From furious electro breakdowns to squeeze-your-mates singalongs, you can see why they couldn’t stay away for too long. The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden (2014)īilled as their last ever show – even though they would return five years later – LCD Soundsystem’s 2011 Madison Square Garden swansong is an emotional rollercoaster. Photograph: Theo Wargo/Getty LCD Soundsystem Hello, they must be going … LCD Soundsystem at Madison Square Garden in 2011. Come for the haunting Bowie and Lead Belly covers, stay for the devastatingly sparse Polly. Nirvana’s acoustic set on MTV’s flagship franchise deconstructed their caustic sound to reveal a new side – albeit one that cast Kurt Cobain as far from comfortable with his rock star status. You’re never sure if the crowd are screaming because they’re thrilled or terrified. Scuzzy rockabilly is best served fresh, and what’s fresher than two nights with the Cramps at Manhattan’s Peppermint Lounge? The pioneers of glam garage dive headfirst into 30 minutes of squealing punk. Photograph: Kerstin Rodgers/Redferns The Cramps Rockin’ bones … Lux Interior of the Cramps. Then Nina Simone’s vocals drift out over soul-smacking piano, mixing Nigerian song with US folk ballads and civil rights anthems. You’re in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, dressed like a Queen’s Gambit extra, sipping on a dirty martini and wondering how far the opening act, a young comic called Richard Pryor, might go. Some 13 years after he recorded Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash finally rocked up at the song’s California namesake, and to possibly the most appreciative crowd of his career. There’s edgy and then there’s playing a song called Cocaine Blues to a room full of hootin’ and hollerin’ convicts. The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Johnny Cash It’s now tinged with an added wistfulness following this week’s announcement that the pair have split up after 28 years. Where better to start than with Daft Punk’s relentlessly pumping Parisian electronica party, complete with unbridled whoops of glee and synth singalongs from a rightly jazzed home-town crowd.
At the time, though, there was nothing else like it.Stepping into a venue full of sweaty strangers is still a frustratingly distant prospect, so as live music IRL continues to be benched, our only option is to dig into the giddy world of concert albums. It would set the standard not only for the EDM extravaganzas that would soon become a staple of all major festivals in the coming years, but for gigantic live spectacles across the musical spectrum. The duo debuted this show at an instantly legendary set at Coachella 2006, then brought it to festivals and arenas around the globe. Daft Punk, donning their signature robot outfits and spinning their euphoric hits, set up inside a 24-foot-tall aluminum pyramid covered with screens and dazzling LED lights.
The latter is best remembered for its groundbreaking pyramid show. Live performances were a bit more common during Daft Punk’s earlier days in the Nineties, but the group embarked on just two official tours: the “Daftendirektour” in 1997 in support of their debut, Homework, and then their 2006–07 Alive run. But the acclaimed electronic duo, which announced its breakup today, will still be remembered as one of the most important, influential and - crucially - entertaining live acts of this young century. Of their nearly 30 years together, Daft Punk probably only spent a small fraction of that time on the road.