Duke Shin

As the sun starts to set on Lollapalooza’s first day, it doesn’t take long for LCD Soudsystem’s James Murphy to acknowledge the pending invasion of the robotic French duo to Lollapalooza’s huge south stage. He cradles his oft-banged cowbell like a drunk with a handle of whiskey and convulses around the stage as his band launches into "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House"—just the second song of their set. "Daft Punk is playing at my hoooooouuuuusse," the sweaty masses shout/sing/howl. Forty-five more sing-a-long minutes pass as LCD wraps their tight percussive disco attack. "Go…over there," Murphy commands, motioning vaguely across the field, where the Daft Punk pyramid has laid dormant all day; the specter of the most-anticipated act of the festival.

Like drunken caribou, the crowd acknowledges. And then the five familiar bars from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" drop, signaling the aliens (OK, Frenchmen) have landed. An instant dance party ensues—perhaps the largest in Chicago? "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" drops, and thankfully Kanye West doesn’t show. Meanwhile, the oft-publicized light show is working its magic. The giant screen at stage left shows Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo behind the trademark helmets, lights reflecting off of the reflective visors. "Maybe they really are robots," says one fan. "You know, they could be checking their email back there," snarks his buddy. After an hour, the duo is still going strong, layering the vocals from "One More Time" over Stardust’s classic "Music Sounds Better With You." Disco robots rule Chicago. Eat your heart out Steve Dahl!

(2007-08-07)

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