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Of course, those predictions were made when the 2022 lineup was still Foo Fighters * The Strokes * Metallica, and we all know how that worked out. Now, Foo Fighters and The Strokes are obviously in play again, and artists which were previously predicted but have since booked Boston shows like Florence and Kendrick may be a little less likely. Sure, they'll book artists who've played TD Garden or Fenway in the previous 3-12 months, but since the move to Harvard, they've always been on the lookout for acts like Tool, Eminem, and Metallica who hadn't played locally in a while.
Whomever they book, they may decide to go for an exceptionally strong Red or Blue closer each day who could be moved up into the headlining spot with very short notice, without seeming incredibly out of place. You could have moved RTJ and Weezer up into headlining spots, if either of them had been stylistically much closer to that day's headliner, and given them a longer set.
This is basically what happened at the Guinness Fleadh at Suffolk Downs in the late 90's, one of the touring festivals of that decade which paved the way for today's single location festivals. Van Morrison was the scheduled headliner at the one-day event, and when I stepped off the Blue Line, I saw the sign at the gate that he'd no longer be performing. Instead, the main stage performer billed immediately below him, Elvis Costello, played a longer-than-planned 90 minute set
After what happened at Boston Calling, I have to think that the festival industry took notice of what happened and every festival is now thinking about how best to handle last minute cancellations by headliners.
I think that Boston Calling needs to more narrowly define its identity and stick to that. The only U.S. festivals which should shoot for this sort of "everything to everyone" status are Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lolla, ACL, and Outside Lands. They've each got enough stages to make this work. With Boston Calling, nobody ever seems to be thrilled with the lineup and the schedule. Meanwhile, most festival lineups aim to make a more limited audience very happy, and it's a shame that the only festival we get in Boston doesn't seem to understand that that's the best approach for a festival of its size.
Nah they just need to book something more like 2017 or 2018. those lineups made it very clear that they can book a multigenre fest that appeals to everyone
I don't necessarily agree. You don't want to get to the point where people say to themselves, "They've booked a few acts I really like, but nothing else I want to see." Granted, knee surgery, an untimely death, two artist cancellations due to COVID, and a weather-based grounds evacuation all messed with their plans, but this edition felt so disjointed.
Ultimately, the big problem is that Boston Calling is the only festival in town. On one level, it wouldn't be fair to people who've gotten used to getting something they like at each edition if the focus permanently narrowed; like a lot of indie rock and Americana-loving music fans, I felt betrayed by the 2016 lineup, after buying blind early bird based upon what they had delivered previously. Anyone whose musical tastes were no longer included after the focus narrowed would be disappointed. But, is giving people a festival where any one person is only going to love 25% of the lineup at most any better? We settle for so much less because Boston Calling is all we get here.
How often do people complain about lineups at Rolling Loud, Electric Daisy Carnival, or Newport Folk not having enough artists they like in the lineup? Probably nowhere near as much as local people complain about Boston Calling. I can only imagine what it would be like to go to a festival where there's literally something I'd enjoy to some degree at every moment of the day, every day of the festival.
if anything they may keep this shaky knees north thing theyve got going on for next year. while you may be unable to travel to them we have a ton of americana festivals (solid sound, green river, beach road) in MA so i doubt BC would go back to their OG pattern of booking acts like the Avett Brothers, Jason Isbell or Brandi Carlile if one of those 3 would scoop em up. I’m not super crazy about being forced to travel for a multi genre fest but it seems this is whats happening. BC and Gov ball went from direct competitors to reaching for entirely different audiences
if anything they may keep this shaky knees north thing theyve got going on for next year. while you may be unable to travel to them we have a ton of americana festivals (solid sound, green river, beach road) in MA so i doubt BC would go back to their OG pattern of booking acts like the Avett Brothers, Jason Isbell or Brandi Carlile if one of those 3 would scoop em up. I’m not super crazy about being forced to travel for a multi genre fest but it seems this is whats happening. BC and Gov ball went from direct competitors to reaching for entirely different audiences
I see your point. They may -- at least in Solid Sound years -- cede the entire roots/Americana/folk/whatever territory to other New England festivals, but I sure hope that they go back to booking a couple of names like these every year. Then again, Japanese Breakfast played both BC and Solid Sound on the same weekend.
But BC isn't Shaky Knees North. Get past any similarities in top lines, and you'll see that SK keeps things a lot narrower, mainly centering the poster around indie rock of various schools and vintages. You're not seeing a lot of rap or pop on their posters. I assure you, you probably won't see Rufus du Sol at SK, or Metallica, which is heavier than they normally book on the top line.
Last Edit: Jun 14, 2022 21:28:34 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
"Harvard Athletic Grounds is only available one weekend per year, on Memorial Day weekend, which prohibits Boston Calling from running a second event, prohibiting them from running two distinctly different festivals which can appeal to different audiences...or otherwise open the door for another festival promoter to use the grounds to hold a completely unrelated festival. Nope, can't happen because the university will only allow that for one weekend each year."
"Harvard Athletic Grounds is only available one weekend per year, on Memorial Day weekend, which prohibits Boston Calling from running a second event, prohibiting them from running two distinctly different festivals which can appeal to different audiences...or otherwise open the door for another festival promoter to use the grounds to hold a completely unrelated festival. Nope, can't happen because the university will only allow that for one weekend each year."
"Harvard Athletic Grounds is only available one weekend per year, on Memorial Day weekend, which prohibits Boston Calling from running a second event, prohibiting them from running two distinctly different festivals which can appeal to different audiences...or otherwise open the door for another festival promoter to use the grounds to hold a completely unrelated festival. Nope, can't happen because the university will only allow that for one weekend each year."
yes, Harvard isn't using their fields during July 4th weekend but they are using them on Labor Day weekend
That's not when the fall editions of Boston Calling were held on City Hall Plaza. And even if that's when they had taken place, that has nothing to do with the ability of any promoter to use the grounds between school years. If the people behind Boston Calling wanted to do a second festival on the grounds, whether it's also called Boston Calling or something else entirely, they could do it during whatever windows of opportunity Harvard chooses to make available.
Of course, any September use of the grounds by outside promoters may be prohibited, but whether it's MSG/Crash Line or another promoter, June-July are apparently in play.
yes, Harvard isn't using their fields during July 4th weekend but they are using them on Labor Day weekend
That's not when the fall editions of Boston Calling were held on City Hall Plaza. And even if that's when they had taken place, that has nothing to do with the ability of any promoter to use the grounds between school years. If the people behind Boston Calling wanted to do a second festival on the grounds, whether it's also called Boston Calling or something else entirely, they could do it during whatever windows of opportunity Harvard chooses to make available.
Of course, any September use of the grounds by outside promoters may be prohibited, but whether it's MSG/Crash Line or another promoter, June-July are apparently in play.
2 of the times they did it was on Labor Day weekend, the other was later in September. They stopped doing 2 festivals back in 2016, before they even moved to Harvard. I don’t know why it’s even a conversation for it to be in play for the future
That's not when the fall editions of Boston Calling were held on City Hall Plaza. And even if that's when they had taken place, that has nothing to do with the ability of any promoter to use the grounds between school years. If the people behind Boston Calling wanted to do a second festival on the grounds, whether it's also called Boston Calling or something else entirely, they could do it during whatever windows of opportunity Harvard chooses to make available.
Of course, any September use of the grounds by outside promoters may be prohibited, but whether it's MSG/Crash Line or another promoter, June-July are apparently in play.
2 of the times they did it was on Labor Day weekend, the other was later in September. They stopped doing 2 festivals back in 2016, before they even moved to Harvard. I don’t know why it’s even a conversation for it to be in play for the future
You're the one who brought up Labor Day weekend. I simply suggested that Jerkfest indicates that Harvard University is open to making the grounds available to outside promoters more than one weekend per year.
But, for the record, the City Hall Plaza era September events were never on Labor Day weekend. In 2013 and 2014, Labor Day was on the 1st or 2nd of the month, and Boston Calling was the next weekend.
I'm simply saying that the door is apparently open, on the part of Harvard University, anyway, for Boston Calling to either do a second edition or create two festivals a la Shaky Knees/Shaky Boots or Coachella/Stagecoach if they wanted to, or for someone else altogether to come in and do a festival in whatever window Harvard makes available, whether that's late May through late June, late May through early Aug, or something in between.
Another option would be for one of the other local colleges/universities to open up their athletic grounds and generate some revenue with a music festival. There are certainly enough of them in the immediate Boston area for at least one of them to be willing to work with a festival promoter.
We've got to get out of this "Boston isn't big enough for more than one big festival" mindset. The metro Boston and metro Atlanta areas are both in the 4.5 - 5 million population range. While Atlanta has Shaky Knees, Sweetwater 420, and Music Midtown, we've only got Boston Calling and the new, and decidedly smallish, In Between Days in Quincy. Sure, we're not as big as L.A. or Chicago and I'd never expect the number of fests that either of those markets have here, but a second big fest would be a good idea.
I have a theory as to why Boston Calling was so determined to book certain types of rock bands in their top lines in 2020 and 2022.
The Boston Calling capacity is around 40K max per day, right? Yet, they've managed to book artists who've also headlined the biggest North American festivals. Bonnaroo is 80K per day, according to Google search results.
I'm not much of a drinker, but considered getting a beer at the festival and was shocked at the beer prices. I think they were in the 8-12 dollar range.
Then it hit me. Most of the drinks stations were actually operated by Boston Calling itself, apart from the two branded beer tents. Boston Calling is booking top line artists whom they feel will sell a lot of beer. If you've got a rap top line, you might get a lot of people in the audience who prefer weed to beer. If you've got a pop top line, you might get a lot of teens in the audience who aren't going to be consuming, or at least buying, any intoxicants at the fest.
Foos/Rage/Strokes in 2023 may not sell many more tickets than Billie/Harry/Olivia, and may actually sell fewer tickets than the pop powerhouses, but the 90's rockers will drive much, much higher beer sales.
I have a theory as to why Boston Calling was so determined to book certain types of rock bands in their top lines in 2020 and 2022.
The Boston Calling capacity is around 40K max per day, right? Yet, they've managed to book artists who've also headlined the biggest North American festivals. Bonnaroo is 80K per day, according to Google search results.
I'm not much of a drinker, but considered getting a beer at the festival and was shocked at the beer prices. I think they were in the 8-12 dollar range.
Then it hit me. Most of the drinks stations were actually operated by Boston Calling itself, apart from the two branded beer tents. Boston Calling is booking top line artists whom they feel will sell a lot of beer. If you've got a rap top line, you might get a lot of people in the audience who prefer weed to beer. If you've got a pop top line, you might get a lot of teens in the audience who aren't going to be consuming, or at least buying, any intoxicants at the fest.
Foos/Rage/Strokes in 2023 may not sell many more tickets than Billie/Harry/Olivia, and may actually sell fewer tickets than the pop powerhouses, but the 90's rockers will drive much, much higher beer sales.
I will say, this is actually such an excellent point. But with that being a factor for how they curate their lineups, I would love to see them book something similar to the 18+ Gov Ball 2020 lineup that never happened. I’m sure its going to be booked similarly next year to how it was this year but i can dream. just miss having an indie festival
Last Edit: Jul 8, 2022 23:55:05 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
1/16: L'Impératrice 1/30: Jamie xx 2/1: DJ Seinfeld 2/7: Mild Minds* 3/1: Father John Misty* 3/4: knock2 3/7: Inhaler* 3/19: Confidence Man 3/23: DARKSIDE 5/8: Rüfüs Du Sol
What are the odds Green Day is still on the festival circuit by next year? Feels like BC could pull off something like RHCP/The Cure/Green Day.
RHCP is a substantially less appealing booking for them than it was in 2020 since they will have just played Fenway eight months earlier.
I'd bet money that it's going to be Foo Fighters/Rage/The Strokes.
BTW, you can almost figure out which festivals Rage is doing next year from the major concert markets they're skipping this year: Coachella, ACL, Boston Calling, and Shaky Knees. Don't you think they would have added dates in those markets if they weren't playing those festivals? Maybe part of what they were offering in their asking price is exclusive rights to the first Rage show in that particular market. If that wasn't the case, then why wouldn't they have added dates in L.A., Boston, Austin, and Atlanta?
What are the odds Green Day is still on the festival circuit by next year? Feels like BC could pull off something like RHCP/The Cure/Green Day.
RHCP is a substantially less appealing booking for them than it was in 2020 since they will have just played Fenway eight months earlier.
I'd bet money that it's going to be Foo Fighters/Rage/The Strokes.
BTW, you can almost figure out which festivals Rage is doing next year from the major concert markets they're skipping this year: Coachella, ACL, Boston Calling, and Shaky Knees. Don't you think they would have added dates in those markets if they weren't playing those festivals? Maybe part of what they were offering in their asking price is exclusive rights to the first Rage show in that particular market. If that wasn't the case, then why wouldn't they have added dates in L.A., Boston, Austin, and Atlanta?
I honestly have no clue what Rage is doing any more. We're what, about 3 years running on their speculation and I honestly have lost track of whats up with them. That said, I think you're on to something w/ Coachella & BC for sure. (I'd sell the odds on ACL & SK tho).
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I checked the Boston Calling website and there's no "See you in 2023" message or listed dates, and I can't recall any social posts indicating that they'll be back. Haven't they always had some messaging like this on their site in the past?
This doesn't necessarily mean that any decision has been made to pull the plug, only that they may be thinking about that, or things like changing the dates or location may be under consideration.
Twenty years ago, as the fixed location annual festival trend started ramping up, if someone had asked me which of Boston, Atlanta, and Austin would eventually have the fewest number of in-town festivals, I wouldn't have guessed Boston.
This is what just went down in Des Moines, IA. We may not even have something on this level next year. www.80-35.com/
(Sure, most everybody will come to town and do their own headlining show, at an average cost of $50 after service charges and with the privilege of sucking up all of the COVID-19 that you'd like at no additional cost.)
Last Edit: Jul 12, 2022 9:34:46 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
oof, if BC does end up dying I hope Founders or AEG/Goldenvoice puts something in its place. I’m sure the Metallica day did insanely well but it was pretty damn empty friday and sat, especially sat night after the rainstorm. hard to imagine they profited or even broke even from only one day of the fest doing well
Last Edit: Jul 12, 2022 9:54:20 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
Green River was fun lol. i can live without BC though, Gov Ball, Osheaga and Firefly are all doable with a car. I do feel bad for Tw12 though if it goes away. or anyone else without a car in the boston metro area
