LCD Soundsystem, electronic/house music project of producer, musician and songwriter James Murphy, played their last concert ever in Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Murphy, 41, announced on Feb. 5 the group was “retiring from the game, getting’ out, movin’ on.” To be 41 years old and still playing music at the capacity Murphy was is quite the accomplishment, but it’s still sad to see LCD go.
With Grammy nominations for Best Electronic/Dance Album for 2006’s “LCD Soundsystem” and 2008’s “Sound of Silver” and for Best Dance Recording for 2006’s hit “Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” it’s safe to say Murphy and the band had a successful 10-year run.
If you’re going to bring an end to something so great, you better do it right, and LCD went out with a bang. After playing four pre-finale shows at Terminal 5, the group put on an epic three and a half hour concert, pulling out everything from hit singles to songs never before played live. Though the venue was packed to the brim, the farewell show still felt intimate with Murphy interacting with the audience.
The concert had many highlights – from high-energy opener “Dance Yrself Clean” to Arcade Fire taking the stage to help perform “North American Scum” – but Murphy saved the best for last, closing the night with “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.”
LCD was based in New York, so the final song carried extra emotion as the group came full circle. An emotional Murphy sang as white balloons floated from the ceiling onto the audience, creating a peaceful aura that lingered after all amps were turned off. It was a truly memorable moment in the music world.
To give you an idea of just how much this group will be missed, Saturday’s show sold out less than one minute after tickets were made available, and music website Pitchfork streamed the concert live for those who were not one of the 20,000 people quick enough and lucky enough to snag a spot.
LCD Soundsystem is done for good, but they left behind plenty of tunes to ease the mourning period.
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