"...To Tell The Truth This Won't Be The Last Time...” sang James Murphy to a crowd of tens of thousands in front of them during the closing of the first night of the first weekend of Coachella in 2016. Around the world probably another tens of thousands were watching the live stream of the concert. This was the fourth performance the band had done since they played "their final concert" at Madison Square Garden in 2011. A performance that had the slogan "If it's a funeral, let's have the best funeral ever."
Some might remember that the original lyric says "...This Will Be The Last Time...” a line that received a huge reaction from all those who attended that epic 3+ hours concert, including me. But now, 5 years later, James Murphy and company, are back. For 2 hours the band sounded like it hadn't taken any time off, excluding a couple of miscues that came from the hugely complex setup of analog synthesizers.
The set opened with “Us v Them,” including the traditional unveiling of the disco ball halfway through the song. An impressive light show accompanied the performance. If you were watching the live stream you could have swore during some songs that the light effects had been created for the TV version of the Show. Until they showed a wide shot of the stage and you could finally understand that the light design was not only incredible for those watching the show miles away but also for those a couple of feet from the stage.
As expected, the band played some of their most popular songs, “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” “Dance Yrself Clean,” “Tribulations,” “I Can Change,” and “Someone Great”, among others. This time a new improvised rant was included on “Losing My Edge” where Murphy talked about what the structure of a song should be.
During “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” the band added a couple of lines from Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” clearly referencing the band that also was coming back from the dead to headline the festival’s second night.
According to Murphy, thanks to good time management as a result of him not talking too much, they were able to squeeze an extra song to the set. Probably, it was the cover version of David Bowie’s “Heroes” just before their last song of the night. Murphy, possibly was one of the last producers to work with the late singer since he produced Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor” where Bowie’s voice can be heard in a couple of songs.
To close, Murphy along his regular collaborators Wang, Mahoney, Pope, Russom, and Doyle, performed “All My Friends.” At this point it was not only a reunion between members of the band but will all those fans that felt they were never going to see their friends again.
Murphy announced early this year that a new album will drop in the summer and that a tour is including in the band’s plan. Lets just hope that we don’t have to attend another LCD Soundsystem funeral in the near future.
