Photos and Review by Bethany Anna Packer
Galleries: Lizzo, The Vaccines, BORNS, Courtney Barnett, City and Colour, Odesza, Robyn
Day two of Boston Calling was an absolute scorcher. As I headed into the city, the temperature gauge ready a balmy 88 degrees and rising. As I arrived, the whimsical lyrics of Boston Music Award’s Best New Artist of 2015, Palehound flowed as the crowd began to file into city hall plaza under the stifling sun. Throughout the day there would be many announcement s regarding the importance of staying hydrated due to concern of heat stroke.
After Palehound, alternative hip-hop artist Lizzo was next to take the stage. The confident and proudly curvy artist was backed by her dancers also known as “the big girls” as well as DJ Sophia Eris. Despite the stifling heat, the team moved around the stage with an electric energy that easily made the performance one of the most impressive of the day. Towards the end of the set, the girls pulled out giant gold squirt guns and sprayed the crowd as Lizzo slayed song after song, working the crowd into a frenzy.
Next to perform on the Jet Blue stage was English indie rock band, the Vaccines. The group clearly had drawn quite the following of their fans who pressed up against the rails, singing along to the lyrics. The Vaccine’s, led by the entertaining Justin Young delivered a strong and solid set, making it clear why their live performance has served as a prelude to the likes of giants such as The Rolling Stones and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
As the line for water bottle refills grew longer and wound its way through the brick lined plaza the music of singer/songwriter BORNS rose from the Xfinity Stage. The eclectic indie artist had girls swooning over his flowing locks, seventies inspired cropped polyester shirt and rose colored glasses. Performing his hit “1,000 Emerald Pools”, the heat exhausted crowd was brought back to life, swaying with the music.
Courtney Barnett was up next. At this point in the day, the sun was nearly unbearable and beat down relentlessly on everyone including Courtney. The blinding light poured over her and the stage as her performance began, starting off slowly but rapidly building in energy. Her stand out performance stood up to her reputation as a killer performer, and despite the less than ideal weather conditions she didn’t miss a beat.
City and Colour and Miike Snow followed in suit. However, at this point the damper of the heat had taken its toll on the crowd, the performers and us photographers. Fans were flocking into any shady alcove they could find and the plaza waited anxiously for the sun to set.
As the day finally began to back down, electronic duo Odesza brought a new kind of heat to the plaza. They clearly appealed to the younger crowd who received their second wind as the sun set to Odesza spinning track after track.
Last to take the stage was headliner Robyn. Although Robyn’s music is not quite my cup of tea, her energy was admirable. She danced around the stage like a wind up doll that never ran out of gas, sequins and fringe moving to the music lit by her impressive stage lighting.
It’s difficult to say if it was the heat or the line-up but Day Two was unfortunately my least favorite day out of the three.
Boston Calling, Day 2 – City Hall Plaza – Boston, MA
