Most of the time, music can be easily defined. You can have your traditional four piece rock band, a DJ with an MC on the mic or even 5 pretty white boys singing and dancing in unison with the McDonald's drive thru microphones wrapped around their finally gelled hair. Music that is not easily definable? Well that's a horse of a different color! (did I really make a Wizard of Oz reference?) Finding this rare breed is not a common occurrence, but last night I found it and it was fantastic.
LCD Soundsystem played Terminal 5 last night (sold out shows through Sunday)and the show that I saw left me slightly confused, a little bit drunk and overall ecstatic at the performance. I was confused because my ears told me one thing but my eyes told me another. Upon listening to LCD Soundsystem you would immediately classify them (or more accurately HE, James Murphy who is LCD Soundsystem by himself in the studio but brings a band on the road) as dance music, which it absolutely is. But after seeing them up close I realized that they are much, much more. On stage you have Mr. Murphy and all the makings of a traditional "band" including guitar, drums, bass, keyboard and synthesizer. However when you hear the music they make (looping beats, heavy percussion, and synthesizer) your mind is drawn to dance music; then, it gets really weird. If you listen closely and move past the beats that are making you dance (awkwardly in my case) you realize that they're playing real SONGS complete with verses, refrains and stories about life and love. A rare combination that places LCD squarely in that area of "undefinable" which is a beautiful thing in both music and life.
This really was one of the best shows that I've been to in a while. In addition to the great music, we were perched up in the balcony which enabled us to look down at the crowd simultaneously moving to the beat. I've always found the idea of a large number of people (in this case 3,000) focused and committed to the same thing at the same time to be, in a way, quite inspiring. It's the beauty of music, bringing together the hipsters of Brooklyn and the social studies teachers of Queens.
LCD closed with an acapella version of "Empire State of Mind" complete with hundreds of balloons falling from the ceiling. A surreal end for a surreal show that made me appreciate live music that much more.
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