LCD Soundsystem, Steve Lacy, boygenius and More Bring the Heat

We were met with something of a surreal sight while striding onto Centennial Park’s Great Lawn Friday afternoon for the first day of the traveling Re:SET festival’s visit to Nashville. The exact locale of the climactic scene in Robert Altman’s 1975 ensemble wonder Nashville — in which a stacked lineup of country performers rallies on behalf of an outsider presidential candidate on the steps of the Parthenon — was now the site of a breakneck set from Brit punks Idles.

Clad in dresses and noting the absurdity of legislation designed to target people for what they wear, Idles churned out leftist post-punk anthems like the Tory-skewering “Mother” and the skull-stomping “Never Fight a Man With a Perm” to a late-afternoon crowd that looked dressed for a warehouse party rather than a rock show. But frontman Joe Talbot’s messages of inclusion and positivity went over well as the grounds began to fill out — as did the band’s set-closing chant of “Fuck the king!” 

Jamie xx of The xx bridged the gap to headliners LCD Soundsystem with a thumping set of drum-n-bass-informed EDM, bringing the Bonnaroo vibes to those who weren’t able to make it down to the Farm this year. Even with it still somewhat light out — and even with youngsters rolling around on the lawn near the VIP area — tunes like “Let’s Do It Again” got the fists pumping and rave vibes flowing. 

The band of the hour kicked off about five minutes early, dusk light glinting off their famously enormous disco ball as they launched into “Get Innocuous!” Frontman James Murphy and his longtime crew of NYC dance punks are nothing if not consistent, and their set was full of all the trademark moves that have made LCD shows can’t-miss events for roughly two decades. Founding member and rock-solid timekeeper Pat Mahoney churned out the danceable four-on-the-floor beats of tunes like “You Wanted a Hit” and “Dance Yrself Clean” while Murphy bopped around the stage, throwing in little bursts of auxiliary percussion. Bassist Tyler Pope was under the weather, and so a series of friends and techs filled in on bass throughout the set, including Adam Devonshire of Idles — a band who Murphy extolled frequently throughout the night — on a cover of the Joy Division banger “No Love Lost.” With a crescent moon gleaming above, LCD ended the night with 2007’s undeniable “All My Friends,” sending Day 1’s crowd off into the night just before 10 p.m.

The skies were clear and temperatures mild for Saturday's lineup, which kicked off with a brief but captivating performance from rising R&B talent Fousheé, who's previously collaborated with Re:SET tourmate James Blake and the night's headliner, Steve Lacy. Toro y Moi, up next, was light on banter but nonetheless kept the crowd moving for nearly an hour with tunes from last year’s Mahal, along with older crowd pleasers like “Girl Like You” and “Ordinary Pleasure.” 

It's been 12 years since the aforementioned Blake released his celebrated self-titled album; surprisingly, his afternoon Re:SET appearance was his first in Nashville. The award-winning British songsmith and producer's intricate, synth-layered compositions burst off the stage, driven by booming bass lines and his rich, silky vocals. Fan favorites included “Hummingbird,” his collaboration with Metro Boomin that’s in Across the Spider-Verse, 2019’s “Can't Believe the Way We Flow” and a cover of Bill Withers’ “Hope She'll Be Happier.” He closed with his trademark “Retrograde,” promising fans a speedy return to Music City.

The crowd was still buzzing as the stage’s screens lit up, creating a colorful backdrop for entrancing, genre-bending Steve Lacy. At just 25 years old, the talent once known primarily as guitarist for hip-hop outfit The Internet has quickly evolved into a musical force of nature, picking up a Grammy for his massive viral hit “Bad Habit” and collaborating with heavyweights from Vampire Weekend to Kendrick Lamar. Throughout his set, Lacy carried his massive talent with glamour and charm. Between masterful renditions of “N Side,” “When I” and “Ryd,” he maintained an easy and humorous intimacy with the crowd, making vibe checks and questioning the sudden appearance of a swarm of beetles onstage. He led a passionate sing-along to “Infrunami” and channeled the enthusiastic response into “Bad Habit,” which had fans raising their phones high to capture the moment.

Sunday’s brutal heat was made more bearable by the sound of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town” blaring from the P.A., announcing the beginning of the headlining set from the indie-rock singer-songwriter hydra that is boygenius. The Boys, as they have dubbed themselves, are Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, and their unofficial theme soon gave way to their harmonizing voices singing “Without You Without Them,” the a cappella opener from their acclaimed and absolute banger of a debut full-length album, the record. A large screen on the stage revealed the trio in drag, singing into a single microphone backstage before running out and kicking right into the Baker-led “$20.” 

What followed was a perfect set from a supergroup that is more than the sum of its stellar parts. That included a song from each of their most recent solo records as well as one that didn’t make it onto the record. Among the many highlights were hit single “Not Strong Enough” and “Cool About It,” the second of which Nashville-residing Baker dedicated to American Legion Post 82 in Inglewood. The Boys were playing through some unusual circumstances, beyond the suffocating heat: Dacus revealed to the crowd that she would occasionally be sitting because she was performing with a concussion. But none of that obscured their values or tempered their exhilarating and defiant ethos. 

As several recent shows have, their set was preceded by a land acknowledgment (in this case by Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican artist Shayna Hobbs) to name and honor the Indigenous people who originally inhabited what we now call Nashville. Most male members of the crew wore dresses in protest of Tennessee’s new anti-drag law (which, earlier this month, was deemed unconstitutional by a Tennessee judge, with its enforcement halted). What was most indicative of the group’s spirit — despite the ever-present melancholy in their songs — was Baker’s introduction to a midset song. She’d realized, she said in a quiet but sure voice, that she felt a lot of anger toward the people who had made her feel small and erased. But a powerful force to get them to fuck off, she said, was joy. With that, she urged the crowd to scream loud enough for Gov. Bill Lee to hear them. A Bridgers-led “Fuck Bill Lee” cheer followed before the show went on.