James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem/Photo: Bertrand

LCD Soundsystem has defined the music taste, directly or indirectly, of a generation. From 2010 suburban basements to appearances on Kendall Roy playlists to the fairly linear paths you can draw to virtually every indie-dance-pop or indie-dance-punk band that’s popped up in the last twenty years, their influence on millennial ears cannot realistically be overstated. That’s not to say that Gen X and company haven’t been influenced or impacted by LCD Soundsystem’s music. They certainly have.

But LCD Soundsystem has a special relationship with millennials because this is a band that we got to look up to. An adult who watched Michael Jordan hit a buzzer-beater might have appreciated the bucket more technically, but a kid who saw it will be forever anchored to the best parts of their childhood by that memory. Now the millennial generation has begun the gradual but perceptible shift from hip to square, from young to old, from the city to the suburbs. For those that populate the millennial bucket, this shift might feel anything but gradual—which makes shows like this all the more mission-critical for the health of our collective psyche.

The band from Brooklyn also has a special relationship with Chicago. Let’s talk about that in a second.

In May of 2010, LCD Soundsystem released “This Is Happening,” a masterpiece that consolidated the elegant melancholic ambivalence of “Sound of Silver” (2007) with the exquisite dissonant locomotive energy of “LCD Soundsystem” (2005) into a singular, definable vehicle that you can safely drive through all emotional cul de sacs. LCD music and lyricism amalgamate the joyous and challenging aspects of the human experience in significantly fewer words than this writer is capable of typing. Just think about dancing and crying at the same time.

In February 2011, the group announced their last show would be on April 2 of the same year at Madison Square Garden. They were breaking up, going out on the high of a perfect album, and playing their last show at home at the most legendary venue in New York City. With virtually no notice. That performance, a heartbreaking but virtuosic piece of modern artistic history, became known as “The Long Goodbye.” The show lasted over four hours. The vinyl recording became a talisman of coolness if you could get your hands on one. Listening to that record under the circumstances that the band would never play live again elicited a lot of tears.

But that was that. It was over. For so many, the party had never even begun. We got to hear the playlist but never got to go. Millions of young fans didn’t get to see them live, and even if they did, certainly not after the band’s best record was released. To a degree, this further solidified the cult-like following that was to follow. But can a cult really be a cult if it’s so mainstream? Of course it can. But this is music. These cults are cool, especially this one. It should be noted that LCD Soundsystem drives a comically inclusive and large bus of fans. It’s a cult full of both finance bros and art students and everything in between. It’s weird. A lot of fans of this music don’t like one another. That’s fine. At a concert, we’re all facing the same way anyway—not each other.

In winter of 2015, rumors began to swirl that the band was getting back together to record a new album. That they might be headlining major music festivals in an epic comeback. Rumors had become reality and an upcoming 2016 tour was announced. James Murphy came out publicly with the story that David Bowie convinced him to get the band back together before he passed away. LCD Soundsystem released “Christmas Will Break Your Heart” (2015), potentially the saddest Christmas song ever.

Those fans? The ones that grew to love the band as teenagers but never got to see them? They’re in or are graduating college now. They are smarter than they were in 2011. Lollapalooza, for the first time, added a fourth day to their lineup. LCD Soundsystem would headline that day, July 31, 2016. That setlist is available online—look it up—it’s perfect. In a way, because fans knew exactly how quickly and easily their hearts could be broken, any chance to see the group live became worth its weight in proverbial gold. Since then, LCD Soundsystem has also headlined Pitchfork (2017). They released “American Dream” (2017). They headlined Re:SET’s inaugural iteration, a new festival hosted at Riis Park in the summer of 2023 (a festival that came devastatingly and comically close to falling apart in June 2023).

And this Memorial Day weekend, they will be playing at the Aragon Ballroom, ending their current North American tour in Chicago with, for some inexplicable reason, four consecutive shows.

These are emotional concerts. An LCD Soundsystem concert is like an LCD Soundsystem album, which is really one long LCD Soundsystem song. There’s a universality to everything that this group does that somehow is always still feeling inventive. Most songs/albums/concerts follow an arc of a slow, synth-driven ascension, quiet, minimalist, before erupting into a deftly organized chaotic dance track layered with sad-but-happy-but-sad lyrics that are both easy to sing along to and hard for your heart to hear.

It’s hard to quantify this band’s special relationship with Chicago, just like it’s hard to explain why they’re doing four consecutive shows before jetting off to Europe. However, they have a history of breaking ground here. Something special will be happening in Uptown from May 24–27. We know exactly what that will be, but somehow, we’ll still be surprised.

LCD Soundsystem is playing Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom May 24–27, 8pm–10pm each night. More here.