LCD Soundsystem closed the 2024 edition of Rock en Seine with an electrifying show

The New York gang led by James Murphy offered on Sunday, at the end of these five days of decibels, a concert worthy of its reputation, a sonic orgy where melancholy competed with peaks of phenomenal energy.

Since their memorable concert at the Olympia in September 2017, which left us with our jaws hanging open, LCD Soundsystem has toured a lot, all over the world. But France was never on the map. Their arrival this summer for three dates, including Rock en Seine (after Beauregard and the Nuits de Fourvière) to close on Sunday August 25, has therefore aroused a particular fervor.

However, since its rebirth with American Dreamthe unexpected fourth album released in 2017, six years after the New York group self-sabotaged with great fanfare at Madison Square Garden, James Murphy and his gang have released nothing, or almost nothing (except for the 2022 single New Body Rhumbawritten for the film White Noise by Noah Baumbach).

No new titles and a lot of concerts? The equation is simple for the demanding and hyperactive James Murphy: ward off the boredom of routine by revisiting, kneading, or even reinventing the existing repertoire.

This is what struck us on Sunday night at Rock en Seine, under the imposing mirror ball, in a set mixing insane power and poignant melancholy, which borrowed from their entire discography. More than their sound which remained of a diabolical precision, more than their ultra-mastered science of the rises and explosions of enjoyable energy, it is this time the game, more or less subtle or emphatic, with their own pieces, that we will remember.

So You Wanted a Hit was presented in a stripped-down version where the voice of James Murphy reigned supreme – he who assures that his singing career is “purely accidental” –, before the song goes off the rails at the end in a mad frenzy. Tonite ended, it too, in apotheosis, the hopping and hatted Al Doyle (who also officiates at Hot Chip) making his guitar scream by throwing it against the amps, when he sheared his six strings on Movementpowered by the relentless rhythm of drummer Pat Mahoney and bassist Tyler Pope (whose birthday it was, James Murphy told us during the introductions).

The prize, however, went to the immortal first hit Losing My Edge (2002), a sarcastic and still relevant scathing rant in which James Murphy takes on the hype, rock and dance snobs, and their ““second-hand nostalgia” for the 1980s.

Built entirely on the basic beat of a beatbox found in a flea market and offered by Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys (information gleaned from the formidable choral book Meet Me in The Bathroom), the title, greeted by the howls of joy of the public, gave rise to an epic version. Striped with scratch effects, it was enriched with winks, quoting Suicide (Ghost Rider ?), Daft Punk (Robot Rockfailing to play Daft Punk is Playing at my Houseawaited in vain by many) and Yazoo (Don’t Go), sung by keyboardist Nancy Whang.

If Rock en Seine is tonight the epicentre of the imaginary party that LCD Soundsystem is organising in a live version, a punk-funk party of all devils, it must be acknowledged that James Murphy is in a grumpy, sullen mood. He hardly smiles (only once, broadly, in front of the crowd), and if he gives big kicks and legs with kung-fu-style humour, he seems annoyed several times by small details that this unkempt bear sorts out with arm gestures and bushy frowns.

We finally understand the reasons for his darkened expression when he announces, as a preamble to the poignant Someone Greatoriginally written for the passing of his shrink, dedicates this piece to a dear friend, Justin Chearno, who died suddenly these days at the age of 54. As an introduction to New York I Love YouJames Murphy will reiterate the memory of this musician and great lover of natural wines, who was a partner in the wine bar The Four Horsemen that he opened in Brooklyn in 2015, indicating “we miss him a lot”.

LCD Soundsystem, the band that taught rock to dance, is known for never playing the same setlist twice. But for a few years now, it has been sacrificing itself to a routine of ending concerts, which all inevitably end with All My Friends. This signal for the curtain to fall came a little too early on Sunday, the audience, who were dancing and exchanging radiant smiles, had not seen it coming, after eleven songs without a break. On this conclusion, James Murphy was particularly possessed, when he repeatedly asked in the chorus “Where are your friends tonight?“Some are six feet under. All the more reason, despite the tears, to celebrate life.