As per usual, Lollapalooza tickets sold out faster than you could say “I want a Lollapalooza pass." This year, Friday and Saturday one-day passes sold out in minutes while the other two days took longer to sell their tickets. It’s not surprising since Friday and Saturday have fantastic acts such as: Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, M83, Saint Motel, Miike Snow, The Front Bottoms, St. Lucia, The Strumbellas, and Foals. However, I’m more excited for Sunday.
Sunday has one act that I’ve been dying to see since 2012. LCD Soundsystem. I thought I was too late when I first discovered the band. I was downtown, spending the night on my brother’s Ikea couch, listening to the creaking of the old apartment compliment the music in the background. My brother pulled out a documentary that he had just bought about a band that I had heard for the first time earlier that day. The repetitive piano intro from “All My Friends” stayed in my head from the moment I first heard the song to when my brother delicately placed the documentary, Shut Up and Play The Hits, into his DVD player. Little did I know that the documentary was about the band’s final show in Madison Square Garden on April 2nd, 2011. I sat there and watched the emotions pour out of the members as they performed for the final time. I saw James Murphy listen to his voicemails while lying in bed with his white sheets wearing his white button down shirt from last night and couldn’t help but think of the white as a symbol for a fresh start. I fell in love. I saw the reality and the passion through that documentary. They were done, and I couldn’t do anything to change it.
Between the time of my discovery of the band and the start of 2016, I listened Sound of Silver and This is Happening and grew to love the band even more. The escalation from the single piano riff to the repetition of the question “Where are your friends tonight” in “All My Friends” helped me through a string of deaths in my life. I listened to “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down” every time I flew in or out of the Big Apple, not because the title fit the destination, but because it condensed the city down into the people. It highlights the fidelity between the inhabitants and the city while demonstrating the ill-mannered stereotypical New Yorker. “Dance Yrself Clean” is my go to song if I want blast music in my car. It’s so easy to let go with the huge explosion of sound and emotion around three minutes in. Every song by LCD Soundsystem had emotion and passion. It was obvious just by listening that James Murphy loved every word he sang, every note he played, and every moment he spent with LCD Soundsystem.
When I was home in the suburbs of Chicago for Christmas, my friend sent me LCD Soundsystem’s Christmas song. On January 5th, 2016, I decided to go to the band’s website only to see the post that announced a new LCD Soundsystem album. I couldn’t believe it. A band I thought had become extinct, who had been so incredibly influential throughout my life events was back and was not only going on tour, but releasing a completely new album.
Later that year, they were announced to be the headliner of multiple music festivals, including Lollapalooza, and I knew I had to go. Based on their past performances at other festivals this year, I will not be disappointed. They will stick to their old music for now, not giving any hints on their new album. If you would like to find me, I will be dancing to “All My Friends” in front of the Samsung stage, listening to the final act on the final day and fulfilling a wish I thought was long gone.
