LCD Soundsystem get their Brixton residency well underway
The seasoned pros returned to O2 Academy Brixton for the fourth night of their 8-night residency.
Photo: Friedberg by John Barry
The Brooklyn-formed band hadn’t been to the UK since 2022, when they last had a six-night residency at the same venue: O2 Academy Brixton. Earlier this year, they teased their return with projections of frontman James Murphy’s independent record label DFA Records’ logo around Shoreditch with the words ‘You are here (again)’. The band are only playing these eight shows in the UK and will not be heading outside of London during their time here.
Despite not releasing an album since 2017’s well-received american dream — and only one single since then — the band proved at night four of their stay in Brixton that they have more than enough to fill a well-rounded set, even opting to leave off big hit Daft Punk Are Playing At My House, having previously played it the night before.
Starting things off, dance-punk unit Friedberg got the crowd truly up and ready for the night, starting their set at the delightfully early (why can’t more bands do this?) time of 5:45pm, proving that the cowbell is just as important as the guitar.
The London-based band are led by Austrian Anna Friedberg, clearly drawn to the power of the cowbell — and it works (some of their fans have even got tattoos of their cowbells!). As they work their way through a magnetic, enthralling set, they prove why they’ve been chosen to open for the American household name; they’re the perfect fit to get the crowd pumped up. Highlights include new single haha, and going ham on that famous cowbell; truly making it the star of the show, as it should be. This is their last night on tour with the band, as the Yorkshire post-punk quartet Working Men’s Club are set to take over as the support act for the last four nights.
Before long, LCD Soundsystem’s set-up is put to good use, and it’s fascinating, with instruments that look as if they were used to break the Enigma code in the war and a band that looks like they’re simply having fun. In reality, it’s five or so synths and keyboards, but it looks like something far more impressive.
It’s no surprise that James Murphy commands the stage in the way that he does; he most likely holds the record for playing at the Academy the most, with his tally set to go up to eighteen times, so he may as well part own it by now.
They waste no time, breaking into I Can Change from their 2010 album This Is Happening, with a disco ball enchanting the audience, and revellers basking in the rays of the light as they play their fourth night in a row. Murphy asks the crowd how they are and if they’re okay, but jokes, “I need these lot to be okay,” as he points to the band, “But don’t get injured”.
Before the band finish the first part of the set, James let the audience know they’ll be taking a short break to “go and pee” so there was no need to go anywhere, they’d be back for a five-strong encore, the only consistent track they’d been playing every night.
Stars of the show come from Someone Great (thanks in part to its unmatched audience participation), the one everyone knows, aka Dance Yrself Clean, and my personal favourite All My Friends, which closes off the set and marks a real moment for the band as they walk off stage, safe in the knowledge they could keep doing these, release no more music, and we’d still all lap it up. Count me in for the next one.
