2012 Sundance Docs in Focus: SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS

This year’s Park City at Midnight section’s sole documentary: SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s look at the last two days in the life of LCD Soundsystem.

Sundance Program Description:

With the release of their debut album in 2005, New York City’s LCD Soundsystem changed the face of dance music, combining equal parts punk, soul, and disco. Their devoted fan base steadily grew, bolstered by Grammy nominations and recognition as one of the best live bands in the world. In early 2011, touring to support their first Billboard Top 10 debut, LCD Soundsystem announced its largest gig to date—Madison Square Garden—and that the concert would be their last ever.

With fly-on-the-wall access, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s concert film captures the final 48 hours of a band in complete control of its destiny. Packed with high-energy farewell performances, narrated by a frank conversation on success and rock stardom between bandleader James Murphy and writer Chuck Klosterman, SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS proves that if you’re hearing about LCD Soundsystem just now, you’ve already missed the party.

Some Background:
UK filmmaking duo Southern and Lovelace expanded from music videos and commercial work with their first feature documentary, NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN, a film about the UK band Blur which was nominated for a Grammy award and shortlisted for a Grierson award. In addition to working with producers with a similar music doc background, the duo count among their executive producers The Creators Project, a partnership between Intel and Vice, described on their website as “a global network dedicated to the celebration of creativity, culture, and technology.” Giving a further boost, indie producing powerhouse Christine Vachon also joins them as an executive producer, as she did for last year’s DRAGONSLAYER.

Why You Should Watch:
While the ample performance footage from the final performance will give LCD Soundsystem fans enough of a reason to seek this out, they’ll also be drawn to the quieter footage of James Murphy at home, giving them a peek at the life of a successful musician at a crossroads. Branching out beyond the fanbase, the thought-provoking conversation between Murphy and Klosterman will be relatable to viewers outside the music sphere who are interested in a candid, self-aware consideration of the concept of success and what happens after it has been achieved.

More Info:
Check out the doc’s website and Facebook page. Southern and Lovelace discuss their doc with Indiewire here. Its trailer may be found here. For screening dates and times at Sundance, click the link in the first paragraph.