LCD Soundsystem‘s now annual NYC holiday run is a little different this year than the two previous years. It’s dubbed the Tri-Boro Tour and instead of entirely happening at Brooklyn Steel, this year they’ll play four shows each at Brooklyn Steel (November 16-19), Terminal 5 (November 28 – December 1), and Knockdown Center (December 7-10), with a week off between each venue run. Tickets for the Tri-Boro Tour are available for American Express cardholders now, with a fan presale starting today at 10 AM (register for it here), and the general on-sale starting Thursday, October 12 at 10 AM.
James Murphy shared an update on the LCD’s social media on Tuesday night, explaining the thought process behind switching things up, saying the 20-show 2022 run “while fun, nearly killed us all,” adding, “we also kind of couldn’t remember the first, say, 14 shows because we were just grinding and holding on for dear life with only one day off in a row ever, trying not to blow out voices, knees, backs, what have you.” He says the week off in between venues lets the band recharge and allows them to have more fun and not worry as much about stamina.
As for playing at other venues, Murphy says the band have wanted to return to Terminal 5 since playing the shows there in 2011 that led up to their Madison Square Garden blowout. “Those 4 shows turned out to be incredibly fun (even if i did scream my voice out on the last one, during ‘jump into the fire’, just before playing the biggest concert of my life) and, in a way, more enjoyable than the blowout, for us, and for a lot of the people who came to see us there.”
Murphy also hints that Knockdown Center — where DFA held its 20th anniversary party in 2021 and where Murphy brought Despacio in 2018 — could be the most unique run of the year. “i absolutely love that place. it’s bigger, and has multiple rooms, so we’re able to actually fit an opening band on the stage (!) and throw our own afterparties every night on site. the last one should feel particularly bacchanalian.”
You can read Murphy’s full LCD update below.
it’s that time of year.
we’re playing in new york again, but it’s a little different this time. It’s the tri boro tour.
last year we played 20 shows at brooklyn steel, which, while fun, nearly killed us all (as soon as we were done i immediately got sick for 2 weeks). we also kind of couldn’t remember the first, say, 14 shows because we were just grinding and holding on for dear life with only one day off in a row ever, trying not to blow out voices, knees, backs, what have you. none of us even realized we’d been in this tense fog until, when we got to the last few nights, everyone was suddenly able to actually let go, knowing we could kind of recover once we were done. on those last few shows, we opened up, added songs to the set, screamed our stupid heads off, and as a result, each show felt quite distinct from one another. once we realized how much more present we were able to be with a little space, it felt like, going forward, we should do whatever it took to feel that way every night—not just as we closed in on the finish line. so, this time, it’s 12 shows, in three chunks with some healing time between each group of four. this doesn’t radically change how many overall available tickets by very much, because the other thing we’re doing is moving around a bit, and the other 2 venues, terminal 5 and the knockdown center, are just enough bigger than brooklyn steel to make it make sense. i mean, nothing is big, just a bit bigger.
honestly, this entire NYC “residency” idea came to us back in 2011 when we were, as a rock ensemble, attempting to throw in the towel for good, and our MSG show had sold out too quickly (we don’t need to go into it… it’s all googlable. have at it) leading us to add 4 nights at terminal 5 before the big one to try to save the day. those 4 shows turned out to be incredibly fun (even if i did scream my voice out on the last one, during “jump into the fire”, just before playing the biggest concert of my life) and, in a way, more enjoyable than the blowout, for us, and for a lot of the people who came to see us there. therefore it seemed appropriate that we should return to terminal 5 for another 4 nights. i mean, we haven’t played a public show in manhattan since, well, the first shows back, at webster hall in 2016. so, since madison square garden, and up until the present moment, we’ve played our own shows, in the borough where i lived most of my life, exactly twice. over seven years ago.
the knockdown center in queens is where we threw the DFA records 20th anniversary party last year (the original 5 piece LCD played a short secret set to open the night!) and where we held the despacio parties back in 2018, and i absolutely love that place. it’s bigger, and has multiple rooms, so we’re able to actually fit an opening band on the stage (!) and throw our own afterparties every night on site. the last one should feel particularly bacchanalian.
we’re opening the whole thing up, of course, back at brooklyn steel, which has become our spiritual and physical home, and while i’m glad people like seeing us there, we’re pretty excited to find more different ways to play in our city, and more ways to make each show it’s own unique thing.anyway, i just wanted to explain a bit, so nobody thought we didn’t love playing at brooklyn steel. we do. we’re also trying not to piss every other band off, since we take a decent amount of shit from industry folks for clogging that place up for a month every year.
onward!