Boston Calling Music Festival


Boston Calling Music Festival is a Boston-based music festival. The festival was initially produced by Crash Line Productions, a Boston-based entertainment production company. Subsequently, the festival has been produced by Boston Calling Events, which was purchased by the Madison Square Garden Company in 2016, and by 2023 was owned by Live Nation Entertainment.
The festival debuted in May 2013 at City Hall Plaza and took place twice a year, in May and September, through 2015. In 2016, the festival transitioned to being held annually in the second half of May, and since 2017 its venue has been Harvard Athletic Complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
Past performers of Boston Calling have included The National, Sia, Beck, My Morning Jacket, Brandi Carlile, Of Monsters and Men, Fun, Kendrick Lamar, Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, Modest Mouse, Airborne Toxic Event, Disclosure, Clairo, Eminem, Twenty One Pilots, Travis Scott, Tame Impala, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Luke Combs, Avril Lavigne, and Dave Matthews Band.

History

Conception

Boston Calling was created by Brian Appel and Mike Snow, who had been colleagues at the now defunct independent alternative rock station WFNX Radio. The festival had initially been conceived as an event associated with the station but when WFNX was purchased by Clear Channel and stopped broadcasting in 2012, Appel and Snow continued development, seeing an opportunity to fill a gap as Boston had previously not had a large music festival. Appel and Snow considered it in important that Boston Calling be an urban festival, with Appel saying " critically important that were in the city limits and that it was T-accessible and that we weren’t on the far reach on the outskirts of town that would make it challenging for people to get to". This complicated planning due to traffic and security considerations, and required extensive coordination with Boston city government.
Information about the new music festival for Boston appeared in a front-page article of The Boston Globe on February 27, 2013. The Boston Calling name "was inspired by the classic Clash album London Calling." The festival lineup was curated with help from Aaron Dessner of the band The National.

2013-2019

The festival debuted in May 2013, for two days over Memorial Day weekend at City Hall Plaza. The festival was notable as the first major event in the city since the Boston Marathon Bombings, and was received positively, selling out early and collecting praise for the musical performances and smoothly run logistics. The second iteration of the festival was held the following September, establishing a twice-yearly format used through 2016. The festival's first two editions were two-day events. In its second year, Boston Calling expanded to three days.
Due to the proximity to the Marathon Bombing, early iterations of the event saw heightened security. In August of 2014, DigBoston reported that during the 2013 festivals, the city of Boston had spent $650,000 to test IBM software that monitored concertgoers from existing security cameras, leading to criticism for not notifying concertgoers. Participants in the test were reportedly able to search for people by head color, skin tone, clothing texture, and baldness. The program could monitor the number of persons at the event and whether anyone was in a restricted area.
In 2016, a controlling interest Boston Calling Events, was purchased by the Madison Square Garden Company and the festival transitioned to being held annually in the second half of May. In 2017 its venue changed to Harvard Athletic Complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, with the new space allowing the addition of more music stages and the inclusion of non-music performers. The festival reportedly attracted 20,000–22,000 fans with its earlier editions, eventually drawing roughly 40,000 festival goers in 2017.

2020–2021 Cancellations

On March 31, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 Boston Calling Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizers offered refunds for tickets, as well as the option to roll tickets over to the 2021 festival. When the 2021 festival was also cancelled, the same options were available.

2022–2025

In 2022, the festival returned, with headliners Metallica and Nine Inch Nails, with Nine Inch Nails headling back-to-back shows after a cancellation. By 2023, the festival was a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment.
In 2024, the event was criticized for overcrowding and potentially unsafe conditions as festival goers moved between stages, with attendance on Sunday estimated at 40,000 up from only 16,000 the day prior. Organizers later issuing a statement addressing dangerous conditions and promising to "create a better environment for everyone."
In response, the 2025 festival used a single main stage, and the on-site indoor arena was opened to festival attendees for the first time in six years to add access to an air conditioned indoor space for festival goers.

2026 hiatus

On June 20, 2025, festival organizers announced a hiatus for 2026, for unspecified reasons, with plans for the next edition to be held June 4–6, 2027. Days later, Boston mayor Michelle Wu stated in a radio interview that organizers felt other Boston activities during 2026—including United States Semiquincentennial celebrations and several 2026 FIFA World Cup games —were expected to place "a lot of strain on hotel rooms and events and sponsorships."

Past Lineups

Boston Calling was held twice a year, in May and September, during 2013–2015. The festival's first two editions were two-day events. In its second year, Boston Calling expanded to three days.

2013

Spring

The first Boston Calling, held May 25–26, 2013, featured:
Saturday line-up
Sunday line-up
The second Boston Calling, held September 7–8, 2013, featured:

Spring

The third Boston Calling, held May 23–25, 2014, featured:
Friday line-up
Saturday line-up
Sunday line-up
The fourth Boston Calling, held September 5–7, 2014, featured:
The National, Lorde, The Replacements, Nas x The Roots, Neutral Milk Hotel, Childish Gambino, Spoon, Girl Talk, The 1975, Volcano Choir, Twenty One Pilots, The War on Drugs, The Hold Steady, Lake Street Dive, Bleachers, White Denim, Sky Ferreira, Future Islands, San Fermin, S. Carey, CliffLight, and Gentlemen Hall.

2015

Spring

The fifth Boston Calling, held May 22–24, 2015, featured:
Beck, Pixies, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Tenacious D, Tame Impala, St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, Marina and the Diamonds, Jason Isbell, Gerard Way, Tove Lo, Chet Faker, Run the Jewels, The Lone Bellow, Sharon Van Etten, Jungle, MØ, ILoveMakonnen, DMA's, The Ballroom Thieves, and Krill.

Fall

The sixth Boston Calling, held September 25–27, 2015, featured:
The Avett Brothers, Alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Chvrches, Ben Howard, Chromeo, Walk the Moon, Nate Ruess, Father John Misty, Sturgill Simpson, MisterWives, Gerard Way and the Hormones, Daughter, Twin Shadow, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Fidlar, Doomtree, Gregory Alan Isakov, Grizfolk, Bully, Dirty Bangs, and Grey Season.

2016

The seventh Boston Calling, held May 27–29, 2016, featured:
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.

2017

The eighth Boston Calling was held May 26–28, 2017. The event was staged for the first time at the Harvard Athletic Complex and featured:
Chance the Rapper, Bon Iver, Sigur Ros, Migos, Mac Demarco, Sylvan Esso, Car Seat Headrest, Francis and the Lights, Deerhoof, Whitney, Lucy Dacus, Vundabar, Xylouris White, Mumford and Sons, The xx, The 1975, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Tegan and Sara, Brandi Carlile, Majid Jordan, Oh Wonder, Danny Brown, Cousin Stizz, Russ, Strand of Oaks, Moses Sumney, Kevin Morby, Tkay Maidza, Alexandra Savior, Tool, Major Lazer, Weezer, Cage the Elephant, Run the Jewels, Flatbush Zombies, Converge, Piebald, Wolf Parade, Frightened Rabbit, Buffalo Tom, PUP, Hiss Golden Messenger, The Hotelier, and Mondo Cozmo.

2018

The ninth Boston Calling was held on May 25–27, 2018, at the Harvard Athletic Complex. The headliners were Eminem, The Killers and Jack White.
;Line-up
  • Eminem
  • The Killers
  • Jack White
  • Queens of the Stone Age
  • The National
  • Paramore
  • Tyler, the Creator
  • Khalid
  • Bryson Tiller
  • Portugal. The Man
  • Fleet Foxes
  • St. Vincent
  • The Decemberists
  • Brockhampton
  • Maggie Rogers
  • Royal Blood
  • Manchester Orchestra
  • Daniel Caesar
  • Dirty Projectors
  • Stormzy
  • Thundercat
  • Belly
  • Pussy Riot
  • Julien Baker
  • Alvvays
  • The Menzingers
  • Thee Oh Sees
  • Perfume Genius
  • Noname
  • Alex G
  • Big Thief
  • Mount Kimbie
  • Citizen
  • Pond
  • Zola Jesus
  • Taylor Bennett
  • Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine
  • Charly Bliss
  • Leikeli47
  • Field Report
  • Lillie Mae
  • Tauk
  • This Is the Kit
  • Weakened Friends
  • Stl Gld