LCD Soundsystem Deconstructed Dance Music at The Bomb Factory

The only thing more congested than the sold-out crowd at The Bomb Factory was the stage. Multiple drum kits, synthesizers, guitar amps and a single microphone stand in the center were crammed together like a music store storage closet.

But that was all part of the plan.

LCD Soundsystem was in town this weekend, bringing its maximalist pop formula to mark its first stop in North Texas since 2017. The band was scheduled to perform as part of the Re:SET festival in 2023, but canceled due to a storm.

We attended the second of LCD’s two-night stand in Deep Ellum, which also served as the official relaunch of the “bomb” in The Bomb Factory.

After an opening set from art-punk band Gustaf incorporated voice modulators, flutes and a triangle (yes, a triangle) into a consciously bizarre sound that could only be described as “The B-52s but evil,” LCD took the stage around 9:15 p.m.

The first notes to “Us v Them” were accentuated by backlit spotlights shining on the band member playing their instrument, one by one, until James Murphy appeared at center stage.

As the nucleus of an iconic dance band, Murphy is decidedly not a showman. He arrived dressed in a plain white T-shirt and slacks, never got an individual spotlight to show his face and limited his dancing to karate kicks to lead drummer Pat Mahoney’s cymbals.

Mahoney is the unsung hero of the LCD Soundsystem live product. By design, the band’s discography is defined by incessant repetition of the same hook, sometimes stretched over seven or eight minutes. For two and a half hours, Mahoney kept time with as little room for error as there was for improvisation.

Those constraints were placed on every member of the LCD Soundsystem backing band, who played every note of every song entirely live. Saying it like that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s important to remember that LCD is an electro-pop dance band. Murphy could get away with trotting out on stage with nothing but a backing DJ, or maybe an accompanying drummer or bassist. In fact, to his contemporaries, it would be expected.

But that’s the breathtaking part of seeing LCD Soundsystem live. They do it the hard way; everything is played live in an almost impossible fashion. Murphy and company have deconstructed dance music down to each element. The ad-libs are shouted out live. The impossible drum sequences, the ones you think could only be conceived electronically, are played live on an armada of drum kits.

Like a magic trick, the combination of LCD’s dozens of instruments sounds exactly as it does recorded, except way louder. The second song of the night, “I Can Change,” was nearly indistinguishable. The fourth, “Tribulations,” was the same, but benefited from a live audience playing into its more rocking sonics. The set ended with a cut from 2010’s This Is Happening, “Home,” which interpolates the singalong melody from “Dance Yrself Clean,” on the same album, a tease of what’s to come.

The band returned for a five-song encore, beginning with “x-ray eyes,” their newest release from November 2024, and “On Repeat,” a B-side from their self-titled 2005 debut. You can probably guess what followed: three-pronged fury of hits, “Dance Yrself Clean,” “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” and “All My Friends” to close the night in a raucous dance party.

The evening ended around 11:40 p.m., clocking in at nearly three hours of pent-up dancing over the years without LCD Soundsystem in Dallas. To Murphy and The Bomb Factory, the sentiment is the same: It's good to be back.