By Alliz Nicholas
The first time I saw an advertisement for the Boston Calling I thought, “Wow, so this is Boston’s annual music festival?” As a fairly new resident to Boston I had no idea that the Boston Calling is actually to be the first major music festival in the heart of the city. Co-founders Brian Appel and Mike Snow are finally filling the void in an already thriving music capital.
The two-day weekend festival will take place on the steps of Boston City Hall Plaza on May 25-26, 2013. The lineup includes high profile acts such as The Shins, The National, Andrew Bird, Matt & Kim, Ra Ra Riot and the Grammy award-winning act Fun. Local acts Bad Rabbits and Casper will also be in the limelight. Unlike many other festivals, the show schedule has been set so you can see them all. The festival will be pimped out with local Boston food companies, a beer garden, and many other surprises. Without a doubt, the buzz of this two-day festival is bound to reach its 20,000 people per day capacity for years to come.
So, like you, I’m wondering: Where did this come from, what will be happening at the festival, and how did Bostonians get so lucky? In a brief chat with co-founder Brian Appel, I found some answers to these questions.
Berklee Groove: What was your initial inspiration for putting on something this huge in Boston?
Brian Appel: My partner and I have been working together for years at The Phoenix and WFNX Radio, giving us lots of opportunities to do events on public property. Our thought was that we would be able to do a big music festival in Boston because we have good relationships with City Hall, and we have a lot of experience in putting on big public events. It felt like the natural next step for us.
BG: What kind of audience do you think you’ll attract?
BA: We’ve booked a very diverse line-up of interesting and talented bands that will already bring in a variety of ages – d the young crowd who really likes Fun., and the older bands and artists who attract an older crowd, such as The National and Andrew Bird. So yes, we think there will be a nice cross section of ages at the festival.
BG: Will it be a family friendly festival?
BA: Yes! Our mission is to be really family friendly. We will be providing a lot of food options for people, children under 10 are admitted for free, and we set ticket prices as low as we can so people won’t have break the bank.
BG: How do you hope this festival will contribute to Boston’s future music scene?
BA: First of all, it will put us on the festival circuit map and then hopefully bands on tours will stop in to play. Second, we hope it will expand and help the local Boston artists as well. Giving local artists more attention is part of our growth initiative. Third, people coming from out of town or the suburbs will help the local downtown restaurants, bars, and shopping in the area.
BG: What can people expect to see, hear and experience in the festival camp?
BA: The first big draw is the music and the fact that there are no overlapping sets, so you can see all the bands perform. We’ve also got a beer garden that will offer a wide range of products, a great food truck, and local food vendor line-up, which is coming together nicely. We also have some other surprises lined up too.
BG: Which local acts will you be staging?
BA: This year we have Bad Rabbits and Caspian.
BG: What’s the capacity of the festival?
BA: It’s shy of 20,000 a day!
BG: Who are you most looking forward to hearing?
BA: We’re really appreciative of The National because they got involved in our festival first and helped us curate. They also have a new album coming out in April, so hopefully they’ll play some of their new material in the show. Portugal. The Man is also terrific so were excited to see them as well as everyone else in the lineup.
BG: What was the most daunting point in organizing?
BA: It’s a big undertaking! For us, the most important thing is public safety and if that doesn’t go right, then there will be no business here in the near future. So we are really making sure that we are working hand-in-hand with the police, the fire department, and city hall to make sure that everything is managed properly.
BG: One big wish for the festival?
BA: My big wish is that 20,000 people walk out of there at the end of each day and say, “Whenever the next one comes around, we will be the first people to buy tickets for it.”
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Don’t miss out on the first Boston Calling Music Festival!
When: Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26, 2013
Where: City Hall Plaza, Boston MA
Lineup: bostoncalling.com/lineup
Tickets: bostoncalling.com/tickets