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In the nearly 100-year history of the Eagles Ballroom, it has likely hosted a dance marathon or two. On night one of a two-night residency at the ballroom, Jaems Murphy and LCD Soundsystem brought that feeling back, albeit with a much more contemporary iteration.
Friday's show marked the return of the band to Milwaukee for the first time in 15 years, and a near-capacity crowd was ready to get sweaty with the band like it was the early 2000s once again. Murphy and Co. made up for lost time, with over two hours of music, not holding back for the beginning of their two-night stay. An opening DJ spun right up to the band’s set time, but once the lights went out, the energy in the room picked up immediately.
Complete with a seven-piece band behind him, Murphy made his way to the front of what was ultimately a congested stage plot, surrounded by synthesizers and drums at just about every turn. The band got the crowd moving from the jump, with 2007 album opener “Get Innocuous!” starting the first of what would become essentially three sets. That loosened things up, before the wild synths of “I Can Change” kicked the show into full gear. During the first set of the night, there was no slowing down the party, with everything from “You Wanted A Hit” and “Tonite” to “Yr City’s A Sucker” keeping the beat and fan favorites persistent throughout. Murphy would occasionally join in on percussion, and the combination of Tyler Pope and Pat Mahoney on live drums and a drum machine would make sure that the beat never really dropped out. Nancy Whang, however, was a star of the show, with her synths bringing an especially warm tone when accented by the giant light board behind the band.
Murphy played his role as ringleader for the night, but kept his spoken interactions with the crowd fairly minimal considering the amount of time that LCD Soundsystem were on stage. About 45 minutes into the set, he would state the obvious; “It’s hot.” In fairness, he wasn’t wrong. When he did talk to the crowd, though, he appeared reserved, yet genuinely thankful that they had nearly sold out the venue (Saturday night’s show is already sold out.)
Before “Home” closed out the first set, Murphy would explain that the show is a little different from most, in the sense that they head offstage for a few minutes and come back throughout the night. They would do that around the one-hour mark, but only for a few short minutes before returning with the more subdued “Oh Baby,” accented by a giant disco ball that lit up the room. That would lead a six-song set, which would touch on the mellower components of the band’s catalogue. Both parts of “45:33” would eventually follow, and the second set would conclude with “Someone Great,” which received an especially warm response from the Ballroom crowd when it started to kick in. The second set was roughly 30 minutes, before they would again take a brief intermission, this time with “Please Do Not Go” by the Violent Femmes playing over the house system (fitting) while the light board behind the stage projected a game of Pong.
When it was time to return, just a few minutes later, the band brought the party back up to close things out. “North American Scum” would bring them back on stage, and then their biggest hit, “Dance Yrself Clean,” brought all the anticipation of the night to a head. The build of the song is perfect for the live setting, before its cathartic release would ultimately erupt the Ballroom into one big rave.
With their biggest hit out of the way, Murphy started to riff on part of “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down,” with a look towards Mahoney as if both were unsure if they would play the full song. They ultimately did, and maybe it was in the planned set list, but it felt like an audible that they rolled with in the moment. With no buildup after that song, the night would end on “All My Friends,” giving Milwaukee one last chance to dance.
In total (with a pair of three-minute intermissions), Friday's show cracked two hours and 15 minutes, and all of it felt like a collective celebration of the band’s discography. Even the portions of the night that were on the mellower side were never really that mellow, and no matter your degree of fandom, Murphy and the band brought a party that was undeniable. It won’t be another 15 years before LCD Soundsystem plays Milwaukee again; in fact, it won’t be more than another 24 hours, but even if Friday’s show was only a one-off, it would have overdelivered.
