No amount of rain could keep this Boston crowd down!
By Alliz Nicholas and Lisa Occhino
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The last weekend in May unfortunately brought chilly and rainy weather, but it couldn’t keep away the estimated 19,500-person crowd from City Hall Plaza to see 18 heavy-hitting acts perform at Boston’s first ever major music festival. Ranging from indie folk to dance pop to American rock, the Boston Calling lineup was co-curated by Aaron Dessner of The National, who headlined on Sunday, May 26. Fun.,2013 Grammy winners for Best New Artist and Song of the Year, headlined the previous night. Other weekend highlights included The Shins, Of Monsters and Men, Young the Giant, Andrew Bird, and Marina and the Diamonds.
“I was excited to be invited by friends to help with the artistic direction of this festival,” said Dessner. “We’ve been playing shows in Boston for almost 15 years, and I can say without a doubt the city has one of the best live audiences and music scenes in the country…. We worked hard to pull together an exciting group of artists.”
Unlike any other music festival we’re aware of, Boston Calling had no overlapping sets, allowing attendees to get their money’s worth and watch every single act on the two stages.
Fun.
Fittingly kicking off the city’s inaugural music festival on the Main Stage was Boston-based Bad Rabbits. Following on the smaller City Hall Stage, St. Lucia’s pop-synth style was an uplifting anthem for the great acts to come. Cults kept the good vibes going, and MS MR graced the stage with their natural mystic. Performing numbers from their recent release, Secondhand Rapture, the duo left their blogosphere crowd with much to appreciate.
One look at Facebook or Twitter that Saturday would tell you that Brooklyn indie dance duo Matt and Kim were a Main Stage favorite. Marking the halfway point in the day’s festivities, they gave an extraordinarily fun, high-energy performance that completely defied the mid-afternoon rain.
A spin on genre, Portugal. The Man served as the first band to truly rock the stage. Featuring double drum sets, they turned up the hype and volume, warming up the crowd for Marina and the Diamonds’ dusk set. Marina’s quirky British attitude, catchy pop lyrics, and dazzling vocal ability were sufficient in distracting us from the rainy reality. Her light electronic pop numbers were enough to give a cheery celebration bubbling in the pot of independent music culture.
The Shins were on point and certainly revved up the crowd, but judging by the chats we had with the people in the front row at the Main Stage (who were standing there since noon!), the real anticipation was for Fun. “Some Nights” and “We Are Young” were the obvious crowd-pleasers, but the Grammy-winning band exceeded my personal expectations with their performances of “Out on the Town” and “One Foot.”
Of Monsters and Men
Throwing off embarrassing plastic ponchos and umbrella huddles, Sunday’s festival-goers were in full numbers and spirit. As viewers were claiming their spots on the city steps well before each set, the festival began to feel like the sold out weekend that it was. Whether you were penned in at the beer garden or watching from the steps, you could luckily still squeeze a good view of the stage.
Another Boston band, Caspian, gave the first performance of day two, followed by Youth Lagoon, who, according to one Berklee attendee, “killed it.” Dirty Projectors and The Walkmen both rocked the Main Stage, and Ra Ra Riot followed suit with a perfect transition from indie rock to lyrical folk.
The highlight of the afternoon was multi-talented violinist and singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, who stole the crowd with his creative word painting, beautiful lyricism, and folk band outfit. Serenading the audience on a sunny Sunday was the perfect setting for Bird’s sky-soaring music that left many first time watchers with a new love.
Of Monsters and Men appeared to be one of the more highly anticipated acts of the day. Their simple sing-alongs were so wonderfully contagious that there wasn’t a single stationary body on the entire plaza. With giant beach balls bouncing around above a sea of smiling, dancing people, we couldn’t help but feel uplifted.
Last to the City Hall Stage, Young the Giant treated listeners with both old and new material. This may have been their first performance outside of their current studio album schedule, but the band’s energy and lead vocals were as powerful as ever. Breaking the chains of the conservative crowd space, an outburst of dancing circles and moshing fever finally hit the plaza. Leaving us hyped for the final closing, The National served as expected – and better. Boston welcomed the contemporary kings of local indie pop with open arms – well, more accurately, crowd surfing and cheering – affirming that Boston Calling is to become a cornerstone festival in our city.
If you missed the first Boston Calling, don’t worry – they’ve just announced a second edition taking place on September 7 and 8, 2013, again at Boston’s historic City Hall Plaza. With Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit headlining, it’s no surprise that early bird tickets have already sold out. All other festival tickets, including VIP passes, are now on sale. Visit bostoncalling.com for the full lineup and more details.