LCD Soundsystem performing at L’Olympia, Paris

TWO NIGHTS WITH LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

Rainy evening and greasy pavement 5.45pm, James Murphy grinning out from the balance session just a few hours before the first of his two sold-out-in-a-minute shows at Olympia Music Hall in Paris.

LCD Soundsystem, the band that slowly but surely spread their synth across the world. Now 14 years between their early shows in sleazy bars (The Echo, LA, 2004, sixty tickets sold, beer bottles flying on stage… I was there) and their recent Coachella headlining in mondovision. Tonight the show is especially tight and precise, overproduced while incredibly raw. Seamless even when a 10 minutes long technical issue is compensated by an improvised rendition of GoT and Dune’s themes on the couple monitors still working. Paradox as a paradigm, Murphy still picturing himself as the “fat guy in a T-shirt doing all the saying”. We understand better the comment from DFA’s manager a couple weeks back when LCD hit the #1 spot on the US Charts: “DFA would like to thank the music business for completely collapsing so as to make room for LCD Soundsystem to have a #1 record in the USA. Still feels good regardless”.

Text and photo Vincent Tajan