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Well, I caught the first half or so of Trey A's set from the Red Stage ADA platform, and I was very happy to hear a much higher volume than when I was last catching Cheap Trick and The National on Red two years ago. Then I walked through the main part of the grounds to get to pick up something I had left in a locker, and I noticed that the sound remained loud as I walked away from the Red Stage and hung a right just past the Red Bull kiosk. Then I turned around and walked forwards toward the Green Stage and confirmed that the Red Stage audio was coming in loud and clear through the three hanging PA stacks!! AT LAST!!!!!
Thanks for the reports TW. We didn’t get to BC this year but after enjoying ‘22 and ‘23 we hope to return (lineup dependent).
Glad the Red stage sound is improved- that was pretty much my only real gripe the last two years.
Did the Mikeller beer tent return this year? Wonderful craft beer oasis in ‘22 but was absent last year.
Well, I caught the first half or so of Trey A's set from the Red Stage ADA platform, and I was very happy to hear a much higher volume than when I was last catching Cheap Trick and The National on Red two years ago. Then I walked through the main part of the grounds to get to pick up something I had left in a locker, and I noticed that the sound remained loud as I walked away from the Red Stage and hung a right just past the Red Bull kiosk. Then I turned around and walked forwards toward the Green Stage and confirmed that the Red Stage audio was coming in loud and clear through the three hanging PA stacks!! AT LAST!!!!!
Thanks for the reports TW. We didn’t get to BC this year but after enjoying ‘22 and ‘23 we hope to return (lineup dependent).
Glad the Red stage sound is improved- that was pretty much my only real gripe the last two years.
Did the Mikeller beer tent return this year? Wonderful craft beer oasis in ‘22 but was absent last year.
Nope, that tent has been replaced by a second merch pavilion. They *really* need to get a couple of food options in that spot, instead, because if you're doing a long run between Blue and Orange, the only way you're getting anything to eat is if you're missing some of a set.
*Arrived in time to catch the last three songs from Motherfolk. They were certainly energetic and fun, but the songs themselves didn't sound like anything special.
*Caught around half of Cakeswagg's set. Not my thing.
*Saw Tanner Usrey's set. That one song on YouTube that reminded me of Isbell turned out to be atypical of their music. They reminded me a lot more of Skynyrd. Really nice cover of Faces' "Stay With Me." This is the sort of roadhouse band that sounds great in a dive bar on a Saturday night, but no better or worse than that really good local band.
*Then I caught The Red Clay Strays (who, coincidentally, are opening for the Stones in Foxboro this week.) Another definitely OK band. Nice lead guitar playing and the songs are good, but didn't bowl me over from a songwriting standpoint.
*During the first 45 minutes of Trey Anastasio's set, I was incredibly bored. It was the stereotypical noodling and riffing that went nowhere. Halfway into the set, it was as if a switch was flipped and then the set just kept getting better and better, and the last couple of songs were everything you hope for from a jam band. I'd definitely go see Trey again (or Phish for the first time, for that matter.)
*Tyler Childers completely won me over. The studio recordings don't do justice to the live show. His band is incredible...it's as if E Street was located in eastern Kentucky instead of the Jersey Shore. It's high octane bluegrass, gospel, and old school country, with surprising moments of musical weirdness popping up unexpectedly, not unlike those moments when Radiohead, Wilco, and MMJ take things into left field. Childers has a ton of onstage charisma and a really unique stage persona. It's as if the gas station attendant in a small southern town turned out to be the wittiest and smartest guy in the room. Best band introductions ever!! Really, I'd pay money just to hear those band introductions again. He's got a couple of radio show live albums out, but he should really do an old school double live album with the crowd noise, the song introductions, and the band on fire in an arena...the sort of live albums that made the careers of KISS, Bob Seger, and Peter Frampton in the 70's. This set is the front runner for best performance of the year that I've seen. I hope that it's displaced by something else, because who doesn't want every show to be better than the last one? But if it doesn't get any better than Childers at Boston Calling, that won't surprise me.
Last Edit: May 26, 2024 10:55:58 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
Oh, shit. Weather.com has heavy rain listed late this afternoon. The 4-6 pm window for the grounds' zip code is now listed at up to 0.38 inches of rain for the second hour. That's pretty heavy for one hour.
Always subject to change, but it looks like the Chappell Roan, Revivalists, Christone, BD Thomas, and Zola Simone sets have the greatest potential to be marred by rainfall.
Oh, shit. Weather.com has heavy rain listed late this afternoon. The 4-6 pm window for the grounds' zip code is now listed at up to 0.38 inches of rain for the second hour. That's pretty heavy for one hour.
Always subject to change, but it looks like the Chappell Roan, Revivalists, Christone, BD Thomas, and Zola Simone sets have the greatest potential to be marred by rainfall.
Post by wheattoast1 on May 26, 2024 21:03:45 GMT -5
so like today [sunday] was the worst I've ever seen, packed in wise to a point where I felt like it was unsafe. wondering how much they oversold by. it was miserable. Roan was great, arenas for sure next go around.
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
so like today [sunday] was the worst I've ever seen, packed in wise to a point where I felt like it was unsafe. wondering how much they oversold by. it was miserable. Roan was great, arenas for sure next go around.
Cap is 40k right? Apparently it was closer to 45 just today.
She has been on tour for 18 months so I think she might want a break. Hitting up every single fest this year along with the Olivia tour is paying off cause not having many other solo dates makes it an even more must see.
Holy shit, I don't recall a crowd that big except for Metallica
She had the biggest crowd by far, followed by Megan then The Killers. Alvvays had a tiny crowd but they were amazing, someone also proposed during marry me archie and i was crying tbh. overall great day though! every set i saw was fantastic.
that Chappell set made me so happy I caught her in the gobi tent
03/14 - Thievery Corporation 04/25 - Black Country, New Road 05/04 - In Flames, Gatecreeper 05/10 - Modern Life is War 05/21 - Spite, Bodysnatcher, Thrown 05/29 - Knocked Loose, Loathe, Show me the Body, Speed 06/02 - Bush 06/22 - George Thorogood 06/23 - Dillinger Escape Plan, Deadguy, Candy, Carbomb
So the audience behavior at commercial pop bullshit bands' live sets sucks? What, no...
There's no precedent for that.. oh wait, Astroworld..
People are just the worst now, and show etiquette is dead. Etiquette's terrible even at indie shows.
Alvvays had a great crowd. but while i think crowd ettiquette has some part of why it was shit, the overselling contributed much more imo. can confirm they sold 45k tix for sunday, 5k over the capacity, according to a friend of mine who worked the fest
So the audience behavior at commercial pop bullshit bands' live sets sucks? What, no...
There's no precedent for that.. oh wait, Astroworld..
People are just the worst now, and show etiquette is dead. Etiquette's terrible even at indie shows.
im happy to blame my generation for a lot of things but when an event is 5k over capacity what exactly is the crowd supposed to do? The organizers set this up to happen. Also the red-green set up has been terrible for ages, I’m amazed it took this long for something like this to happen
So the audience behavior at commercial pop bullshit bands' live sets sucks? What, no...
There's no precedent for that.. oh wait, Astroworld..
People are just the worst now, and show etiquette is dead. Etiquette's terrible even at indie shows.
There were plenty of times during Megan's set where groups of people just barged through to get closer to the red stage for Hozier (we were in-between green and red), but there were just as many instances of people saying excuse me or sorry.
The worst, however, was my daughter and I trying to move outside of the crowd towards the end of Megan's set for her to sit down (dealing with plantar fasciitis) and, despite saying sorry and excuse me, I got a few looks and even had some not willing to move to let us out. I mean, we are heading away from the stage and I'm not blocking you from seeing or hearing Megan sing about her ass, her pussy, or grinding on the hot dick for the 9th straight song.
I know logistics for festivals can be complex, dealing with artist schedules/combo festival contracts (i.e. Ed Sheeran at BC on Friday and Bottlerock on Sunday/Megan at Bottlerock on Friday and BC on Sunday) and then which stages artists will perform on, which I'm sure there are contractual issues there. Then you have the site logistics, which the organizers did a bit better this year with some opened up pathing, but you could do a better job by scheduling a bigger artist to close blue that may have minimal to no cross-over with the red closer. That, in theory, could spread the crowds a lot better than what we had yesterday. Also, maybe not have someone as popular as Hozier closing red. That Chappell Roan/Megan Thee Stallion/Hozier/Killers run, with a bit of Revivalists thrown in the mix is nuts.
Holy shit, I don't recall a crowd that big except for Metallica
It was tougher to move around yesterday (especially anywhere near Red) than on Metallica Sunday. In hindsight, booking three arena headliners and one soon-to-be arena headliner and then wildly overselling the space was not the greatest idea.
So the audience behavior at commercial pop bullshit bands' live sets sucks? What, no...
There's no precedent for that.. oh wait, Astroworld..
People are just the worst now, and show etiquette is dead. Etiquette's terrible even at indie shows.
There were plenty of times during Megan's set where groups of people just barged through to get closer to the red stage for Hozier (we were in-between green and red), but there were just as many instances of people saying excuse me or sorry.
The worst, however, was my daughter and I trying to move outside of the crowd towards the end of Megan's set for her to sit down (dealing with plantar fasciitis) and, despite saying sorry and excuse me, I got a few looks and even had some not willing to move to let us out. I mean, we are heading away from the stage and I'm not blocking you from seeing or hearing Megan sing about her ass, her pussy, or grinding on the hot dick for the 9th straight song.
I know logistics for festivals can be complex, dealing with artist schedules/combo festival contracts (i.e. Ed Sheeran at BC on Friday and Bottlerock on Sunday/Megan at Bottlerock on Friday and BC on Sunday) and then which stages artists will perform on, which I'm sure there are contractual issues there. Then you have the site logistics, which the organizers did a bit better this year with some opened up pathing, but you could do a better job by scheduling a bigger artist to close blue that may have minimal to no cross-over with the red closer. That, in theory, could spread the crowds a lot better than what we had yesterday. Also, maybe not have someone as popular as Hozier closing red. That Chappell Roan/Megan Thee Stallion/Hozier/Killers run, with a bit of Revivalists thrown in the mix is nuts.
This seemed like the sort of day you'd get at the big 5 U.S. fests, but in a smaller space with fewer stages. As much as we all want the best lineup imaginable at the festivals we attend, this was too much for the space. I realize that some of the space needs to be set aside for the artist trailer village behind Blue and other festival infrastructure, but if they ever needed to use the stadium as another big stage, it was yesterday.
Holy shit, I don't recall a crowd that big except for Metallica
It was tougher to move around yesterday (especially anywhere near Red) than on Metallica Sunday. In hindsight, booking three arena headliners and one soon-to-be arena headliner and then wildly overselling the space was not the greatest idea.
They shouldve put The Black Keys in there and problems wouldve been solved.
I'll skip the comments about the overcrowding covered perfectly above.
*I arrived in time to catch the last three Royel Otis songs from the Green ADA platform (Hey, thanks arthritis for the great view and convenient porta-potty access this weekend!!) I first checked out a couple of their songs online a few months ago, really liked them, and then checked out a couple of other songs that I didn't like nearly as much. But I did like what I heard yesterday a lot and will be paying attention to their forthcoming (?) debut (?) album and possibly catching the inevitable HoB show.
*Chappell Roan was so much fun. Hooks for days, and Dan Nigro always brings obvious and subtle rock and roll elements to melodies, chord changes, and arrangements. I'll be that old dude in the nosebleed section when she plays the Garden (if it doesn't sell out in five minutes).
*After seeing her last year up the street at Harvard Square Mayfair, I was looking forward to catching Zola Simone again. She's really good at the pop thing and definitely worth checking out if you're into the genre. I only stayed for four songs, though, because I didn't want to miss a minute of Blondshell.
*I had watched Salad and Docket around a dozen times each on YouTube recently and had been looking forward to Blondshell a lot. The rest of her set was more of the same; in fact, the only criticism I have about the set and her music, in general, is that every song sounded pretty much like every other song. I definitely want to give the album a few spins and see if the songs stand out a bit more to me then. On the other hand, she may wind up being one of those artists I see at a festival, like a lot in the moment, but don't stick with long-term.
*Sometimes, no matter how much you like a performer, circumstances fall into place which diminish your experience at a festival set or concert. I somehow managed to work my way to the Red ADA platform, which was packed. First challenge - the great Red Stage sound from Saturday night was nowhere to be found at the start of Hozier's set. It wasn't loud enough for the first 4-5 songs, including one of my two favorite songs from the latest album...shades of Cheap Trick on Red, a couple of years ago. Then, just as the sound got better/louder, the woman to the right of me started chatting with her friends to my left and they had to talk loudly to be heard. I looked over at one of them and did the "Shhh" thing, and then the lady to my right yells in my direction, "This isn't a concert, people are going to talk." (As I've posted on this board before, there's a way to talk at festival sets and shows that doesn't bother people around you. Simply lean over and speak into the ear of whomever you're talking with. If you're a few feet away from someone else and speaking loudly enough to be heard over the music, you're speaking loudly enough to be heard by everyone in a 5-10 foot radius.) So, I then got up and stood closer to the center of the platform. That was great, but then something happened which took me out of the music, but for a reason that I absolutely cannot complain about, unlike the bad sound mix early in the set and the talkers soon after. I'm standing right behind a couple of people in wheelchairs and one of them fell out of her chair and was lying on the ground. A young woman rushed to help her (I spoke with her for a minute after the show; she's planning on attending med school and good on her. She helped until first responders were able to make it to the platform. Fortunately, the responders were able to get her up and she regained consciousness and then helped her into her chair and wheeled her off the platform.) All this transpired right around the time Hozier was playing one of my favorite half dozen songs of the new millennium, but that's just the way things played out on this night. If I didn't get those moments of emotional connection and catharsis that I usually get from Hozier's music, feeling all the feels, as people say these days, that had to take a backseat to the health and safety of another festivalgoer. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to get a ticket to his next show at the Garden or Fenway (and hopefully he doesn't play Mansfield.)
*It's also worth mentioning that, like The National a year or two earlier, a promised 90 minute Red Stage closing set ran for only 70-75 minutes. I can't help wondering if BC asked him to shorten the set in order to give people more time to get from Red to Green, get to one of the porta-potty clusters, etc., given the difficulty in moving through that crowd. In fact, I (like a lot of people) went the long way around to get to Green for The Killers, walking the far path past Orange and hanging a left at Blue, making a stop at what was certain to be a less crowded porta-potty cluster and then coming up through the main archway just in time for "All These Things That I've Done".
*I liked The Killers a lot the first time I saw them at Boston Calling. I realized last night that I didn't really need to see them a second time.
2024 Boston Calling MVP: Tyler Childers (by a country mile)
Last Edit: May 27, 2024 14:34:07 GMT -5 by tw12 - Back to Top
if it werent for a wedding i was invited to next year the weekend of, id say id be going to movement instead but that will have to wait til 2026. unless some major changes happen or its an extremely appealing lineup to me I dont see myself returning to calling
I'll skip the comments about the overcrowding covered perfectly above.
*I arrived in time to catch the last three Royel Otis songs from the Green ADA platform (Hey, thanks arthritis for the great view and convenient porta-potty access this weekend!!) I first checked out a couple of their songs online a few months ago, really liked them, and then checked out a couple of other songs that I didn't like nearly as much. But I did like what I heard yesterday a lot and will be paying attention to their forthcoming (?) debut (?) album and possibly catching the inevitable HoB show.
*Chappell Roan was so much fun. Hooks for days, and Dan Nigro always brings obvious and subtle rock and roll elements to melodies, chord changes, and arrangements. I'll be that old dude in the nosebleed section when she plays the Garden (if it doesn't sell out in five minutes).
*After seeing her last year up the street at Harvard Square Mayfair, I was looking forward to catching Zola Simone again. She's really good at the pop thing and definitely worth checking out if you're into the genre. I only stayed for four songs, though, because I didn't want to miss a minute of Blondshell.
*I had watched Salad and Docket around a dozen times each on YouTube recently and had been looking forward to Blondshell a lot. The rest of her set was more of the same; in fact, the only criticism I have about the set and her music, in general, is that every song sounded pretty much like every other song. I definitely want to give the album a few spins and see if the songs stand out a bit more to me then. On the other hand, she may wind up being one of those artists I see at a festival, like a lot in the moment, but don't stick with long-term.
*Sometimes, no matter how much you like a performer, circumstances fall into place which diminish your experience at a festival set or concert. I somehow managed to work my way to the Red ADA platform, which was packed. First challenge - the great Red Stage sound from Saturday night was nowhere to be found at the start of Hozier's set. It wasn't loud enough for the first 4-5 songs, including one of my two favorite songs from the latest album...shades of Cheap Trick on Red, a couple of years ago. Then, just as the sound got better/louder, the woman to the right of me started chatting with her friends to my left and they had to talk loudly to be heard. I looked over at one of them and did the "Shhh" thing, and then the lady to my right yells in my direction, "This isn't a concert, people are going to talk." (As I've posted on this board before, there's a way to talk at festival sets and shows that doesn't bother people around you. Simply lean over and speak into the ear of whomever you're talking with. If you're a few feet away from someone else and speaking loudly enough to be heard over the music, you're speaking loudly enough to be heard by everyone in a 5-10 foot radius.) So, I then got up and stood closer to the center of the platform. That was great, but then something happened which took me out of the music, but for a reason that I absolutely cannot complain about, unlike the bad sound mix early in the set and the talkers soon after. I'm standing right behind a couple of people in wheelchairs and one of them fell out of her chair and was lying on the ground. A young woman rushed to help her (I spoke with her for a minute after the show; she's planning on attending med school and good on her. She helped until first responders were able to make it to the platform. Fortunately, the responders were able to get her up and she regained consciousness and then helped her into her chair and wheeled her off the platform.) All this transpired right around the time Hozier was playing one of my favorite half dozen songs of the new millennium, but that's just the way things played out on this night. If I didn't get those moments of emotional connection and catharsis that I usually get from Hozier's music, feeling all the feels, as people say these days, that had to take a backseat to the health and safety of another festivalgoer. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to get a ticket to his next show at the Garden or Fenway (and hopefully he doesn't play Mansfield.)
*It's also worth mentioning that, like The National a year or two earlier, a promised 90 minute Red Stage closing set ran for only 70-75 minutes. I can't help wondering if BC asked him to shorten the set in order to give people more time to get from Red to Green, get to one of the porta-potty clusters, etc., given the difficulty in moving through that crowd. In fact, I (like a lot of people) went the long way around to get to Green for The Killers, walking the far path past Orange and hanging a left at Blue, making a stop at what was certain to be a less crowded porta-potty cluster and then coming up through the main archway just in time for "All These Things That I've Done".
*I liked The Killers a lot the first time I saw them at Boston Calling. I realized last night that I didn't really need to see them a second time.
2024 Boston Calling MVP: Tyler Childers (by a country mile)
Royel Otis' album came out in February. It's good and has some great hooks.
I don't normally swim in the mainstream pop lane, but I agree Chappell Roan was great. Just infectious hooks that got the crowd going throughout. Much better than Renee Rapp, who has a great voice but I can't vibe with her whole angry entitled persona.
I was excited for Blondshell, but she was underwhelming and, yeah, all of the songs blended together. I'm both happy and angry that they moved her from closing blue. Happy, because it wasn't an inspiring set, but mad because I wanted to see Alvvays but chose Hozier instead.
Speaking of blue closers, with the exception of Alvvays, who I heard was great, what a weak lineup. Is that the MO moving forward with C3? Young the Giant wasn't good but the sound issues didn't help their weak set, and Jessie Murph?? I know she's gotten popular in the country circles with her autotuned pop country, but seeing her live really emphasizes why she needed the autotune. Absolutely no strength in her voice.
I saw the aftermath of the woman falling out of her wheelchair. My daughter and I moved to the hill behind the path across from the red stage and saw the woman escorted to the EMS golf cart. Good on that young woman to jump in to help.
There were some strong performances over the weekend, but it was strange to rollercoaster through the crowd variations each day. Friday was good in being able to move around freely while still feeling the size of the crowd, Saturday was a ghost town in comparison (which was to be expected with the weaker lineup), and then Sunday was as noted above.
My Likes and Surprises (in no order) Ed Sheeran - coming in with negative expectations, I was pleasantly surprised how good he was and how well he got the crowd going, especially since it was just him with his guitar, a keyboard, and the floor panel with loop pedals, etc. I won't go out of my way to listen to his music or see him again, but he was a great performer and I can see how he sold out Gillette. Luke Hemmings - Again, not swimming in the pop lane, I was not familiar with any of his current or past work with 5 Seconds of Summer, but his set was lively and energetic. Then he did a decent cover of Friday I'm in Love and mentioned the dads in the audience and I felt seen Frank Turner - Came in like a hot rocket and his fuse only got hotter. Loved the energy, loved the set, loved his interaction with the crowd, and loved the crowd surfing that he did. d4vd - nothing different or outstanding, but I liked his energy. Khruangbin - pure sex. While Frank Turner built up the energy, Khruangbin was the long release. So, so good. The Thing - absolutely loved these guys. They only had 35 minutes and they packed it with riffs after riffs. Some good 70s vibes mixed with Parquet Courts, if that makes sense. The Wolff Sisters were really good too and a great way to start the weekend. Already mentioned Chappell and Royel Otis, but they both delivered in different ways.
My Dislikes and Disappointments Leon Bridges - was looking forward to the set, as he was the only performer I had any interest in on Friday and while he wasn't bad, he shouldn't have been in the red closer spot. David Kushner - I have nothing against his religious angle around faith and spirituality, but when you have a song that questions the religious institutions and those who run it, please try to do it with a semblance of conviction. At one point, he was competing with Ice Spice's SNL performance as the worst live performance I'd seen this year. Megan the Stallion - If I had to choose between the current popular female rappers (Cardi, Megan, Nicki, Ice, Doja, etc), I'd go with Megan, but not being familiar with all of her output it became overly repetitive when each song was about her body, the hot girls, or needing dick. Try some subtlety! And if you decide to take an almost 5 minute outfit change during an hour set, that's telling.
incinnati Ohio babeyyyy
