversies that initially surrounded LCD’s send-off performance, when general ticket sales opened on February 11.
At 10 a.m. that day, tickets sold out in mere seconds, then began appearing on sites like StubHub.com, some for as much as several thousand dollars. With fans dismayed, Murphy himself took to the band’s Twitter account, furiously condemning scalpers and promising to find a solution. By the end of the day, the band had added four additional shows at Terminal 5 during the week preceding the final concert. This past week, the band announced that they had negotiated with Madison Square Garden and would be opening up seats and releasing 1,500 additional tickets for the show.
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Video: LCD Soundsystem performs “New York I Love You”
Naturally, “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” was the group’s final number and brought the most enthusiastic roar of all from fans lamenting the band’s departure. Murphy ended the show with an extended bow and a heartfelt thanks to the audience, which included the musician’s family.
In its 10-year run, LCD Soundsystem released three full-length albums, receiving Grammy nominations for the first two (“LCD Soundsystem” and “Sound of Silver”) and debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronica Albums chart for the third, “This is Happening.” RIP, LCD.
See the band’s final set list below:
Set 1:
Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
I Can Change
Time to Get Away
Get Innocuous!
Daft Punk is Playing at My House
Too Much Love
All My Friends
Tired
Set 2:
45:33 Part One
45:33 Part Two (ft. Reggie Watts)
Sound of Silver
45:33 Part Four
45:33 Part Five (ft. Shit Robot)
45:33 Part Six
Freak Out/Starry Eyes
Set 3:
Us V. Them
North American Scum (ft. Régine Chassagne, Win Butler Jeremy Gara and Will Butler of Arcade Fire)
Bye Bye Bayou (Alan Vega cover)
You Wanted a Hit
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Encore 1:
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
Home
Encore 2:
All I Want
Jump Into the Fire (Harry Nilsson cover)
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down