LCD Soundsystem
MOCA Art Basel Party, the Raleigh Hotel, Miami
December 1, 2010
Better than: Dancing Yrself Clean, even after rubbing elbows with filthy out-of-towner Baselites.
It's been almost two months since James Murphy and his dance-party pack combusted electro coitus all over the Fillmore Miami Beach. How could the return be quite as shattering?
Unlike the October rendezvous of James Murphy, Pat Mahoney, and the rest of the LCD live ensemble, an entrance to the Raleigh's humpday Basel fiesta was worse than, well, no free drinks. Considering we're talking about the wettest Miami event (not including rolling teenagers at the annual Ultra collective) in 2010, you'd most likely have to go down on the British event headmaster herself. OK, so we might not have required kneepads last night, but we might as well have. Let's go out on a limb and confirm that the MOCA Raleigh Pool Party event was crawling with more plastic retirees than a pole dance aerobics class at your grandma's nursing home. As for the headmaster, she'd rather prance around in a red gown in heels trudging through a makeshift sandbar than see a music fan smile.
Hard feelings aside, the 45-minute set by LCD Soundsytem was quite the upping interlude after another day of art walks from the Design District to SoBe. And, admittedly so, we were much happier admiring Murphy and crew from afar than waiting in line for six hours to catch Metric on the beach.
Unveiling their truest, brightest layers out of the gate, LCD kicked things off with sexy synth-infused "Dance Yrself Clean." Along with Basel-appropriate "Drunk Girls," it seemed like at this Basel, it was laughable to ogle the 70-year-old chain-smoking Virginia Slims to the right.
The irony of it all is that these gaudy has-beens could hardly appreciate the gift of LCD. Were they cheering or sneering while dentures loosened? A live performance better than most mediocre art installations piggybacking off Art Basel is hard to come by, The last of the hyped delivery from hypnotic lights to crowd enthusiasm came from "Yr City's a Sucker," an amped anthem that got the crowd digging holes in the sand with their dance moves. Chanting "Your city's a creep," it was as if all the Miamians banded together to let every pompous partygoer know they're really not welcome here... past Sunday.
Later tracks, including "You Wanted a Hit," which was clouded by the scent of posh sour diesel puffers, and "Tribulations" didn't connect as much with the crowd, the show falling just a bit short from its heavy first half. But it must have been hard for James Murphy to truly drag his inner vibrato further while staring into the eyes of botched-boob-job bubbies.
Critic's Notebook:
Personal bias: Regardless of the fact that Naomi Campbell and Kim Kardashian showed their faces (or booties), no amount of skin could have gotten most through this beach party's gate. For those who made it in, we salute you. We'd take LCD from afar over half-assed mural browsing any day.
The bottom line: Now we know how Rosa Parks felt. Murphy deserved a better crowd: the one that was assigned to the back of the bus.
Set List:
Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
Yr City's a Sucker
I Can Change
All My Friends
You Wanted a Hit
Tribulations
Movement
