All twelve of these shows will be in Knockdown Center’s Main Hall, which is the largest configuration of our indoor space, extending from the back bars all the way past the archway to the far, west-facing wall. Over 3,000 people can fit into the Main Hall, which means we’re prepping ourselves for over 36,000 people to pour in over three long weekends. And that’s not including our regular BASEMENT programming, a soca party, Tiki Disco’s special winter edition and, on one special night, a Horse Meat Disco immediately following LCD’s set. It’s a volume we’re not unfamiliar with, but we’re still bracing ourselves.
We first crossed paths with James Murphy through a Despacio DJ set in 2018. The project is Murphy’s collaboration with 2manydjs and the McIntosh audio company, and it’s every bit the ambitious, technical behemoth that he’s famous for undertaking. A front-to-back all analog sonic experience, Despacio exclusively plays vinyl through a stunning, audiophile-grade PA with no digital processing. It’s a huge lift to produce, but once you’re in the room, Despacio gives you a singular experience. If they play a record that was pressed before the ‘80s, that means that every aspect of the signal, from the first microphone to, decades later, the audio being pumped out of the speakers has been captured and reproduced using only analog technology. If you were there and remember “Here Comes the Sun” with the biggest disco ball at 3am, you’ll remember this sublime sensation. Pretty cool.
Although in 2018 the venue had been hosting concerts for four years, it had only been two since our liquor license was granted, and we were still actively trying to get the word out about our sprawling, malleable and (we’ll say it) beautiful location. The capacity of the venue dwarfs many of the more established rooms in the city, but in 2018 we were still proving ourselves. Bringing in James Murphy & co and letting them loose in the space for one glorious night felt like a glimpse of what would come.
He was back soon enough. In 2019, Murphy returned for a pair of DJ sets alongside headliner artists whose reputations on the global electronic circuit were established enough that they may have outshone the aging rocker. In April, he played with Nina Kraviz in the Main Hall. In an interview the duo did with Crack magazine immediately following the gig, Murphy said “A long time ago someone said to me that you [Nina] wanted to do a set together and I thought that could be fun. I mean, I started DJing by playing rock records at techno clubs and being threatened for my life, but I was on a lot of ecstasy so it seemed fun… One of my friends said they really liked that you got more and more successful but never played shit. You know what I mean? Never played just dummy music or something.”
The sense of mutual regard made for an electric night, with each headliner bringing their unique perspective on disco and its diaspora, and an expansive approach to selection. Kraviz, known for her freewheeling approach, found a kindred spirit in Murphy. “There was a time where I used to play disco mixed with funk and techno all together,” she remarked. “That’s actually how I started my DJ side. The only thing that firmly stayed was acid. All the types of acid, from rock to techno. I also used to play 7-inches and scream in the microphone. But it didn’t last.”
Later that year, Murphy went b2b with The Blessed Madonna, once again in our Main Hall. It was a different type of match-made-in-heaven. TBM was (and still is) a resident of Chicago’s Smart Bar, the world’s longest-running dance club. While Murphy’s approach to DJing was rooted in the insatiable, nerdy curiosity of a rock-dude record collector, TBM comes from a milieu where house music is heritage. But she was also at an inflection point, where her early underground bonafides were turning into Dua Lipa remixes and, soon enough, Fred Again collaborations.
No surprise, it was a blast. Each DJ brought a record bag with deep acid cuts, sleazy cosmic chuggers and the occasional disco anthem. In a sprawling RBMA interview from 2013, Murphy described his introduction to dance music via DFA partner Tim Goldsworthy: “And so I met Tim… and I saw a whole different world that I never had any peek into, which was dance music. And that changed my life because I realized that making people dance had a point that had nothing to do with art. And I mean that in the most positive way. Meaning that, it’s like food: if they’re not eating it, you’ve screwed it up. But if they’re not dancing, you’re just not doing a very good job. So it made a very simple set of goals for me which allowed me to calm down and stop wondering if what I was doing was good or worthwhile. I was like, ‘I can figure this out and make people dance.’” Mission accomplished.
Through these events, the stage was set for a DFA twentieth anniversary celebration. In March of 2022, the label presented a sprawling celebration of its singular roster, with everyone from Maurice Fulton to Black Dice to Juan MacLean performing. Amidst it all, LCD Soundsystem’s original lineup assembled for an unannounced headlining set. Every available corner of the venue was put to use, with bands, solo projects and DJs playing in different rooms; there were parties within the party, and a sense of communal fervor as LCD’s disco-rock hybrid positioned itself as the creative center point around which the myriad DFA styles - from noise to leftfield synthpop to full-on club tracks - gathered and cohered.
Breaking with their nearly-annual Brooklyn Steel residency in 2023, LCD opted to play in Manhattan, BK and Queens for four nights each. Their run at Knockdown closed out the 12 nights, also in our Main Hall, and if you were there you know how good it was. Murphy’s playful, ambitious approach once again defined the nights, with a pop-up version of his Four Horsemen wine bar and late night afterparties. It worked well enough that, for this year, LCD has scrapped the other boroughs and venues and opted to do the full run here.
You might ask yourself why they keep doing this, and why their fans keep coming. After all, with the exception of a single new song, released just a couple weeks ago, LCD Soundsystem hasn’t released a new album since 2017, and that came after a half-decade hiatus. But if you’ve seen the shows, it’s impossible to deny. The LCD songbook is packed with truly timeless music. It’s a testament to Murphy’s ability to channel and match his influences that he’s written a batch of songs that never get old, that always sound good and never fail to set off a room when played live. The band remains, as always, smoking. Many members have been in the group since the beginning, and they play the music with an authority that cannot be faked. Moreover, Murphy’s technical fastidiousness means that the stage setup and live mix goes beyond their records, transforming their evergreen studio masterpieces into vital, urgent explosions of creativity and raw expression. If you haven’t gotten your ticket, there’s still a few left. They do this every year, but it doesn't matter - you don’t want to miss this.