Boston Calling Festival is back in May, and Fall Out Boy, Luke Combs and Dave Matthews Band are set to headline the Memorial Day weekend event.
- READ MORE: Fall Out Boy tell us about headlining Download 2024: “We want people to excel in their weirdness”
The festival returns to the Harvard Athletic Complex in Boston’s Lower Allston neighbourhood from May 23 to 25, with country star Combs closing out the Friday. Also on the same day, the likes of Megan Moroney, Sheryl Crow, T-Pain, TLC, Infinity Song, Kyle Dion, Bebe Stockwell and Holy Roller will be on the line-up.
Pop-punk behemoths Fall Out Boy are set to headline the Saturday, and will be joined by acts including Avril Lavigne, Cage The Elephant, The Black Crowes, All Time Low, James Bay, The Maine, Lucius and Valley.
2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Dave Matthews Band will close out the festival on the Sunday, before performances from Vampire Weekend, Sublime, Public Enemy, Remi Wolf, Goth Babe, Tom Morello, The 502s and Spin Doctors, among other artists.
A range of local and up-and-coming artists will also be playing Boston Calling over the weekend, including Timmy Skelly, Simon Robert French, Rebuilder, Sidebody, Pinklids, Mo Lowda & The Humble, Mon Rovîa and Amble.
General admission and VIP tickets will go on sale on Wednesday (January 8) at 10am EST, and you can find tickets here. Meanwhile, you can sign up for a presale passcode on the festival’s official website.
Last year, Ed Sheeran, Tyler Childers and The Killers headlined the festival, with co-headlining slots taken by Leon Bridges, Trey Anastasio and Hozier. Previous headliners have included Paramore, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Tame Impala and Eminem. Foo Fighters’ 2023 headline performance was their first festival set since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins the previous year, and they were joined by his son, Shane.
In a four-star review, NME called the set an “emotional, deep and gritty return” for the band, writing: “To say the Foo Fighters are reinvigorated would be to suggest that they were somehow on the wane before, but the new dimension and momentum [drummer Josh] Freese adds to their sound lends them a slickness and weight that will surely see them remaining a rock’n’roll mainstay.”
Originally, Boston Calling was held twice a year, in May and September, but from 2016 onwards, it’s only been held in May.
Last year, organisers faced criticism with some festivalgoers complaining of overcrowding. One attendee claimed that fellow fans were passing out during Hozier’s set, with people having to wait 30 minutes to queue for water.
A review of the festival from journalist Kevin Slane wrote: “I’ve been to every single Boston Calling, and I’ve never seen the festival more crowded than it was on Sunday. The number I heard from a few different festival sources was 40,000 people (compared to only 16,000 on Saturday), but it felt like even more than that.”
Following the criticism, the organisers wrote in a statement: “We deeply appreciate the audience, staff, and performers who make Boston Calling possible, and want to acknowledge feedback from Sunday.
“While attendee count was several thousand below the official capacity rating of the site, we never want anyone to feel uncomfortable or unsafe at the show.
“The safety and well-being of our fans, artists, guests and staff is paramount. We will continue to work with public officials and our operations team to improve the experience, layout, and ultimately create a better environment for everyone.”
