LCD Soundsystem just wrapped up their Annual Winter FUNction 2024 residency on Sunday night which saw the band play 12 shows over three long weekends at NYC’s Knockdown Center. They’ve been doing variations on the same killer show they debuted in 2022*, tweaking things here and there, changing out songs, adding a new one this year, but not messing with the crowd-pleasing formula that much. It’s a fantastic show.
*While LCD have been doing winter residencies in NYC since 2021 (not to mention all the 2017 shows at Brooklyn Steel), the current show really came into being in 2022.
One thing that did change this year is that the residency moved entirely to Knockdown, after last year’s Tri-Boro Tour that also included weekends at Brooklyn Steel and Terminal 5. (Before that it was just at Brooklyn Steel).
I went on Friday night, Night 10 if you’re keeping track, and here are 10 takeaways from the show:
- Given the political climate of the last decade since the band reformed, it’s pretty wild LCD Soundsystem hadn’t played “North American Scum” live since their Madison Square Garden “final” show in 2011. They finally brought it out of retirement for these last four shows and I was surprised to learn it had actually been that long. Lines like “New York’s the greatest if you get someone to pay the rent” and describing Europe as “where the buildings are old and you might have lots of mimes” still ring true. Watch video below.
- Usually when you say “you really need to see them live” about a group it’s a backhanded compliment, but LCD Soundsystem are a band that make great records which then become even better live. Case in point: everything they play from American Dream. It’s the most underrated album in their catalogue (currently), but the songs they do play from it hit so much better onstage, “Oh Baby” in particular. You feel the sub-bass synth blasts in your chest thanks to the wattage they use at these shows; it changes the song. Likewise the stabby synths on “Tonite.” I have never managed to see them play “How do You Sleep?,” which is musically the most exciting song on American Dream, and can only imagine it is fantastic live, but I know the subject matter makes it tough for the band and would bet it will never be played again. New single “X-Ray Eyes,” which they were selling as a limited edition 12″ at the show, is a lot of fun, but still feels like it has yet to achieve its true live potential.
- Most of the slick moves of their set, the seamless transitions, are highly choreographed and have remained in the set for three years, but that doesn’t make them any less satisfying to hear again, like “Someone Great” flowing into “Losing My Edge” to close out their main set. “Losing My Edge” has transformed so much over the last 20 years, from a novelty song they sometimes played live to becoming a lynchpin of their set, with what seems like a whole new set of lyrics from Murphy, and very clever nods to Daft Punk and Yazoo along the way.
- The current light show, with a wall of golden-hued LEDs behind them, is just about perfect. They mainly use it for bigger effects, but it can also represent specific elements of songs, like the bass in “Oh Baby” and the chiming synth hooks in “I Can Change.” They also sometimes get really playful with it, like during the band introductions when James Murphy calls Nick Mulheiser and Korey Richey “The Bongo Boys” and a logo appears on screen, or when it flashes “ROBOT ROCK” in the middle of “Losing My Edge,” and the NYC skyline that materializes at the end of “New York I Love You.” It’s also informational, reminding everyone that the band will be back for a second set, and they even, very occasionally, use it like a jumbotron with live video of the band playing.
- Speaking of little tributes and homages they work into songs, they’ve been opening “I Can Change” with different Kraftwerk songs since as far back as 2021, but have been doing it more lately, playing a bit of “Computer Love” in LA and on Friday night some of “The Model.” Nice touch.
- Despite protesting that “we always think it’s a good idea to do all these shows but then you get to the 10th, 11th, and then…” James Murphy was in very good spirits on Friday night, clearly having fun (same for the rest of the band), like when he gave Pat Mahoney’s cymbals a hit with a high-kick. James was also pretty chatty towards the crowd, though any time he started to ramble the band would hilariously cut him off by starting the next song.
- Even though it can be a pain to get to the Knockdown Center from my part of Brooklyn, it is the perfect place for these shows. It’s big enough so that even though it was packed to the gills, it always felt like a party and was easy to maneuver. I had no problem getting up front near the stage from the side and it never felt too sardine-like up there. The back half of the room was where the real party was though, with the crowd dancing like crazy with many not even facing toward the stage.While Knockdown used to have boomy acoustics, they got a high-end sonic overhaul in 2023, which has made it one of my favorite-sounding big rooms in NYC. Among the revelers in the back on Friday night was a guy who successfully proposed to his girlfriend during “Home.” Congrats! Maybe they’ll have the reception at Knockdown
- NYC band Fcukers were the Weekend 3 openers and I really enjoyed their set on Friday, which reminded me of something that could’ve happened at Tribeca Grand in 2002. Their sound owes a lot to late-’90s dance music (Mr Oizo, Basement Jaxx), their drummer was killer, Jackson Walker Lewis lays down some mean disco bass grooves, and singer Shannon Wise has a charming stage presence. Is there too much canned backing? I didn’t mind, Fcukers were fun.
- Matt Shaw was the pre-show DJ on Friday and played a set of counter-programming, including The La’s “There She Goes” and XTC’s “Complicated Game.” Shit Robot spun at the post-show afterparty and was awesome as usual, though I probably would’ve stayed longer if I had gone on Saturday instead.
- Even though they’ve got it down to a science, I’d bet this iteration of LCD Soundsystem’s live show is now retired. There’s a new album in the works and as much as I’ve enjoyed these shows the last three years, I am looking forward to what we get to hear and see in 2025.
Check out the LCD Soundsystem setlist from Friday, plus a few videos from the show, below.
Read our review from Night 5 of this year’s residency.
SETLIST: LCD Soundsystem @ Knockdown Center 12/13/2024
Time to Get Away
I Can Change (Intro was “The Model” by Kraftwerk)
You Wanted a Hit
Tribulations
Daft Punk Is Playing at My House
Yr City’s a Sucker
Tonite
Oh Baby
Other Voices
Get Innocuous!
new body rhumba
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
Set 2:
North American Scum
x-ray eyes
Home
Dance Yrself Clean
New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down
All My Friends