Fri 12 Nov, Cardiff International Arena
words: RYAN HEEGER
There’s something unsettling about entering the CIA at 7.30pm. Chances are you’re fairly sober and wishing you had stayed for a few more in the pub. That said, the bars are empty so you can purchase tepid bottles of Tuborg for the best part of four quid a pop, and on this particular occasion the geek dance collective known as Hot Chip are due to take the stage at any moment. They scamper into position and demurely open with Boy From School, looking as always like teetotal physics teachers, and deliver standout tracks including One Life Stand and Shake a Fist. Then there’s a handover of sorts as members of LCD Soundsystem join them for their final number, a cover of the Alessi Brothers’ Seabird; a shaky first live performance that hardly seems worth the effort.
From then on the night quite rightly belongs to James Murphy and the New York outfit claiming this to be their final tour. While lacking the insanity of The Prodigy or deep thinking of Underworld, LCD Soundsystem have nonetheless made their mark on electronic music, and draw on an impressive back catalogue. Openers Dance Yrself Clean and Drunk Girls set a tidy pace, while Daft Punk Is Playing At My House and the ever-building All My Friends gets everyone throwing shapes. It’ll be a shame to see them disband, but at least they partied with Cardiff first.
Kudos to the CYNT afterparty in Clwb too, where James Murphy took to the decks and entertained a rammed top floor.