You want to know what kind of guy James Murphy is? I don’t care; I’m saying anyway. Midway through LCD Soundsystem's set at Roseland Theater he thanked not only the openers, Holy Ghost!, but also gave a shout-out to previous openers and Portland-based Yacht. “We try and play with and support musicians that make the music we want to listen to,” he said to the sold out crowd, “and we’re glad you like them too.” James Murphy is the kind of guy that sings his balls off, beats a cowbell as if it were a dirty schoolgirl and leaves a crowd with raspy voices and sore feet (from singing and dancing along, duh). That’s the kind of guy he is. And that’s why I love him.
Openers Holy Ghost! picked one of those names that is fun to google but hard to find on the internet (holyghostnyc.com is them and church ad-free). The Brooklyn guys impressed the holy ghost out of me, I tell ya! All the hipsters who showed up late missed one of the most fun and high energy openers I’ve seen in a good long while. While I tire of the male species wearing undershirts only as shirts, the lead singer almost made me forgive him. I mean, he’s cute, and his pants were tight - let’s cut the dude a break. The music is that fun mix of live drums, vocals and plenty of loops and beeps. Holy Ghost is touring pretty much every day of the Summer 2010; you should give them a shot, because I have a feeling there is some momentum behind these guys. Maybe it is from being on DFA Records, from remixing Phoenix or just from cranking out a solid set, but I’m ready for them to come back to Portland when they tour with Chromeo.
Which leads us back to the main event, LCD Soundsystem. Likely one of the most anticipated (and lauded) of the year, the rumors of this being a fina’ tour made it that much more important to keep my eyes and ears open every millisecond the band was on stage. And despite the obvious love I have for Murphy, LCD Soundsystem sounds so great because it is a BAND. As soon as Pat walked in with his orange short shorts and got behind the drums, the whole Roseland knew it was on. After a fantastic “Us V Them,” James mentioned the band had been off the past four days and had just played the fastest version of the song ever.
And the energy kept up through “Pow Pow,” “Drunk Girl,” “Get Innocuous!” “All My Friends,” and even “Daft Punk is Playing at my House” and “Tribulations.” Nancy on the keyboards made sure her mom in the audience was doing well (Beaverton alum in the house!), and everyone on stage was having a great time. The audience couldn’t have been luckier to be a part of the show.
