// Review by Martin Smith The Boston Calling music festival took a big step forward this year. They started by moving the location from the Boston’s City Hall Plaza to the much larger Harvard Athletic Complex. Festival goers navigated between three music stages, a comedy club, and in their down time, entertained themselves with craft beer tents, local food vendors, wine tasting, a giant connect-four, jenga, bag-toss, and even a ferris-wheel. While years past have included some big name national acts, the Boston Calling crowd remained mostly local. That all changed with the expansion of the 2017 festival, which really…
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By Martin Smith Days two and three of Boston Calling provided music that was as diverse as the weather (Saturday 90s, Sunday 50s). The contrast between bands was often stark, starting with hip-hop and moving anywhere from instrumental jam bands, to 70s soul, to top 40 pop, but always landing on high energy dance-your-face-off artists from around the world. With all the big acts involved in this festival you could have flipped a coin to choose the headliners. Crowd favorites Miike Snow and Janelle Monáe finished earlier in the nights with Odesza and Robyn closing the show on Saturday night and…
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The little festival that could is flexing into a festival that has and will continue to impress, at least that’s what Friday proved at Boston Calling. Hours before the gates opened on opening night, plans for next year had been released: a solo Spring edition, sprawling across the Harvard athletic complex in Allston, and with a film festival curated by Natalie Portman. The rigidity imposed on Boston Calling by the brick plaza and city restrictions has often made the festival feel tame- as if Disney hosted the proceedings. So it was fitting that this swan song for the Government Center location would feature a grandiose pop…
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