LCD Soundsystem at All Points East review by Ryan Beardsley
It’s that time of year again as the UK’s best festival returns to Victoria Park with another cracking lineup headlined by kings of indie cool LCD Soundsystem, but after last year’s much-publicised sound issues with The Strokes headline set, would things go off without a hitch this time?
NewDad arrive on the main stage to showcase Madra, one of 2024’s best debuts and their dream pop sound transitions well to the live setting. Sickly Sweet is delightfully catchy and Angel is reminiscent of The Cranberries in the best possible way, earning an emphatic crowd showing the Irish newcomers have a following already.
Jockstrap are up next with Taylor Skye sitting in mission control and the incomparable Georgia Ellery strutting her stuff on the main stage. It’s a setlist that reflects why the band is one of the most exciting in the world, peaking with Concrete Over The Water, showing off the scale of Ellery’s magnificent voice and Skye’s boundless creativity, I genuinely cannot wait for what they do next.
Grunge icons The Pixies perform a welcome greatest hits set including a few surprises for those with more eclectic tastes. Frank Black et al are still going strong and treat fans to a couple of tracks from their forthcoming tenth album The Night the Zombies Came and they’ve still got it. A faithful cover of Jesus and Mary Chain classic Head On goes down a storm with the initiated, but probably a little bit lost on most. What isn’t lost is an epic rendition of Where Is My Mind? which is surely a bucket-list moment for many in EastL, the band does it justice some 36 years later and the track still sounds like it comes from another planet.
Jai Paul has been described as pop’s most mysterious artist and I was curious to see what it was all about, considering this is a guy who after breaking through in 2007 has only recently started to play live. He’s an enigmatic presence and he draws a huge crowd, with his electronic R&B pulsating through Victoria Park.
The main event is LCD and as they embark on stage I hold my breath in fear but I’m pleased to say the sound system (pun intended) is turned up to 11, it’s time to dance.
James Murphy and the gang get the party started with Us Vs Them and the whole of Victoria Park is bouncing. Oh Baby from the underrated 2017 American Dream is a great pop song and dispels the lazy myth that the band is just for the dancers. Having said that by the time Get Innocuous! Is pumping out, the field is, reminiscent of a 90s rave, an amazing atmosphere for the young and old. I can’t help but notice a lady in her seventies engaging in herbal remedies before dancing herself clean in a way that made my back hurt just looking at her.
Someone Great is a perfect track and gets the full goosebump inducing singalong, before Losing my Edge, an ode that could have been written for Hackney just as much as NYC feels more relevant than ever as I glance around and see the new generation clad in designs I don’t fully understand – sports shorts with white socks and smart shoes ay?
All time classic, All My Friends closes things out in suitably epic fashion, a triumphant performance from Brooklyn’s finest and an amazing day in East London, I’m already looking forward to next year.
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