LCD Soundsystem prove that their comeback isn’t a fickle effort with smash show at The Warehouse Project. Jack Cinnamond has the words. 

“That’s how it starts…” frontman James Murphy graciously exclaims during the band’s final song of tonight’s two hour hit-filled set on the band’s second Warehouse Project show this weekend. 

The scene was set from walking into the air-raid shelter turned car park turned Victoria Warehouse to the sounds selected by opening DJ Shit Robot who plays between sets with his dance mixes. 

It’s a calm atmosphere to be honest, everybody seems set for James Murphy & co. while they catch a drink and chat during Shit Robot. 

The night gets warmer with a under anticipated support slot by Hot Chip‘s Joe Goddard. Let’s be fair, despite being a Hot Chip fan I wasn’t necessarily expecting much from Goddard‘s solo set but he blew the room away with his part-live-part-DJ set. 

Joe gave us a solid forty five minutes of tracks from his solo albums and most specifically his latest effort Electric Lines, which gained a “album of the year” chant from some attendees. 

Coming up to just past 9pm, Murphy & co. waltz on stage before cracking open with “Get Innocuous!“. Since their comeback, LCD Soundsystem have been keen to show their no longer their “Shut Up and Play The Hits” selves, tonight they show that from the moment they walk on.

After saying “hello” in James Murphy‘s loveable way, he introduces us to the band before delving into the set with fan-favourite “I Can Change” quickly followed by “Call The Police“, off the band’s return album American Dream. Noting the album, the band’s first songs since their inevitable return go down like a storm tonight, each brilliantly landing. 

Which is no surprise, LCD Soundsystem have always been a beloved band by their fans. They’d do anything for Murphy, and to  pay them back of sorts he’s never played it slow on new material. 

Over the next hour, they smash-out wall-to-wall classics from the punky “Yr City’s A Sucker” to “Yeah” and we’ve never seen a band so on-fire. The band inform us that they’ll take a short-break “to pee” after a few songs. 

…and so they run down, leading with the new sarcastic anthem “Tonite“, still beautiful “Someone Great” backed with “Home” before bowing out with the now rarity “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down“, which they didn’t play the night before. 

The haunting, adoring song became LCD’s mainstay balled in the streaming world following their farewell concert and still brings emotion, even to those who have never visited the city in question. 

The band take their well deserved break, as hilariously “Spanish Flea” plays in the back. It’s minutes and they’re back. 

The band play one final song from their new album, the brilliant “Emotional Haircut” before their final two. 

Once again, LCD shows what they’re made of and it’s not a cliche thought that the band are back and “making waves” so to speak. The truth is, they are as relevant today as they’ve been since “Losing My Edge“. They didn’t stop being relevant when they stopped being a band. 

Thus they show us once again that they are relevant by hitting us with calm-before-storm hit “Dance Yrself Clean” which becomes a throbbing, quite-pummelling number. 

It’s damaging, quite marvlous and what we wanted from the band. Finally, we get “All My Friends” which becomes a free-for-all dance party that actually leads to Murphy yelling “wow” to his band mates. The crowd came for them, and they gave everything. You can’t fault the band’s performance, especially tonight. 

Words by Jack Cinnamond, all photography courtesy of The Warehouse Project.