Who: LCD Soundsystem
What: Panorama headlining set
Where: Randall’s Island Park, Panorama Stage
When: Sunday, July 24, $125, 9:10
Why: On April 2, 2011, we were inside Madison Square Garden, wishing a fond farewell to dance-punk icons LCD Soundsystem as the innovative and influential band played its final show ever. “And to tell the truth / Oh, this could be the last time / So here we go / Like a sales force into the night,” lead singer James Murphy sang during one of the group’s biggest songs, “All My Friends.” In July 2012, a documentary of that grand finale was released, Shut Up and Play the Hits, with Murphy looking like he might already be regretting breaking up the band. But as he also declares in “All My Friends”: “Though when we’re running out of the drugs / And the conversation’s winding away / I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision / For another five years of life.” And yes, five years after that last stand at MSG, LCD Soundsystem returned, playing a couple of tiny shows at Webster Hall this past March, followed by summer festival gigs. On July 24, they’ll be back in their home city, headlining the third day of Panorama NYC, which takes place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on Randall’s Island. (You can see the full schedule and set times below.) So what happened to bring Murphy, Pat Mahoney, Tyler Pope, Nancy Whang, Matthew Thornley, Al Doyle, Gavin R. Russom, David Scott Stone, Phil Mossman, J. D. Mark, and Phil Skarich back together? Murphy shared the details on the band’s website.
“i asked pat and nancy to come over to my apartment for coffee and told them: ‘i’m going to record some music. should i make up a band name, or make a “james murphy” record, or should it be lcd?’ we all thought a good amount about it. we have had lives for the past 5 years, which has been nice, and those guys have made amazing music with museum of love, the juan maclean, and all sorts of other things. i’d managed to do a bunch of fun, dumb stuff which mostly annoyed people who were into the band because, well, subway turnstiles and a coffee aren’t lcd, basically. at any rate, they both said ‘let’s make an lcd record.’”
So the band is doing its thing again, playing live shows and making new music, so we couldn’t be more excited to see them at Panorama on Sunday night. You might also find us on the Despacio dance floor, an immersive music environment created by Murphy, David and Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax, and recording engineer John Klett.
