Once upon a time, in the long-lost days of the twentieth century, festivals would tour North America, instead of just rooting themselves in one spot for a weekend a year. Lollapalooza is probably the best-remembered, but there was everything from Lilith Fair to H.O.R.D.E. (not to mention Hullabalooza…). Conditions changed in this millennium, with even the return of Lolla settling down in Chicago’s Grant Park like an aged alt-rock fan with kids. But everything old is new again, and the touring festival has been revived with the Re:SET Concert Series, a traveling three-day weekend that came to Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium, June 16th-18th.
Technically not a touring festival but a ‘concert series’, Re:SET is set up where a single line-up plays one city one day, another city another day, and then a third city/day, alternating with two other line-ups, so it could cover the likes of New York, Boston, and Maryland in one long weekend. It limited each day’s line-up to just four acts, but that meant that it could cover maximum ground. It also made it easier if you were mainly just interested in one day, as it seemed most were at Re:SET, the audiences varying from the young to the once-young.
The New York edition was at Forest Hills Stadium (QRO venue review), the former home to the U.S. Open, in the picturesque residential neighborhood, deep in Queens (while close to the E & F trains stop, not helping on Saturday & Sunday was the F train not running uptown to it…). The very mainstream big space was a bit of an odd match for the alt-series, from the rather thorough security (bags were checked twice, in full, and you had to leave your umbrella at the entrance) to staff leading VIP concertgoers to their seats by holding up an actual tennis racket. But both outside the stadium and inside were well laid out, including a wide selection of food and drinks (okay, over-priced, but that’s post-COVID concert-going for you…), a well-visited merch booth, and even Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ promotional punk limo promoting last year’s Cool It Down (QRO review). Not all fans could get onto the stage floor (there were lines inside right from doors to get the extra ground floor access wristbands), but the impressive bowl and its impressive sound & light system well served all.
While Friday at Re:SET went disco-punk, and Saturday was sad girl rock, Sunday leaned into the smoother styles. The only thing not smooth was the F train, which prevented some [including your correspondent] from catching first opener Fousheé. But there were the enjoyable sounds of the charming Toro y Moi. If the daytime prevented any light show, he and his band were still a good fit for the slot, if not completely gripping.
Then was another seated Re:SET performer in James Blake. The ‘post-dubstep’ synth artist at least came up to the front with his drummer & guitarist/keyboardist, if still behind his decks – one of which he noted was out-of-tune. A hard-working roadie came on to fix it, while Blake slid in a solo song before resuming their planned set.
At a festival with a host of young successes, perhaps with no one was that as clear as Steve Lacy. A big crowd came out for the new hit artist, in his slick suit & shades, vibing with the audience (shaking his ass for them at one point). He even brought out Fousheé for “Sunshine”. Though of note was that his performance was focused almost exclusively on him and him alone, his backing band hidden in the dark behind a second big screen that he walked through and closed behind him, while his back-up singers literally dressed in full black bodysuits like they were doing green screen invisibility.
