See also an interview with James Murphy about Shut Up and Play the Hits -- plus LCD Soundsystem's movie release party at Grand Central.
Maybe every decade or so, a band -- like LCD Soundsystem -- will arrive with its own perfect take on pop music. The lyrics will be simple yet complex, resonating deeply with whole high-school hallways' worth of confused kids. And the hooks will be epic, seemingly made for driving at night with the windows down, searching for some way out of town.
Of course, this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot. So when a once-in-a-generation band releases its third iconic album, then announces oh-so nonchalantly that "we're breaking up now, after this tour," it's a moment that must be filmed in minute detail, edited into a heart-rending concert documentary, and released into movie theaters all across the country for one night only.
That's exactly what James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem did, in cahoots with late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's production company, Oscilloscope Laboratories. And because Miami rules, the resulting movie -- Shut Up and Play the Hits -- will be showing at Tower Theater on Wednesday, July 18.
"It can be pretty clear when a band starts. But perhaps less so when it ends, or how it should end," said Yauch of the film before his death. "In that sense, it's brilliant of James to end it in such a definitive way."
The film focuses on Murphy, lots of friends, his big decision, the last-ever LCD show at Madison Square Garden, and, most interestingly, the aftermath. Cities not on the full list of participating theaters have the option to demand a screening. But thankfully we're all set!
LCD Soundsystem's Shut Up and Play the Hits. Wednesday, July 18. Tower Theater, 1508 SW Eighth St., Miami. Visit oscilloscope.net/lcdtheaters.
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