Last weekend, Boston Calling, a semi-annual musical festival took place in Government Center for the fourth time in two years. The event took off on Friday night at 6:00 P.M featuring The National, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Future Islands. Rachel Anderson, a sophomore Biology major at Northeastern, attended the concert on Friday night because her friend had an extra ticket. “ I was not familiar with bands, but I really liked The National’s performance,” she says. “It was really fun!”
The next day festivalgoers were excited to see the headliners, Lorde and Childish Gambino. However, things went awry when severe thunderstorms rolled in during Hold Steady’s performance causing damage to the stage. Everyone was evacuated for about three hours in which a lot of confusion ensued. However, the concert resumed at 9:00 with Lorde and Childish Gambino playing. Unfortunately, Volcano Choir and Girl Talk were cut.
Some people were very angry about the delay, sudden cuts to acts, and the lack of a refund. However, the tickets said “Rain or Shine” which allowed the organizers of the festival to circumvent a refund obligation. Many Northeastern students attended Boston Calling and had opinions about the unexpected changes. “I feel terrible that some of the acts couldn’t perform, but I think they [Boston Calling] handled the situation very well, considering they had to work around costs and permits,” said Jenny Mulroy. Similarly, Anna Wendt says, “It happened for good reason but it was still very frustrating.” Despite the setbacks, Boston Calling was extremely helpful through the emergency, with constant social media updates.
On the other hand, Sunday went very well. Twenty-One Pilots stole the show and was easily the most entertaining of the day. Nas x the Roots performed mostly separate from each other, which disappointed many people. Overall though, the weekend was a great time.