 | | LCD Soundsystem |
Shambling up to Manchester nursing - by his own admission - a crippling hangover and producing taut paranoid grooves about his fears of growing old and losing what little renegade charm he possesses, he’s more of a Nu Rave answer to Mark E Smith than the kind of man you’d take home to meet your mother. His set is short, sharp, frenetic and incredibly sweet, with a delicious mix of both the well known and newies, such as the truly wonderful North American Scum. Older standards, like Daft Punk Is Playing At My House, are taut and poppy, stretched to almost breaking point with Murphy beating the cowbell at regular intervals like a man possessed. But definitive stand out track of the night is the brilliant Trials And Tribulations, sounding even better than it does on record and whipping the crowd up into a frenzy with just a single chord. Girls dance around their handbags and climb onto their boyfriend’s shoulders to wave their arms around in the air like, to quote the well worn cliché, they just don’t care. James Murphy may be New York’s favourite grumpy old man, but boy he sure can play a cowbell. Forget Sound of Silver. With live performances such as the one seen tonight, this is more like a sound of solid gold. | 
