The Boston Calling Music Festival kicked off its first day at 1 p.m. Friday at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Cambridge.
The festival features performances at four stages on different parts of the grounds. The Green Stage and the Allianz Blue Stage host the main acts, while local artists control the Orange Stage and the Arena hosts student acts from Berklee College of Music. The performances are staggered, making it easy to catch a little bit of everything.
Holy Roller, a Southern rock band from Richmond, Virginia, stole the Green Stage with their howling vocals and high energy at 2:10 p.m. In an interview, vocalist Bryce Heck discussed the band’s transition from folk toward their southern rock genre label.
“We couldn’t do what we’re doing without electric guitars, you know? So the old Holy Roller was a very different idea than the current Holy Roller is. I mean you can really hear that too on the first two albums. The first record is way more folksy. The new record — the ‘Good Religion’ album — that’s got way more of an electric field to it,” Heck said.
“I hit the drums a little hard so everyone else had to turn up a bit,” said drummer Ryan Davis, who was met by laughter from his bandmates.
Holy Roller was followed at 2:50 p.m. by country band Dalton & The Sheriffs, who began their set with a band member announcing that, before they were called in to perform, “I was at a gym class two hours ago.” The sudden schedule change was due to the band TLC’s absence due to an “unexpected medical circumstance,” Boston Calling wrote in an Instagram post.
Berklee freshman Su Yavuz lit up the Arena with an upbeat jazz set. Her angelic vocals and melodic piano playing filled the Arena with smooth jazz and cheers from viewers. Trumpet player Noah Allen also kept the room alive with expert performance reminiscent of early jazz legends. Yavuz plays again at 4:10 p.m. Saturday and 6:20 p.m. Sunday at the Arena.
Latrell James kept the crowd alive at the Orange Stage, encouraging audience participation and calling onstage his sister, an R&B artist known as ToriTori, who performed on the second day of last year’s Boston Calling. At the beginning of the show, his mother in the front row tossed him a yarn hat that resembled cat ears which he enthusiastically stopped the show to put on. He brought it all to stage — an exciting setlist, a charming stage personality, and his family, who he credits for his success.
T-Pain attracted a massive crowd to his performance at the Blue Stage. With a decorative set and the elaborate, bejeweled outfits worn by him and DJ Montay, his set had many attendees singing “Buy U A Drank” on the way out of the festival gates after the show.
Country star Megan Moroney performed a dazzling set while wearing a white, sparkly, frilled jacket; a short red skirt; and white cowboy boots. She dedicated a song to her best friend, who the song was originally about but has since found a man “that doesn’t make her wonder.” The crowd, many decked in her merchandise, exploded with cheers, many singing along and holding their loved ones close.
Luke Combs was the final act of the night, performing through the rain on the Green Stage at 8:55 p.m.
Hopes are high for Saturday’s headline coverage, with Fall Out Boy scheduled to play at 8:55 p.m. on the Green Stage. Rain is expected to be less severe, if at all present.
Click here to read live coverage of Boston Calling.
