LIVE REPORT: LCD Soundsystem Triumph at The Olympia Theatre

After a scorching warm-up DJ set from Dubliner Marcus Lambkin, aka DFA artist Shit Robot, the scene is perfectly set at a rammed Olympia for LCD Soundsystem. The first gig of a three-night stand that sold-out in minutes, the atmosphere is at fever pitch as the band take to the stage and Gavin Russom – resplendent in a fetching white dress, having this year come out as transgender – cues in the Kraftwerk-inspired synth riff of ‘Get Innocuous’.

We’ve barely started and already this show is more exciting than 99 percent of gigs. As Pat Mahoney crashes in with the song’s thumping drum rhythm, the whole audience rises to their feet, where they largely remain for the duration of this extraordinary two-hour show. The essential genius of LCD mastermind James Murphy has been to masterfully connect the dots between dance, rock, post-punk and new wave; musical coordinates his eight-piece group continue to navigate brilliantly.

The highlights are manifold: the berserk electro-pop of ‘I Can Change’; Russom and the godlike Nancy Whang’s heavenly harmonies during ‘You Wanted A Hit’; the scalding punk thrash of ‘Movement’. Murphy himself is the soul of affability between songs, apologising for the slight distance between the band and the front row (for technical reasons, he explains), and noting their delight at finally playing the Olympia, the aforementioned Lambkin having been nagging them to do so for the past decade.

The first part of the set reaches an incredible climax during the disco inferno of ‘Yeah’. As the track builds to a phenomenal crescendo, Murphy – who has been hammering away at a snare beside Mahoney – turns and hurls his drum sticks across stage. From there ’til the end of the song, the scene is one of complete chaos; guitarist Al Doyle layers blasts of no wave guitar noise over the pounding post-punk groove, while the synths go into meltdown in the background. Needless to say, the crowd has gone completely apeshit.

The tune eventually segues into an exquisite ‘Someone Great’, before an unexpected highlight in the shape of melancholy waltz ‘American Dream’, the title track from LCD’s US number one comeback album. One of the most magical live moments of the year, meanwhile, occurs at the end of ‘Home’; as the band depart, the crowd takes up the “oh-oh” refrain. The stage is then lit up in sparkling lights, while we get a brief, glorious blast of ‘Rawhide’ from the Blues Brothers soundtrack on the PA.

Returning for the encore, the band kick into ‘Losing My Edge’, which at this stage is like the Stones doing ‘Brown Sugar’. Tailor-made to bring the house down, its mix of filthy electro grooves and Murphy’s inspired lyrics – an hilarious pisstake of hipsterdom – is still impossibly exciting.

After a suitably climactic one-two of ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ and ‘All My Friends’, we depart to the strains of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’. Outside the venue afterwards, everyone is in a bit of a daze. Beside me, a bloke approaches his friend. “What a fucking gig,” he says, wide-eyed. “Mother of FUCK.”

My sentiments exactly.