Considering I'd just seen the band in April, LCD Soundsystem's Friday night show at Webster Hall felt a little excessive - but ultimately quite justifiable with the modest ticket price and LCD's general awesomeness. And it ended up being totally worth it - this was my third LCD show, and musically I thought it was the strongest. It'll be hard to ever match the overall experience of my first LCD show, but the band was tighter on Friday than I've ever seen them. April's show seemed to be missing some subtleties early on - it almost seemed the band was playing too hard - but Friday had the balance right immediately, clicking right at the start with the usual "Beat Connection." The band brought so much muscle to every song and the amped up versions consistently delivered, never glossing over details. The only song I was mixed on was their Siouxsie and the Banshees cover; otherwise, it was all great - "Tribulations," "Losing My Edge," and "Movement" especially.

I think part of it was the fact that I could hear the details so well. I'll always resent Webster Hall for their absurd drink prices ($4 water wins no friends) but they came close to winning me over on Friday with almost perfect sound. And since I finally made it to their balcony, I could actually see as well as I could hear. It was cool to watch details like the live/electronic beat on "Movement," or to see exactly how Tyler Pope owns the insane "Yeah" jam. (I'd never realized he actually samples his own bassline before tweaking it out.) The whole band was in great form, perhaps thanks to all the recent touring, and I really don't have much bad to say about the night.

Except for the Juan Maclean's opening set, that is, which was awful. Pretty much everything I love about Less Than Human (which is a lot) was lacking in their live set. Maclean and crew (three others, including a live drummer) plodded through Friday's songs and never really lifted off, making it even harder for me to understand why they stretched "Shining Skinned Friend" out so much. Their set only had time for two other songs and was a complete yawn. That takes nothing away from the album though, which still rules - some things just aren't meant to be done live.

Check out Flickr for some more pictures of the show. Aziz and A Brooklyn Life were also there.