RE:SET Complement Burger
I want to approach the Re:SET Concert Series like a friend that needs a little guidance. If Re:SET can be pointed in the right direction, it has a possibility of being the next great touring festival. If not, it was a thing that my concert hopper crew did once.
A brief summary of Re:SET for those who might need it. It is a touring three-day festival with four artists a day. It tours with the same artist lineup but will be on a different day, for example… Boy Genius will play in New Orleans on Saturday and Atlanta on Sunday, while LCD Soundsystem visa versa. All this is on one stage in each city.
Speaking of which, the headliners this year were the previously mentioned Boy Genius and LCD Soundsystem, and Steve Lacy.
This festival was great, but it also reminded me of the burger I ordered there. I really needed the burger to keep up with the calorie count I lost dancing during the Idles set. The $18 burger, though, should be the peak burger, but I just got the mediocre burger.
Selfie of Brian, wearing Idles baseball hat backwards, Reset stage and audience awaiting the next set in the background.
So with the continuation of the food metaphor, I want to call out RE:Set’s good with the bad, and good again with a compliment sandwich, but the middle is so important to be addressed that it needs to have a bigger filling than just a regular sandwich.
May I Pre:SENT… The Re:SET Burger.
The Top of the Bun: Best Festival to Explore a City
I love Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Music Festival. Shaky Knees Festival books my favorite Alternative and Punk undercard on the east coast. The first couple of times I went, my crew and I had planned on cool touristy things to do in the city. However, if you go to Shaky Knees fashionably late because you spent too much time shopping in Little 5 Points, you are missing music. Resulting in missing out on that aforementioned best alternative and punk undercard on the east coast.
With RE:SET in Atlanta, we were able to nerd out at Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum and the High Museum of Art and ride bikes on the Beltline. We finally had the time to some top-tier burgers from Slutty Vegan that were worth every penny before the late-night crowd.
The festival is a great way to explore a city and actually do things.
For example, attendees of Re:Set Nashville could go chow down on Prince’s Hot Chicken and regret thinking they could handle two heat levels too hot later while getting down to the Tori y Moi set.
A New Orleans cemetery tour with all the other sad girls to see would have really set the mood to see Boy Genius in City Park.
In D.C., you could have stormed* the capital and been back in time to sing about your Big Habit with Steve Lacy. *Publisher note: Do not “storm” federal buildings. There are plenty of other fun, affordable and legal things to do in Washington, D.C.
If this is an annual event, I might use it as an excuse to visit a different city.
The Patty: The Re:SET Communication
It was a failure of the little things that can only be explained in bullet point form that bugged me.
The lineup was released early, but the time of the event was posted almost less than a month from the day of the event.
You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather. With that in mind, the festival should be better prepared to share updates. At Re:Set Atlanta and some of the other city stops sets had to be rescheduled due to extreme weather. Instagram Stories should not be a primary way to receive updates, and emails about rescheduling should not be sent out an hour after the new schedule starts.
Speaking of Instagram, be excited about your festival. My beloved Shaky Knees posted schedule updates and pictures and imaging and stuff, maybe too much stuff all the time. It seemed that RE: Set went months without posting anything. I chose your festival, let me know I’m going to enjoy it.
A lot of people ignored this, but no blankets? Re:Set is one stage, I’m there for four hours, and the grass gets uncomfortable to sit on without a blanket.
It felt like it was lucky it happened. When the crew and I left, we were all, “That was nice. Hope it happens again,” and not, “That was great! Can't wait until next year!”
That being said, “I was like, that was great, let see them in Nashville!” which brings me to the bottom of the bun.
The Bottom Bun: Each Day a Different Vibe
On the first day, Steve Lacy and the other artists brought the funk. The freaks came and got freaky.
LCD Soundsystem and others brought the energy. The energy was reciprocated back to them.
The third day brought the chill. Everyone chilled.
In each city, the rotation will be different, but the vibe remains. Every undercard really did elevate the headliner. My crew really loved the Idles, Jamie XX, and LCD Soundsystem energy so much that we were eyeballing the Nashville show.
The organizers really did a good job with each day's lineup, but they really did drop the paper plate on some of the small stuff.
I really do hope this concert series continues, though. I have mentioned Shaky Knees before, and there was a time when their headliners were Gary Clark Jr and LCD Sound system; now, there are giants like The Killers and Muse. Those crowds kill vibes. Re:Set was all about vibes.
The Fries
The house music between sets was pretty lit.
Re:SET, improve your communication, and it will be biscuits and gravy, babe.