Boston Calling 2016 ready for last weekend on City Hall Plaza

Sia, Janelle Monaae, Disclosure among acts to play at three-day concert

Mike Snow (far right), organizer of the Boston Calling Music Festival, poses with student reporters on the steps of City Hall Plaza on Thursday, May 26, 2016 — less than 24 hours before the three-day festival was set to open.

Mike Snow walked around City Hall Plaza wearing his orange safety vest and a smile. Snow, one of the organizers of the Boston Calling Music Festival, was less than 24 hours from the start of the May 2016 event and there was still lots to do. While Sufjan Stevens ran through its set on the Xfinity Red Stage, dozens of workers were all over the nearby JetBlue Stage.

 

Reporters for Watertown, Mass., interview Mike Snow (far left), organizer of the Boston Calling Music Festival on City Hall Plaza on Thursday, May 26, 2016. Snow was in the middle of his final preparations for the opening of the three-day festival, which was to open Friday night, May 26.
Reporters for Watertown, Mass., interview Mike Snow (far left), organizer of the Boston Calling Music Festival on City Hall Plaza on Thursday, May 26, 2016. Snow was in the middle of his final preparations for the opening of the three-day festival, which was to open Friday night, May 26.

 

The May 2016 concert will run May 27-29 and will  feature Sia, Sufjan Stevens, Robyn, Odesza, Disclosure, Haim, Janelle Monae, Elle King, and The Front Bottoms, among others. Tickets are still available for all three days.


To buy tickets, get directions, see which bands are playing when, and everything else Boston Calling 2016, go the concert’s home page at www.bostoncalling.com.


 

After three years and six concerts, this will be the last Boston Calling on City Hall Plaza. Boston Calling announced Friday, May 26, that it is moving to “the fields at Harvard University’s Athletics Complex (65 North Harvard Street, Boston) under a rental agreement from the Harvard Department of Athletics. … There will be no September edition in 2016, as the festival will now take place once a year on Memorial Day weekend.” With the move will come the addition of “a new film festival segment curated by Academy Award-winning actress, producer and director Natalie Portman.”

The Raider Times has watched the Boston Calling Music Festival grow and change over the years. In preparation of this weekend’s event, browse the following stories and see photos from years past.

— THE RAIDER TIMES (May 27, 2016)

At music festivals, there are no solo acts

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Michael Christmas (right) and Boston Calling Mike Snow address at panel of high school student reporters at the Boston Globe.
Raider Times photo / Haley Brown/Belmont High
Michael Christmas (right) and Boston Calling Mike Snow address at panel of high school student reporters at the Boston Globe.

Collaboration is everything in the music industry. Teamwork is what pushes things forward.

“I would be lost if I didn’t have a team,” said Michael Christmas.

Christmas is a rapper who loves performing in Boston. He is always making music and involved with the music scene. He loves seeing upcoming artists.

This spring, he will be performing at the Boston Calling Music Festival on City Hall Plaza. The concert will run May 27-29 and will also feature Sia, Sufjan Stevens, Robyn, Odesza, Disclosure, Haim, Janelle Monae, Elle King, and The Front Bottoms.

Christmas, Boston Calling organizer Mike Snow, and Boston Globe reporter Julian Benbow recently met with student reporters from 20 Boston-area schools at the Boston Globe offices on Morrissey Boulevard.

Snow is one of the organizers of the Boston Calling Music Festival. Since anything can happen at a concert, the job of the organizer is to expect the unexpected and try to prevent any danger from happening.

Snow shared that one year at the festival, there was a tornado warning and they had to evacuate about 16,000 people. Thankfully, the situation was handled with care and everyone was safe.

At Boston Calling, there are only 23 slots available for artists to perform. So, Snow’s team checks for artists who are touring and gathers a list of possible performers. Sometimes to get suggestions, his team will ask the general public who they want to see at Boston Calling. Then, the team will reach out to those artists. That’s how they were able to book Kendrick Lamar.

 

— TATUM LEE (April 13, 2016)

Sia leads another diverse Boston Calling lineup

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Sia
Sia

This May will mark the seventh semi-annual Boston Calling music festival. The weekend-long festival takes place every September and May at City Hall Plaza in Boston, attracting music fans from all over Massachusetts and beyond.

In the past, the lineups have excited spectators with their musical diversity (where else can you watch rap group Run The Jewels on the same stage as alternative singer and former lead singer of punk group My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way?), electric crowds, and largely popular stars such as Lorde, The 1975, Kendrick Lamar, and Grammy award winners Beck and Fun.

Early Thursday morning, Jan. 14, the lineup for the upcoming spring show was released, headlining acts being Sia, Robyn, and Grammy nominee Disclosure. Other artists to perform include Elle King, Janelle Monáe, City and Colour, and Sufjan Stevens. The festival is set for May 27-29, 2016.

Although this spring’s lineup appears very female-heavy, it stays true to its usual diversity; genres range from pop with Sia and Robyn, to R&B with Janelle Monáe, electronic with Christine and the Queens, and to rock with Haim.

Among the artists I am most excited about are indie rock band The Vaccines, Elle King, who I’ve been dying to see since her hit “Ex’s and Oh’s” blew up all over radio stations, and Sia, who has released many popular songs over the years, such as “Titanium” (with David Guetta), “Chandelier,” and more recently, “Alive.”

Here is the entire list of performers: Sia, Disclosure, Robyn, ODESZA, Sufjan Stevens, Haim, Miike Snow, Janelle Monáe, City and Colour, Courtney Barnett, Elle King, The Front Bottoms, BØRNS, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, The Vaccines, Vince Staples, Battles, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Christine and the Queens, Lisa Hannigan and Aaron Dessner, Lizzo, Palehound, and Michael Christmas.

— MELISSA ROSE (Jan. 14, 2016)

Listen up to this ‘Calling’

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Elena Tonra of Daughter was among the performers at the 2015 Fall Boston Calling on City Hall Plaza.
Raider Times photo / Tatum Lee
Elena Tonra of Daughter was among the performers at the 2015 Fall Boston Calling on City Hall Plaza.

The Fall Boston Calling Music Festival for 2015 was a blast! The lineup included Walk the Moon, Of Monsters and Men, Alabama Shakes, and many more talented artists who gave the audience a spectacular show. 

This three-day festival was held at City Hall Plaza on the weekend of Sept. 25-27 underneath banners that displayed the names of all the Boston Calling artists who performed in previous years.

On the first day, crowds rushed in to see Gregory Alan Isakov, Of Monsters and Men, and the Avett Brothers. Excitement flooded through the crowds. Of Monsters and Men performed an amazing show with their hit song “Little Talks.” The Avett Brothers gave their fans an encore and the crowd went crazy.

On the next day, the acts were just as incredible.

It started out with the band from Ohio, Walk the Moon. After interacting with the fans, they played their hit singles, “Shut up and Dance” and “Anna Sun”. Everyone got to sing and dance along.

Chvrches hyped the crowd by singing their hit song “The Mother We Share” and many other upbeat songs that even made your chest vibrate. (Probably, one of the best feelings when you go to any concert).

Overall, everyone was filled with the good vibes.

— TATUM LEE (Oct. 22, 2015)

Boston Calling concert weekend has something for every music fan

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Marina and the Diamonds.
Raider Times photo / Melissa Rose
Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Marina and the Diamonds.

 Boston’s own semi-annual music festival, Boston Calling, set stage for the fifth time in May 2015. For three days, crowds came to City Hall Plaza to watch their favorite artists perform.

     The festival kicked off on Friday, May 22, when three acts performed at night, including Grammy Award-winning Beck. The next day, 10 acts were to perform throughout the day. When the gates opened at noon, fans flooded in to claim their spots in front of the two stages, grab a snack at one of the many vendors, buy a T-shirt, or play a game set up by the festival.

   On one of the walls opposite of the stages hung five banners with each lineup the Boston Calling has staged since it first started, allowing fans to reminisce about past shows.

   The diversity of Saturday’s acts was amazing. Right after Danish alternative-electro singer Mø hyped the crowd with her danceable songs, rap group Run the Jewels took the stage, setting a completely different vibe in the crowd. After them, popular artist Tove Lo performed. During her song “Talking Body” she encouraged the people in the crowd to take off their shirts, and she did the same for a moment, too. 

   Gerard Way, the former lead singer of My Chemical Romance, was the next to perform. Since going solo, Way has released an album, Hesitant Alien, and was excited to perform it for Boston. He touched the crowd by talking about mental illnesses, telling how he suffers from depression, and how he overcomes it.

    He reassured his fans that “You’re not crazy. You just need someone to talk to.”

— MELISSA ROSE (June 11, 2015)

He does the calling for Boston Calling

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Halsey.
Raider Times photo / Melissa Rose
Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Halsey.

Boston is gearing up for this weekend’s Boston Calling music festival, and so is public relations director Chris Langley.

With the festival running Friday, May 22, through Sunday, May 24, Chris is working hard to build excitement around the show, which takes place at Boston City Hall Plaza. With artists such as Grammy Award-winning Beck, Boston’s own The Pixies, Tove Lo, Vance Joy, Gerard Way, and more, this weekend is promising to be one of the most exciting the city has ever had.

One of the best things about Boston Calling, according to Chris, is its uniqueness. It is very rare for a music festival to take place in the middle of a city.

“There are lots of open-air festivals, but none of them are right in the center of the city,” Chris said during a phone interview.

Adding to the originality of the show is its diversity, appealing to all tastes of music. Where else will you see a rap group such as Run the Jewels playing the same event as Jack Black’s comedy rock group Tenacious D?

Chris has been working with Boston Calling since 2012, when the first idea of the festival was proposed. He is the co-founder of 44 Communications, a public relations and marketing company that works with music festivals, as well as countless other businesses.

— MELISSA ROSE (May 19, 2015)

The stage was set for a wonderful day

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Gerard Way.
Raider Times photo / Melissa Rose
Highlights from the May 2015 edition of Boston Calling included performances by Gerard Way.

Boston Calling is a three-day music festival that takes place at City Hall Plaza in Boston twice a year. This year, the second event took place from Friday, Sept. 5, through Sunday, Sept. 7.

Many popular acts came to town to perform at these all-day concerts, including Lorde, Sky Ferreira, Childish Gambino, The 1975, The Replacements, and Twenty One Pilots.

Friday’s event was short, with only three acts performing, however on both Saturday and Sunday, 10 acts were lined up to go from 1 p.m. to the 11 p.m. curfew. The gates opened for general admission at approximately 12:30 p.m., and the first wave of fans sprinted into the plaza and filled in the front of the two stages, eager to see their favorite bands and singers. Little by little, the people were let in to the site to prevent injuries from the roughly 20,000 attendees coming in at once.

Sunday was a beautiful day for an outdoor concert. It was warm with a slight breeze, so the thousands of people crammed together did not feel suffocated. Still, the event staff were very helpful, passing out free water bottles to thirsty fans to prevent dehydration from standing in the sun for hours.

Many people who had claimed their spots close to the stages chose not to move for the entire nine-hour show, but others found it better to wander off between acts; either heading over to the other stage or participating in some of the on-site activities,  such as a temporary tattoo station, a photo booth, games, food, and other vendors selling their products.

The majority of the crowd were teenagers and young adults with more or less equal numbers in gender. The overall mood was fairly mellow, and the crowd got along. It was inevitable to make friends with those who were next to you; being squished together for nine hours can and will bring people together.

— MELISSA ROSE (Oct. 18, 2014)

Boston Calling preparations a show of their own

(Read the entire story by clicking HERE!)

Boston Calling Music Festival founders Mike Snow (left) and Brian Appel (right) pose with Raider Times reporters from the front of the JetBlue stage where The National, Childish Gambino, and Nas and The Roots will be performing this weekend. (Sept. 3, 2014)
Boston Calling Music Festival founders Mike Snow (left) and Brian Appel (right) pose with Raider Times reporters from the front of the JetBlue stage where The National, Childish Gambino, and Nas and The Roots will be performing this weekend. (Sept. 3, 2014)

The Boston Calling Music Festival is back and better than ever.

Boston Calling takes place this weekend, Sept. 5-7 at City Hall Plaza with an estimated 20,000 people attending each day. This will be the fourth Boston Calling event in two years. Starting off the festival on Friday will be Future Islands, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The National, followed by performers such as Lorde and Childish Gambino on Saturday, and The Replacements and Nas and The Roots will be closing the festival on Sunday.

With two stages, food vendors, and lights strung all along the venue, the setting itself will be just as memorable and beautiful as the performances.

Although the event is predominantly general admission, those with VIP tickets (which are now sold out) can enjoy the festival just about anywhere they want, including the City Hall balcony overlooking the festival, or even joining general admission. (Just don’t try to sneak backstage, which has apparently been attempted…).

Brian Appel and Mike Snow, co-founders of the Boston Calling Music Festival, met as co-workers for the WFNX radio network. In May 2013, Appel and Snow managed to put together one of the most successful music festivals Boston has seen.

While the crowd is watching the performances, Appel and Snow are usually talking with guests or making sure everything is running smoothly, instead of actually watching the performances.

— ERIN DeLONG, DOMINIKA BONDARYK,

and TAYLOR BUNNELL (Sept. 5, 2014)