LCD Soundsystem // O2 Apollo Manchester, 2018 – R A Hagan
“And if it’s crowded, all the better / because we know we’re gonna be up late”: indeed, there’s probably not a whole lot of lyrics in the American rockers’ catalogue that summarise an LCD Soundsystem show quite as well as this, especially considering at the time of their return to the UK, they had only been a band once again for a couple of years.
LCD’s show at the Apollo in Manchester back in 2018 was like a really good bottle of wine: great to experience by yourself, but infinitely better enjoyed with your wino friends—of which there happened to be about 3,000 also in the building.
What LCD’s set lacked in length, it made up for in moments. As a millennial in his mid-20s, this writer often takes every opportunity to not engage with strangers. But something about hearing one of New York’s most iconic bands play ‘All My Friends’ live—when that idea was an impossibility mere years ago—kinda made the experience of hugging and crying with someone you’d never met before… tolerable, in a once in a lifetime sort of way. I’ll even let them off for removing ‘Losing My Edge’ from the setlist. This once.