Ten years ago, it was a fact that any attempt to start a music festival in the Northeast would end in failure. (Remember All Points West? Panorama?) Since then, a few events have unlocked the secret to success in the region: Think local.
Boston Calling was launched by Crash Line Productions co-founders Brian Appel and Mike Snow after working for the alt-weekly Boston Phoenix and its sister radio station WFNX. Because the earliest events were held biannually, BC’s 10th “anniversary” happened in 2019, but Memorial Day weekend 2023 marks 10 years since the first festival (tickets still available here!). Originally, it was a two-day show locked into the brick plaza of Boston’s City Hall. Now, it’s grown into a three-day, four-stage gathering at Harvard’s Athletic Complex, welcoming over 40,000 attendees.
As the fest has expanded and its lineups have become competitive with any other major destination festival, the event still feels like Boston. The city is smaller than other metropolises, yet filled with a strong sense of local identity and pride; as musician and Vermont native Noah Kahan puts it, New Englanders “are not putting up with any frills or feathers.” Adapting a similar ethos has been essential to allowing Boston Calling to thrive.
“I think the people from Boston are an incredibly passionate fan base,” says Kahan, who recently moved to Watertown, Massachusetts and is looking forward to the 15-minute drive to play his first Boston Calling this year. “And I think it’s really important and special for the community to have something to rally around.”
The inaugural edition was an exceptionally unifying moment due to some tragic timing: It took place just a month following the Boston Marathon bombing. Stepping off the T at City Hall Plaza for the fest, with all the fencing and security, you could feel the city was on edge. In the end, the Boston Strong were only fortified by the festival, joined in the unifying love of music.
And make no mistake, music has always been a core emphasis of Boston Calling. Appel’s the first to admit that Boston Calling “is a little understated and not flashy,” but only because it’s “incredibly music focused and thoughtful about what should be on the stages.” According to him, organizers have always had an attitude that the talent and customer experience comes first.
The Struts, photo by Ben Kaye