Message sent on Fri, May 26th, 2:30 AM
To: [AP Boston Calling Writers]
Subject: intro to the boston calling preview
Hi all,
Here’s a basic outline I just came up with for the Boston Calling preview intro:
[insert cheeky opening lines on how Boston Calling’s high class former location at City Hall Plaza has been swapped for our rat-infested backyard where Regina’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts are the only two recognized forms of sustenance]
Most Important Change: There are finally multiple simultaneous stages… sorta.
Here’s a classic Boston Calling situation: some hot up-and-comer or low-key favorite has just finished up their set. Emotions are running high, but you’ve got another hour until your favorite act of the night is on. The crowd scurries across City Hall Plaza and on walks… a gigantic bummer that you’re now sorta trapped into seeing. For us, it was Twenty One Pilots in 2014. For you, it was possibly also Twenty One Pilots (sorry, we’re just not over that Twenty One Pilots set yet.)
With a bigger space comes an opportunity to fit in a third stage, which solves most of the dreaded “hate-watching a set because there’s nowhere else to move” situations. While no more than two stages will be active at once, music fans of different persuasions will no longer have to sit through something they’re not into. People who weren’t aboard the “Bad and Boujee” train with Migos will be able to watch Mac Demarco smoke all of the Viceroys or whatever his bit is these days. Feeling a little too hype for the folky stylings of Brandi Carlisle? Danny Brown thankfully performs around the same time. Not looking to hear Weezer play the hits from later-day hit albums like… uh, Raditude? Time to get ratchet at Major Lazer then! (which is by no means a criticism… it’s 100% this writer’s plan)
There are problems in the overlaps (and, in some cases, lack thereof.) The decision to run Mumford & Sons unopposed for nearly two hours is, by far, the most glaring. Unfortunately, Sigur Ros will have to accept a large dip twenty minutes into their set for Chance the Rapper (if any headliner this weekend should run unopposed, it’s him), but overall, the multiple stages are a major step in the right direction for the festival.
— G.G.
Biggest Reason to Show Up Early: Moses Sumney
Considering the fact that many first saw Moses Sumney open for Sufjan Stevens, my favorite extraterrestrial songwriter that graciously decided to take human form to play his songs about states and sexual ambiguity, a fair amount of hype has seemingly followed the LA-based singer/producer for a while. Luckily, Sumney’s one of a few rising artists I can think of who could conquer the challenge of being memorable on a tour where Sufjan tearfully played Carrie and Lowell front to back (fun fact: Sufjan’s tears have reportedly been able to heal minor wounds and some chronic ailments)
Taking stage with little more than a guitar and his array of vocal pedals, Sumney unfurls his world of sound like a one man a cappella group (sans any painfully relevant pop hit mashups, although a Prince cover is not out of the question.) While his production is phenomenal on record, Sumney’s vocals really take center stage live; his ethereal falsetto, percussive looping, and liberal use of autotune are absolutely transfixing. Whether the robotic build of “Worth It” or more organic slow burn of “Plastic” is more your speed, you mind find yourself actually dropping a few tears into your $9 beer over sheer vocal beauty.
— T.G.
Festival MVP: Anyone wearing boots.
As of this morning, it’s looking like the storms will end before anyone takes the stage, but rain’s effect will likely be felt through the festival. In short, it’s gonna be muddy. There simply isn’t enough time for a field to properly dry after two days of rain and, while Harvard’s carefully manicured grass will likely survive a band like Whitney’s set, the Migos turn-up will be another story. If you value dry feet, bring some decent boots. If you don’t, bring some sneakers that you’re okay with getting messed up. Either way, prepare for a squelchy weekend. — G.G.
Most Compelling Reason to Park at One Stage: Sylvan Esso/Bon Iver
Solange’s last-minute departure from the Friday lineup at Boston Calling crystallized the strength of this one-two punch on the Red stage. Amelia Meath’s vocals and producer Nick Sanborn are the perfect match, sure to make the crowd get moving.
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly four years since Boston saw a Bon Iver show. In that time Justin Vernon has blown up the band’s sound to get away from the acoustic folk roots. It’ll be a can’t-miss set, because who knows when Bon Iver will be back? The one-hour gap between sets might be unbearable: pack a fidget spinner (or better yet, don’t) – J.S.
The At-Capacity Comedy Stage Consolation: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Festival Capacity: more than 30,000
Comedy Arena Capacity: not anywhere near 30,000
Let’s face it: there will be people upset that they’re missing Hannibal Buress’s comedy set this weekend. If the comedy tent’s too packed, consider the folk stylings of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Their sound, in one descriptor, is “whiskey soaked,” which is what you’ll want to be after being turned away from Hannibal. The expected eruption of “oh-oh-oh’s” during “SOB” will hopefully drown your actual sobs.
— J.S.
Most Anticipated Afterparty: Mumford and Sons’ DJ Set at Royale (5/27)
The dark clouds lingering over the West London headquarters of Mumford & Sons look tepid compared to the plumes of vape smoke circling inside.
Banjoist Winston Marshall and multi-instrumentalist Ben Lovett have spent the last sixteen hours looping the same Tiësto set from several Tomorrowlands ago, letting a formidable tower of emptied Stella Artois cans and Tesco bags full of cooled nacho cheese form around them. Marshall’s eyes are completely bloodshot, in part due to a legendary night clubbing with the lads that ended passed out damn near into the afterlife at a McDonald’s at 7 AM. He’s also been spending most of the evening glued to his laptop, cobbling together a set that finds the logical connections between trance, hardstyle, and a twenty minute banjo solo.
Lovett takes a generous hit from a bong fashioned out one of their Grammy Awards, temporarily distracting himself from fidgeting with his Adidas tracksuit or his new MIDI keyboard. Their father, Marcus Mumford of celebrated folk act Mumford and Sons, is not aware that they have ditched their standard issue bowties and suspenders for the tracksuits. He is certainly not aware of the fact that his sons are trying their hand at a DJ career in private.
Sure, their debut DJ set at Royale might appear to be a quaint gathering compared to the masses gearing up for their full band set at Boston Calling, but to the duo, the Royale set is far more than just one of the most curious after-parties to grace the festival weekend. It is an edgy revision for a pair of sons contractually obligated to refer to their dad as “Marcus Mumford of celebrated folk act Mumford and Sons.” And, potentially, it may be their one chance to taste the sweet wine of self-fulfillment after only being allowed to drink the diluted alcohol from their father’s post-show spittoon bucket every night for the past decade.
There are certainly enough anticipated after-party shows to sate the diverse crowds of Boston Calling, but if all it takes is an underdog story to set one apart from the rest of the pack, then sigh no more, friends… two little lion men will, at long last, be braver than they were at the start. — T.G.