Seattle’s Showbox was fucking sweaty last Wednesday night. The clean, repetitive, danceable beats of James Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem opened-for by the remarkably fresh, energetic laptop pop of Jona Bechtolt and his Yacht made sure of that. I wore a sweatshirt by mistake.
Portlander Jona Bechtolt (aka Yacht and that cool guy who made all of the beats for the Blow) stood up on stage alone before a relatively empty Showbox and began rocking out to pre-recorded multilayered track after pre-recorded multilayered track. Every few songs Bechtolt––who looks something like a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Jerry Seinfeld, only much more stylish than both––would adjust some setting on his well-loved MacBook, with “Grunge Ain’t Dead” written on the lid, and another song would instantly flare up.
The energy was very high despite the small crowd. Most people didn’t seem to be familiar with the songs––or even know who this kid was––but seemed to like it. After familiarizing yourself with the first few bars of each song, you could easily assemble the tune and bang and slide your head accordingly. Of course, the listeners’ jerky dancing was nothing compared to Bechtolt’s theatrics. He jumped high, kicked around, air-pianoed, banged his head, swung the mic and generally just really enjoyed himself. Then, a few songs in, he stopped the music and asked if anyone had any questions for him.
“No, seriously. Does anyone have any questions?” He asked, peering out into the crowd––which was an odd mix of indie kids, indie twenty-somethings and then several people who either were wearing business or ugly clothes and looked completely out of place. A few people actually did have questions. They ranged from the obvious (“How does performing make you feel?” Um, good.) to the uninformed (“Are you in the Blow?” I quit the Blow.) and then the awkward (“What was your weirdest sexual experience?” It involved a walk-in freezer.). The fact that Bechtolt took the time out of his already cramped set to answer half-a-dozen dumb-ass questions shows something. It shows that he’s in it to have fun. And you could really tell.
Besides the question-and-answer session, he also talked a little bit about the mundane things his songs are about and how he finds magic in those everyday experiences. His lyrics, his music, his dancing, his bright red pants and the name of his new record, I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real., suggest a sense of optimism and humor, both of which made his set––and hopefully will make his album––absolutely great.
A long wait. Accompanied by a set change and some unrecognizable house music.
Finally, LCD Soundsystem takes the stage. At this point, the place has filled up considerably since Yacht and you can hardly move for the tightly-packedness. It’s getting hotter. LCD Soundsystem is James Murphy, but when LCD Soundsystem wants to perform live he does so with his five-piece band. The eight-minute “Us V Them” starts out the set and establishes the energy level of the show: Really high. Everyone within a ten-foot radius of the stage is swaying––and sometimes banging––into each other. We are just inches away from moshing. The music does lend itself to this type of sweaty, high energy rocking; it’s rock music but it’s also got the repetition and dance-ability of electronic club jams. And live the songs are even longer and louder than usual. And they do not let up. Murphy cranks it up a notch with “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” next and then keeps it at that notch with his new single “All My Friends” and a few other persistent body-moving songs off his first record.
The crowd is now aware that they will not be able to keep up their current pace and so the smashing into one another comes to an end, but there is no less enthusiasm in the room. I took this relative stillness as and opportunity to take off my sweatshirt, which was soaked in sweat––and it was not all mine. The crowd resets the energy level this time: High. The set continues, Murphy talks to us a little but not very much; he doesn’t really need to. Even though the songs are extended when played live, they seem to go by much faster than they do when you’re just listening on your own. You can see Murphy and the rest of his band loving every moment of the show. You could tell that this was Murphy’s band and also that they were extremely in sync with each other. During a drum break, Murphy would grab at a cymbal and hold it for exactly the right amount of time––stopping the sound––then he would let go, and his drummer would whack the cymbal again––tinginginging––then, Murphy would be back, grabbing the cymbal daintily for several seconds before letting go again. It was perfect.
Also, everyone in the place seemed to know the lyrics. A fact that is somewhat astonishing since new album, Sound of Silver, came out about the month ago. Everyone screamed the words to each song at the stage, trying to match Murphy’s voice. Once the first measures of the first single off of Sound of Silver, “North American Scum,” were played the crowd instantly knew what was coming next: that gorgeous “uh-uhh-uhoh.” Everyone knew it and everyone sang it. Then the words start, and with a huge group of North Americans singing it together it becomes pretty damn special. “Oh I admit/I dunno oh where to begin/we are North Americans/and for those of you who still think we’re from England/we’re not/no.” By the time he gets to the England part, we’re all screaming. Then Murphy’s humorous and observational lyrics continue, to stating relatable facts about our country, and everyone is singing a long at the top of their voices.
During “All My Friends” the people in all different groups of friends around me start to sing less towards the stage and more towards each other. The verse “You spend the first five years trying to get with the plan/and the next five years/trying to be with your friends again” could not be more true, or more widely sung by all of the twenty- and thirty-somethings who, apparently, know all too well how important is to just be with your friends after you work so hard for all your responsibility. And us kids can relate too: Friends are it. The final refrain, “If I could see all my friends tonight?” is repeatedly sung over and over until it stops, when it does stop there is hugging among friends and widespread agreement over the lyrics.
It soon becomes very obvious: LCD Soundsystem is making much, much more than just dance music; James Murphy is making dance rock that is as thoughtful as it is danceable. He knows a lot about a lot of things. He knows how to write a song. An electronic, repetitive dance song that is also humane and completely lovely. He also knows how to make people sweat.
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