Re:SET day 1: Off to a bang with LCD, Idles, Jamie xx and extra

On Friday, legendary dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem got here to Stanford for the very first day of the inaugural live performance collection Re:SET alongside Huge Freedia, Idles and Jamie xx. Leaving Frost Amphitheater clutching my press cross in a single hand and a live performance setlist within the different, I spotted that day would go down as an particularly incredible second for music followers throughout the Bay Space.

With the band displaying its knack for blood-pumping instrumentation (and frontman James Murphy’s good songwriting), I can confidently say this was the most effective concert events I’ve ever attended.

Re:SET is a model new outside live performance collection by AEG Presents which sees established artists performing in the identical venues throughout the nation (from Stanford to New Orleans to Queens) for the following few weekends. It’s fairly an revolutionary mannequin: primarily, LCD Soundsystem, Steve Lacy and boygenius are shifting collectively from area to area triangularly performing all through the month of June. The identical day that LCD performed Stanford, Lacy was in Los Angeles and boygenius in San Diego.

In response to AEG Presents senior vp Wealthy Holtzman, the Re:SET exhibits have been particularly designed as “smaller, curated payments with one stage [and] house in between the bands to hold with pals.” To me, these are all welcome modifications to the stale and overblown nature of most competition lineups — already a superb signal.

This new blueprint for the trendy music competition isn’t with out fault. Right here’s a wierd facet of Re:SET: performances started at 4:00 p.m. I ended up lacking the primary act, Huge Freedia — the Queen of Bounce — even after dashing over from afternoon courses. Contemplating the hectic lifetime of Stanford college students and different concertgoers, it’s no surprise that Frost was nonetheless sparse after I received there.

I entered the pit as British punk band Idles carried out the primary music of its set, the (fittingly) colossal “Colossus.” That includes snarling vocals from the energetic Joe Talbot and a driving rhythm part, the observe was as intense because it was impassioned. Talbot’s face would usually flip beet purple, with thick veins protruding from his face as he screamed diatribes. Just like the incredible mum or dad album for “Colossus” (“Pleasure As An Act of Resistance”), Idles’ efficiency was centered round vulnerability and sincerity.

The band isn’t afraid to put on their politics on their sleeve (as is the case with loads of punk teams). Talbot prefaced the catchy punk shout-along “Danny Nedelko” by speaking about his unequivocal assist for immigrants world wide. His message made sense within the context of the music’s simple-yet-effective refrain lyrics: “He’s fabricated from bones / He’s fabricated from blood / He’s fabricated from flesh / He’s made of affection / He’s fabricated from you / He’s fabricated from me / Unity! / Concern results in panic / Panic results in ache / Ache results in anger / Anger results in hate.”

General, Idles set my expectations extremely excessive for the remainder of the live performance: this was the most important barn burner I had ever seen at Frost, turning the viewers into a gaggle of punk rockers for an hour.

By the point Jamie xx got here on stage, I had made my approach to the railing, putting myself within the entrance center of the primary row. A large disco ball descended from the center of the stage as Jamie, a member of the English indie pop band The xx, got here on stage in a modest black t-shirt and striped pants. If I hadn’t acknowledged his face and shaggy hair, he may’ve simply been mistaken for a roadie. 

As quickly as he received behind his gear, his artistry was unmistakable: Jamie effortlessly cycled by way of dozens of grooves, a handful of digital genres and doubtless hundreds of sounds. He rapidly established his wealthy, various sound palette with a gap assortment of tracks that flowed into one another. Digital genres like future storage, chipmunk soul and U.Ok. bass have been all current in his set, sparking bouts of euphoric dance among the many bouncy crowd. Everybody round me appeared to be in a stupor induced by music (and, let’s be sincere, medicine).

Because the solar went down, it was lastly time for the primary occasion: the quintessentially New York band LCD Soundsystem. They started acting at 8:15 p.m., beginning with the basic “Get Innocuous” from the album “Sound of Silver.” The rhythm part’s relentless groove and Murphy’s Bowie-esque vocal efficiency made for an ideal introduction to the unrivaled magic of the group’s sound. 

I can’t think about how a lot all of their gear should have price. Analog synthesizers, the devices of the four-piece rock band, assorted percussion (together with a enjoyable vibraslap and bongos) and amplifiers cluttered each nook of the stage. The truth is, the quantity of kit across the band compelled the musicians to scrunch collectively in the midst of the stage, surrounded by partitions of amplifiers and storage trunks.

LCD performed a various setlist that will please basic concertgoers and hardcore followers (like me) simply the identical. It was good to see them convey out the underappreciated “Residence” and “You Needed A Hit” from their masterpiece album “That is Occurring.” On the similar time, I cherished listening to their latest single “New Physique Rhumba” (from Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” film) and the basic “Daft Punk is Taking part in in My Home” — although it was not laborious to note that the previous is a talented rewrite of the latter.

Nevertheless, it was the closing three songs that sealed the deal for me. “New York, I Love You However You’re Bringing Me Down,” “Dance Yrself Clear” and “All My Pals” have been merely one of the best dwell performances I had seen all yr. The Broadway melodrama of “New York, I Love You However You’re Bringing Me Down” was particularly efficient; the band turned considered one of their most cathartic items right into a transcendent live performance expertise, full with synchronized flashing lights and livid cymbal crashes. 

The neurotic “Dance Yrself Clear” is probably the band’s signature music, that includes their best drop. The truth is, every time the drop’s piercing drum fill and bouncy synth minimize by way of the combo, the gang went completely wild. The efficiency of this observe additionally served as a showcase of the band’s maximalist visible presentation. There have been huge flashes of blue and purple gentle every time the refrain hit, and, as a result of band’s bodily closeness on stage, it felt like a celebration.

However “All My Pals” is the height of each their discography and the primary day of Re:SET. The music options a fantastic looped piano line indebted, unusually sufficient, to modern classical à la Phillip Glass — however the underlying dance groove is relentless. 

The lyrics are completely poetic. In recounting a nostalgic social gathering, lead singer Murphy says, “And so it begins / You turn the engine on / We set controls for the guts of the solar / One of many ways in which we present our age,” throwing in a Pink Floyd reference on high of an ideal description of the bittersweet naïvety of adolescence. Suffice it to say that, as an accumulation of almost seven hours of efficiency, “All My Pals” effortlessly caught the touchdown. 

Re:SET could also be a brand new occasion, however I actually hope this isn’t its solely competition season. It was a fantastic evening that prioritized each the artists performing and the devoted followers listening. When James Murphy crooned “And to inform the reality / Oh, this may very well be the final time / So right here we go” on the finish of “All My Pals,” a way of inventive immediacy grew to become palpable within the crowd. Everybody couldn’t assist however really feel it.

Editor’s Notice: This text is a evaluation and contains subjective ideas, opinions and critiques.