Two concerts a year, for two years, right out of the gates with huge names, and consistently since then. That’s impressive by any standards. I remember hearing about the first one and thinking it sounded imaginary. There were so many questions and doubts anyone who’d ever even visited Government Center.
I think that is absolutely where anyone involved with Boston Calling can hang their hat. Establishing something and entrenching it into our culture to the point where we expect it every 4-8 months now. Part of it was (bad) luck. In such a short time, the concerts have dealt with an event-cancelling monsoon, non-event cancelling shitty weather, and enormous construction on its grounds. Whether they like it or not, Boston Calling has proven that they can deal with it all.
It’s smooth and professional, right down to the screens on either side of the Blue Stage. I know precious little about camerawork, but as far as I can tell, it’s shot as good as any concert film I can remember, to the point that (for better or worse) I’d forget that the act was playing right behind me, albeit with hundreds of people between.
I started rambling below, just kind of about what came into my head about the festival (and festivals) in general while I was there. What was going right, what felt like it could be improved. I realized I had written an entire article’s worth of review, so I’m going to let that stand for itself. If you’ve been on the internet in the past week you’ve seen the artist-by-artist reviews, so I don’t really feel the need to go into that. Nevertheless, here are a few observations.
-I can’t believe I’ve only just now seen St. Vincent. Hands down best performance in recent memory. Well-choreographed, eerie, dancey. It was sort of like watching a film noir opera and I can’t wait to see her again.
-I’m not a huge fan of encores, and maybe we’ll talk about that some day. But Beck playing “Debra” was enough to get over that and enjoy.
-Astro turf/lawn games and some board games—these are just what you need when you don’t feel like being pressed up against a stage for a particular performance. Despite the bad job -Comcast/Xfinity did at getting my internet to function, they are welcome to provide these things at any festival.
-I couldn’t match my outfit to the weather. I was freezing in a T-shirt on Friday night and sweating like crazy in jeans on Sunday. Oh, Nick.
-Before this show, I couldn’t have told Tove Lo from Tone-Loc, or Marina & The Diamonds from Lavender Diamond/My Brightest Diamond. These two were standouts, acts I had no idea I’d be so into.
-Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Molly Hatchet could not be here this weekend, but they all had sex and are proud to announce the birth of their two-headed baby, Tenacious D.
That’s all.
A topic brought to my attention last Summer was the sharp rise and inevitable market-saturation of music festivals. That every band with national recognition or any milltown-turned-art-haven is curating a festival. So what should a particular fest do to distinguish itself when, every other weekend until September, you could spend Friday night through Saturday watching a variety of unknown-to-superknown acts, buy carnival food, and just fill a vacation’s worth of events into a time period that won’t require you to take a personal day?
What makes the most sense is for a festival to try and book those fleeting artists, the limited run reunion, or the band that’s breaking up and really means it. Or the recluse who’s coming down from their pedestal to blow a few select minds before vanishing again. People I knew who really wanted to see St. Vincent or TV on the Radio didn’t make it and, aside from the mild regret, it’s easy to find comfort: they’ll be around again, even if it’s not quite as convenient as Downtown Boston, they’ll probably do a longer set for cheaper, and you won’t have to devote an entire weekend day to it. And they’re not wrong. Even though Beck doesn’t have any U.S. dates right now, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be touring again soon after the acclaim of his last album. And we’re a city FULL of venues.
What I didn’t realize at the time, and where Boston Calling deserves a lot of credit, is that Tenacious D isn’t on a tour. I saw a news article about them adding a Canadian festival date and I didn’t think much of it, because, hey, they’re headed here and probably a bunch of other places. But those are their only two dates, either upcoming or in recent past. So that was a great get.
When I was watching The D, I got to thinking how excited I was for this. Not only because they’re the greatest band of all time, but because it was nice to, among a bunch of artists who are taking themselves super seriously (some with the right to do that), watch an act with complete irreverence. Marina & The Diamonds and Tove Lo were two artists that were having a blast and doing their damnedest to make sure everyone else did, but other than The D, it never became comedy.
And I got thinking about how Solid Sound (I bring it up because it’s a great festival in MA that shares zero billing with Boston Calling, so one should not be swapped for the other) books somewhat obscure comedians. Like a comedy fan’s comedians, podcast comedians. It’s a great way to break up the music, a lot of which can blur together*. And this city is a comedy lover’s city, I got to wondering if friends of mine who were on the fence would have swayed if, in the middle of the day, there was a room in auditorium in City Hall with a Daily Show correspondent or frequent Comedy Bang Bang guest.
But you don’t have to spread yourself thin and try to appeal to everyone. It’s hard enough to do one thing well, and Boston Calling is doing music well. For a festival that is just two years old there are consistently strong guests, and they seem to be finding their niche more and more. But I’m not sure finding a niche is what Boston Calling is aiming for. This is a super informal sample size and take it with tons of salt, but the sense I got is 1) scenesters on social media were thrilled with most of the September lineup, and 2) people in the crowd flipping their shit over Alt-J and only Alt-J, sounding like a lot of one-day ticket buyers (as long as Alt-J doesn’t tour close to here before then). They are, of course, still aiming for strong variety since I doubt any of them share hardcore fans with The Avett Brothers.
When you have multiple opportunities to see an artist, it diminishes the need to see them in this setting, especially grouped in both price and time with other artists who might be a gamble. I mean, that’s every festival. But the same argument that applies to the ubiquity of artists applies to this festival . When you do two fests a year, and you’re consistent about the size of the acts, there’s less of a pull. You know that if you miss it, or you think you’ll get slightly better artists next time, you’re going to be hanging out and playing giant Jenga with friends before too long.
That’s dangerous thinking. For a firsthand account, I’m surprised I didn’t go at all in 2014. During the second fest (2013), someone had an extra ticket that they gave me and I decided to cancel my plans. This year’s was dropped in my lap a week ago (and I am super grateful, because I should drive home the point that I did have a great weekend). I’m interested in the festival, but there was never any urgency except when handed a ticket. Even when it was a great lineup, I was thinking the next one could be better, or I’m sure it’ll fall on a more convenient weekend, or I’ll have more friends who are going. Music nerds will go (although a healthy number of the ones I know were working the event), but for people like me who are more selective, there’s always September’s. Ask me in September and you know what, I just got dragged to another festival recently, let’s see about next May.
I don’t know how popular this opinion is. I know enough people who talk but never make it that this became a serious question. Maybe who I’m thinking of and me are not the target demographic, but as the demographic gets spread thinner and thinner with more and more festivals, each booking huge variety, I can’t help but think anyone is the target.
*The one day I went to Boston Calling in 2013, Flosstradamus was spinning other peoples’ EDM and hip-hop music before Major Lazer came out and did the same thing. Some of these were Kendrick Lamar songs, only a couple sets before he took the stage. This is my go-to defense of that statement.