Photos by Greg Wong & Harry Gustafson
“I left you by the House of Dunks… don’t know why I didn’t come.” – Photo by Harry Gustafson
Another edition of Boston Calling has come and gone. The weekend proved breezy and beautiful, albeit a little sweltering in between gusts. Food was slung from vendors and drinks were cracked open and poured endlessly as attendees flooded the Harvard Athletic Complex for three more days of exhaustion, euphoria and yes, chaos. It’s time for Hot-to-Go Girl Summer everyone!
Friday kicked off with Divine Sweater on the Happy Valley Red Stage as the early afternoon crowd warmed up. Vocalist Meghan Kelleher engaged the crowd, welcoming them to the weekend with her ethereal vocals while the rest of the band effortlessly charmed the audience, running around and engaging with each other throughout.
Read our interview with Divine Sweater from before the festival here!
Reneé Rapp – Photo by Harry Gustafson
As the afternoon continued on, I made my way over to the Allianz Blue Stage to catch piano charmer Kieran Rhodes. The fresh faced singer-songwriter led the crowd with his joyous songs about love, friends & life – beaming with energy as he stood at the piano, flanked by a raucous group of bandmates. “It’s funny because when I’m on stage, I don’t really have any perception of how it’s going except for what’s in my in-ears, so I was like “I think it’s going well [laughs],” as Rhodes reflected. When asked about the notable personalities in each bandmate, Rhodes proudly admitted “I work on them with that, I want to make sure they’re all doing it. We have fun together.”
As the “Disengage” singer sat in his custom baseball jersey on the grounds of the Harvard Athletic Complex, I asked him what his baseball walkout song would be, “Such a good question. It might be a film score. It’s really out there, but it would be How to Train Your Dragon “Romantic Flight,” before continuing, “that’s what I wanna end up doing when I have my own headline shows. I wanna walk out to film scores, I love movies.” Fans can expect more music from Rhodes as he plans to release a new song, “Saratoga, 2017” by the end of June. “I played it in my set today. I wrote that song about true stories in high school with my friends.”
Maris – Photo by Greg Wong
Up next on the Blue Stage is Los Angeles’ MARIS. The pop sensation exploded onto the stage for a show stopping set. Complete with visuals produced by themselves on CapCut, choreography, a tear-away costume, and dancers from Berklee College of Music, the show was simply electric. Giving Misterwives’ Mandy Lee a run for her money, Maris showed little to no signs of slowing down as she ran, high kicked and belted her way through hit songs “Voicemail” and “Crashland”. Stay tuned later this week for our interview with the rising star.
As the sun continued beating down, I found myself needing some nourishment, and what better option than the Italian sub from Flour Bakery & Cafe. Now a Boston institution, Flour Bakery has been happily serving the folks of Boston Calling for the last few years. Perfect for when the sun is beating down and you don’t want to eat something that’ll knock you out. Other notable nibbles throughout the weekend included Dumpling Daughter’s Bao Buns, Shaking Crab’s Shrimp Basket and Blackbird Doughnuts.
Friday rounded out with spectacular sets on the Red and Green stages from Mean Girl Renee Rapp, sensual soul singer Leon Bridges and Irish megastar Ed Sheeran. Rapp made sure to take a moment and alleviate some of the anguish she has caused with her ballad “I Hate Boston”, written about a particularly bad breakup in her past. “In the past… emphasis on the past… I have declared that I hate Boston. I declared it. But in my defense, I have had some trying times in this city. You know what, I’ll say it. I’ve had some exes from your city, Boston. It’s true.” Before reconciling, “but, I’m having a great time now!”
Check out Greg & Harry’s photos from day one below.
Saturday saw a tonal shift in the direction of folk and country as we kicked off with The Castellows on the Green Stage, bringing their Georgia-born southern hospitality to the Northeast. Attendees also came adorned in their best denim and cowboy hats ahead of that night’s headliners Jessie Murph and Tyler Childers.
Khruangbin – Photo by Harry Gustafson
But the whole day wasn’t for the range, as Tik-Tok star d4vd took the Green Stage to a crowd of screaming fans. Elsewhere, Boston’s own Cakeswagg commanded the Orange Stage for a rowdy and empowering set, showcasing one of the Hub’s most passionate creatives. “I’m still pinching myself. I can’t believe it, my heart is still racing. I’ve been working so hard on this. This is a dream of mine,” remarked Cakeswagg. Having performed at her first major festival, Cakeswagg also noted some surprise amenities, “something that caught me off guard – in a good way, was right behind the stage in the artist tent, there was tea. When I saw that I was like ‘yes’, and I brewed a nice cup right before I went on stage. Gave me the extra razzle dazzle that I needed.”
Bringing a whole crew with her, the Roxbury native had dancers, an ASL interpreter and local legend DJ Whysham hyping her on stage. “I’ve actually been working with Sham and my choreographer, Kiki, for about five years now. They are my go-to people whenever I feel like we need to do it big, you know? Kiki was like, “yeah, we need six dancers, let’s rock out, cakery…” I’m like, let’s do this. So that’s what we did!” Following the performance, an attendee stopped her on the way backstage to note what a positive impact her music has had on her daughter, “I am a firm believer that we were all created to do something, not just for ourselves, but to make the world a better place. We don’t really feel it or know what it is until someone reaffirms that, so [that] makes me feel good. Life is hard and sometimes you’re like, “am I doing the right thing? Am I in the right field?” So stuff like that, that’s the yes, to keep going.”
Read our interview with Cakeswagg from before the festival here!
Cakeswagg –Photo by Harry Gustafson
Saturday sauntered on with a rousing performance from Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls. Declaring Boston his hometown in America, Turner led the Boston crowd in chants, respectfully enforced moshing and humorous declarations about having anxiety over doing guitar solos. The night took a psychedelic turn as Houston’s Khruangbin graced the Green Stage with their extended guitar jams and warm color palettes. As member Laura Lee Ochoa swirled around in a gorgeous tulle dress, ignorant audience members could be heard dismissing them as they “weren’t even singing any words”. Their loss.
Wrapping up the evening, jam-band king Trey Anastasio & Classic Tab and “Wild Ones” singer Jessie Murph closed out the Red & Blue Stages respectively before handing things over to Kentucky crooner Tyler Childers to send us on into the night.
Check out Greg & Harry’s photos from day two below.
Sunday saw morning thunderstorms give way to blistering heat in the early afternoon as thousands of attendees filled the complex for the weekend’s only sold-out day. Some puddles remained as hot girls and pink ponies alike made their way to the merch tent and then the fields to roast in the sun before their queens took the stage.
Lowell based Tysk Tysk Task opened the Orange stage with their unique blend of woodland aesthetic and raw intensity. Following their set, we were given the opportunity to grab some photos and chat with the band, keep an eye out for that piece coming this week!
Aussies Royel Otis got the Red Stage grooving with their upbeat summer rock. Even pleasing the young crowd with a cover of Saltburn anthem “Murder On The Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. But it was Chappell Roan that the crowd was hungry for, evident by the sea of pink cowboy hats and bandanas that was forming at the Green Stage. The “Midwest Princess” dominated the main stage with the weekend’s biggest crowd. Eardrums were vibrating to the sounds of fans dancing to “HOT TO GO!” and “Red Wine Supernova”. Drone footage captured the sheer scope of the crowd, cementing Roan as one of the fastest rising artists in America.
Chappell Roan – Photo by Harry Gustafson
Cambridge’s own Zola Simone took the Orange Stage next to screaming fans and new listeners alike, catching a wave of post-Chappell set energy. “I am vibrating with excitement. It could be the Red Bull but it’s probably because I’m performing”, explained Simone. “I just saw Bad Rabbits… the lead singer has an amazing voice. The band has great chemistry. I could see them win over the crowd which was really awesome and something I hope to do!”
Making sure to take in the whole experience, Simone found herself in a bathroom next to fellow weekend performer Renee Rapp. “She was lovely. I was just washing my hands when she came out of the stall. I didn’t mention that I was an artist, I just kind of froze, but she was very casual and chill. She carries herself with a confidence that isn’t like she’s better than everyone else, but just that she’s so comfortable in her skin, but still knows that she’s hot shit. She seems the same way that she is in her interviews. It was a great experience.”
To read our earlier interview with Zola before the festival, click here!
Following a brief pause from the sun thanks to some much needed cloud cover, the heat was back on for Megan Thee Stallion. The Texas born superstar was welcomed to Beantown with open arms and shaking asses as she instructed the eager attendees in the ways of “Real Hot Girl Shit”. Hypnotic in her stage presence, it was quickly obvious why her star only continues to rise.
And with rising stars, comes increasing popularity. This was on full display during the transition from Megan to the first headliner of the evening, Hozier. Revealing a glaring error in both the festival layout and artist placement, the crowd for Hozier quickly descended into chaos. Deciding to place the “Too Sweet” singer on the Red Stage, which doesn’t allow for quite as much crowd space as the Green coupled with an obvious attempt at overselling Sunday due to lack of sales for the rest of the weekend, unfortunately came down on the poor concertgoers.
Many were crushed and shoved with no real exit in sight until Hozier left the stage as those around them grew increasingly agitated due to heat and lack of water. It’s worth noting that there was only one designated water refill area with reported peak waiting times of over 2-3 hours, and water from vendors was $5 a pop. When asked about the conditions, a rep for the festival replied, “we completely understand the frustrations and want to apologize for the disappointments, particularly with the overcrowded areas. That’s never the experience we want anybody to have and we’re committed to making numerous changes to make sure that this does not happen again.”
Alvvays – Photo by Greg Wong
With many of us escaping to the Blue Stage for one last show, the weekend came to an end with a lively sunset set from quintessential festival band Alvvays. Free from the chaos, we swayed and danced around gleefully as they performed favorites like “Not My Baby” and “Archie, Marry Me!”, the latter of which culminated in a successful fan proposal, to much applause. Las Vegas’ own The Killers then closed out the festival on the Green Stage with another crowd-pleasing set hitting all of their standouts along the way like “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” and “Spaceman”.
The Thirteenth edition of Boston Calling brought the sunshine, a lot of delicious food, great music, and ultimately some chaos to round out yet another Memorial Day Weekend in Boston.
For more coverage of Boston Calling, click here! For more info on the festival, click here! Check out Greg & Harry’s photos from day three below.
