Disco-dance-rock god LCD Soundsystem AKA James Murphy came to London to play a show with London rockers Hot Chip at the Alexandra Palace on November 10th and I was there. But before the show Natalie had our own mini adventure. The show was on wednesday and I was exhausted from the week of classes and other outside scholastic activities earlier in the week, so I decided to take a nap. Terrible idea once I fell asleep I was out and slept through my alarm and only just woke up 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave to a text from Natalie asking if I was ready. Once I realized what time it was I jumped out of bed (very unhappy to be leaving the comfort at the time) and got dressed and drank half a bottle of wine faster than I ever have before.
After I was dressed and not sufficiently buzzing, we set off for Alley Palace in the furthest north part of London I've been. Once outside the the tube we immediately spied a fantastic looking kebab and falalefal place that both Natalie and I agreed we must stop at on our way home. So we set off to find the venue with only my Iphone for directions telling us it was only a short walk from the tube stop, boy was it wrong this time. We walked around following the phone and a few scattered signs directing us to “Alexandra Palace”, but after walking for what had to have been 15 minutes, we didn't find anything of use. We decided to just give up on the Iphone and follow the signs and little did we know that there is also a train station named Alexandra Palace. We got to the train station but still had no idea how to get to the actual venue, getting a little worried we saw a large mass of youths looking like they were on their way to a show and decided to follow them. We followed them across a bridge and up a huge and I mean huge hill that was quite the trek that we were not prepared for. But after the long and tiring walk up the hill we were presented with the Alexandra Palace we were looking for and one of the most breathtaking views of the city we had ever seen. From the top of the hill you can look down upon the city and see for miles all around. After seeing that I made a promise that I have to go back in the day to see the view in the light.
After getting lost and treking up the hill we finally made it to the venue 30 minutes before the show was supposed to begin and everything went as smooth as possible. We checked our coats, got drinks and grabbed our spot in the amassing crowd waiting for Hot Chip to come on. We waited for about 45 minutes in what had to have been the coldest indoor venue I have ever been to. For anyone who hasn't been to the palace, its a huge, drafty warehouse/ballroom type room with large windows on either side and when it isn't completely filled with dancing concert goers it can be quite chilly. But I wasn't worried as I knew once Hot Chip took the stage I would warm up in no time, and warm up I did.
Hot chip came on to a raucous ovation and immediately got the crowd warmed up and moving playing Ready for the Floor. Hot Chip played all of their hit songs such as “I Feel Better” as well as many songs from One Life Stand album. My favorite song they played was definitely One Life Stand, it really got the crowd moving and into it and the guys on stage really looked like they were having a great time. For the last song of the set, they turned on a bubble making machine and filled the whole front half of the crowd with bubbles floating around. That was super fun, especially seeing the band playing through the wave of bubbles and the lights flashing and dancing through the soapy floating balls.
After Hot Chip, came the headliner, LCD Soundsystem with a brief interval in between sets. Natalie used this interval to use the toilet but with the super long lines in the womens toilets, she got stuck trying to get back through the crowd and was almost not able to get back to be in the crowd. But never fear she wedged her way through and we were once again reunited. First thing I have to say about LCD, is that James Murphy is a freaking god! Even with him prefacing the set with the fact that he had lost his voice the night previous in Barcelona and that he had taken some steroids before the show to help him recover, he still came through amazingly. I have never seen him live before but from what I saw he was as good as ever. They started off with a trio of songs from their new album This is Happening which were amazing, then moved on to the classic that the whole crowd went crazy over “Daft Punk is Playing at my House”. However I felt like after that the set went into a sort of lull and the crowd and the band had lost a little bit of energy, but nothing too drastic. Everyone was still dancing and having a great time. They ended the set by dropping hundreds of white balloons on the crowd and letting everyone go wild keeping them up in the air.
One of the best parts about LCD's show w
Disco-dance-rock god LCD Soundsystem AKA James Murphy came to London to play a show with London rockers Hot Chip at the Alexandra Palace on November 10th and I was there. But before the show Natalie had our own mini adventure. The show was on wednesday and I was exhausted from the week of classes and other outside scholastic activities earlier in the week, so I decided to take a nap. Terrible idea once I fell asleep I was out and slept through my alarm and only just woke up 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave to a text from Natalie asking if I was ready. Once I realized what time it was I jumped out of bed (very unhappy to be leaving the comfort at the time) and got dressed and drank half a bottle of wine faster than I ever have before.
After I was dressed and not sufficiently buzzing, we set off for Alley Palace in the furthest north part of London I've been. Once outside the the tube we immediately spied a fantastic looking kebab and falalefal place that both Natalie and I agreed we must stop at on our way home. So we set off to find the venue with only my Iphone for directions telling us it was only a short walk from the tube stop, boy was it wrong this time. We walked around following the phone and a few scattered signs directing us to “Alexandra Palace”, but after walking for what had to have been 15 minutes, we didn't find anything of use. We decided to just give up on the Iphone and follow the signs and little did we know that there is also a train station named Alexandra Palace. We got to the train station but still had no idea how to get to the actual venue, getting a little worried we saw a large mass of youths looking like they were on their way to a show and decided to follow them. We followed them across a bridge and up a huge and I mean huge hill that was quite the trek that we were not prepared for. But after the long and tiring walk up the hill we were presented with the Alexandra Palace we were looking for and one of the most breathtaking views of the city we had ever seen. From the top of the hill you can look down upon the city and see for miles all around. After seeing that I made a promise that I have to go back in the day to see the view in the light.
After getting lost and treking up the hill we finally made it to the venue 30 minutes before the show was supposed to begin and everything went as smooth as possible. We checked our coats, got drinks and grabbed our spot in the amassing crowd waiting for Hot Chip to come on. We waited for about 45 minutes in what had to have been the coldest indoor venue I have ever been to. For anyone who hasn't been to the palace, its a huge, drafty warehouse/ballroom type room with large windows on either side and when it isn't completely filled with dancing concert goers it can be quite chilly. But I wasn't worried as I knew once Hot Chip took the stage I would warm up in no time, and warm up I did.
Hot chip came on to a raucous ovation and immediately got the crowd warmed up and moving playing Ready for the Floor. Hot Chip played all of their hit songs such as “I Feel Better” as well as many songs from One Life Stand album. My favorite song they played was definitely One Life Stand, it really got the crowd moving and into it and the guys on stage really looked like they were having a great time. For the last song of the set, they turned on a bubble making machine and filled the whole front half of the crowd with bubbles floating around. That was super fun, especially seeing the band playing through the wave of bubbles and the lights flashing and dancing through the soapy floating balls.
After Hot Chip, came the headliner, LCD Soundsystem with a brief interval in between sets. Natalie used this interval to use the toilet but with the super long lines in the womens toilets, she got stuck trying to get back through the crowd and was almost not able to get back to be in the crowd. But never fear she wedged her way through and we were once again reunited. First thing I have to say about LCD, is that James Murphy is a freaking god! Even with him prefacing the set with the fact that he had lost his voice the night previous in Barcelona and that he had taken some steroids before the show to help him recover, he still came through amazingly. I have never seen him live before but from what I saw he was as good as ever. They started off with a trio of songs from their new album This is Happening which were amazing, then moved on to the classic that the whole crowd went crazy over “Daft Punk is Playing at my House”. However I felt like after that the set went into a sort of lull and the crowd and the band had lost a little bit of energy, but nothing too drastic. Everyone was still dancing and having a great time. They ended the set by dropping hundreds of white balloons on the crowd and letting everyone go wild keeping them up in the air.
One of the best parts about LCD's show was definitely their light show, you could tell meticulous planning and set up had gone in to it to make it the best it could be. The venue was not completely condusive the lights as it had moonlight coming through the large windows gazing out onto the city, but none the less it was still awesome.
Overall the concert was one of the best I have seen and definitely the best show I've seen in London during my time here.as definitely their light show, you could tell meticulous planning and set up had gone in to it to make it the best it could be. The venue was not completely condusive the lights as it had moonlight coming through the large windows gazing out onto the city, but none the less it was still awesome.
Overall the concert was one of the best I have seen and definitely the best show I've seen in London during my time here.
Martin Faerber
Martin Faerber
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