LCD Soundsystem & Planningtorock @ Bowery Ballroom 3/30 (1st Night): There's a Ton of the Twist But We're Fresh Out of Shout

Matt: James Murphy and the entire LCD gang blew the mothafuckin' roof off of Bowery Ballroom last night. I usually attempt to be a little more eloquent with my concert reviews but there's no denying and no way around the fact that the electricity in the air last night was magical.

LCD started the show with Sound Of Silver fave 'Us v Them', causing a sea of bodies to frantically jump around and scream along to the tune's refrain of 'over and over again'. The following eleven songs followed suit, driving the crowd into a complete and utter frenzy.

The songs that received the wildest reactions last night would have to be main set-closing 'Movement' and 'Yeah'. 'Yeah' must have lasted a good fifteen minutes and with each howl of 'Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah', elbows were flung, drinks were hurled, and punches were accidentally thrown (sorry Jen!). Intense and amazing. That level of energy is rarely achieved. By the time James got to the show-closing slow burner, 'New York', all fans in attendance were in need of a bottle of water, a change of clothing and a towel. The PERFECT 90-minute set.

For further perspectives on the evening, check out Qbertplaya's review, as well as Texto Sonoro's thoughts (in Spanish!).



Jen: Don't tell the NYPD, but there was dancing at the Bowery Ballroom last night. When you leave a concert pouring sweat and your clothes half torn off, you know it was a good show. My friend turned to me once the jumping was over and exclaimed, "You look like you've been attacked!" My shirt was pulled off my shoulders, my hair was a mess and someone, I won't say who ::coughmattcough::, punched me in the face. And you know what, I didn't care. I received so many hugs of joy last night, it was worth the smeared mascara and bruised foot.

A great surprise last night was the addition of Hot Chip's Al Doyle on guitar. According to Wiki, he will be replacing Phil Mossman for the 2007 tour (minus the Hot Chip dates obviously). An 'Over and Over' remix would have been amazing, but alas.

Words of advice for those going tonight. Wear light clothes, shoes to jump around in, and ladies, forget the purse at home. Try to get right up front and dance all of the evening's beers off.

Setlist: Us V Them/Daft Punk Is Playing At My House/Time To Get Away/North American Scum/All My Friends/Get Innocuous/Tribulations/Watch The Tapes/Movement/Yeah//No Love Lost/New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

MP3: LCD Soundsystem - Yeah (removed by request)

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Opening the gig was Sweden's very own Planningtorock.

I'll admit, I was hesitant based on the name alone. When one-woman-show Janine Rostron came out in a white robe and started shouting on top of a wooden chair my uncertainty grew. Thankfully about five minutes into the set, I began to understand what she was all about. Try to picture Lady Sov, Karen O, Janis Joplin and Peaches' vocals thrown into a blender while a Knife-like pounding electro beat serves as the accompanying music. Complete with props and a somewhat creepy slideshow of images on the projection screen behind her and you've arrived at Planningtorock. Fore more info on PTR check out her MySpace page.

Planningtorock was interesting. Dancing was definitely involved in this portion of the evening as well, but I thought her songs melded a little too much together. The strange artistic approach was definitely appreciated though.