If It's Too Loud...

Megan from Work Photo by Boston Calling Alive Coverage You're going to see a lot of headlines saying things like "Rain and cold temperatures couldn't dampen festival goer's day," but that's actually the truth. Despite temperatures way below the average for Memorial Day weekend in Boston, and despite a cold rain starting late afternoon, the crowd had a great time, and the weather was mostly shrugged off in a "can you believe this?" kind of way. Of course, great music always helps. Here are the best artists I saw Friday, in the order that they played. Bebe Stockwell Bebe Stockwell is an artist with Boston roots who I was unfamiliar with until she took the stage to open the festival at 1:30. I'm now one of her diehard fans. She played a fantastic set of folk-pop with a charm that was completely irresistible. Anyone who chose to get there early was treated to one of the best sets of the day that included a cover of "Home" by Edward Sharpe ...

A few weeks back I started seeing ads on social media for Back Cove Music & Arts Festival in Portland, ME. I always try to keep my expectations low when a new festival is announced, because more often than not the line up isn't in my taste (aka typically filled with jam bands). I was optimistic, but didn't expect much. Today the line up was announced, and it's kind of ridiculously great. Taking place August 2 and 3 in Payson Park, the festival features world renowned heavy hitters like Jack White, Lord Huron, Andre 3000, Turnpike Troubadours, and Lucy Dacus, as well as If It's Too Loud... favorites like Margo Price, Thee Sacred Souls, Madi Diaz, The Greeting Committee, local heroes Weakened Friends, and many more! This is a completely solid line up, and considering it's a festival boasting no overlapping sets, how could you go wrong? Maine is beautiful, and we're always looking for an excuse to get up there over the summer. What better reason is there than a...

After watching some wild speculation the last few weeks on Reddit, Boston Calling has announced their 2025 line up, and, dare I say it... it's pretty great! The headliners are Luke Combs and Megan Moroney on Friday, Fall Out Boy and Avril Lavigne on Saturday, and Dave Matthews Band and Vampire Weekend on Sunday. Personally, I'm most interested in Sunday's headliners, more out of curiosity than anything else. After that, we've got quite literally something for everyone with legends like Sheryl Crow, TLC, The Black Crowes, Sublime, Public Enemy (!!!!!), Tom Morello (playing the same day as Public Enemy, so I think we need a collaboration...), and Spin Doctors, along with newer favorites like Thee Sacred Souls, Lucius, and more. Once again they've outdone themselves with local bands that include Latrell James, Megan from Work, Battlemode, Rebuilder, sidebody, Pinklids, and Vivid Bloom! This is the strongest Boston Calling line up in years, and we're thrilled for th...