Photos and Review by Bethany Anna Packer
Galleries: Disclosure, HAIM, Janelle Monae, The Front Bottoms, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, Christine and the Queens
Day three of the Boston Calling festival promised to be much more enjoyable than the overheated day two. Not only was the forecast a perfect temp for my favorite ensemble of hoodie, jeans and chucks, but day three was the most anticipated lineup of the festival in my opinion.
I walked into City Hall plaza as Christine and The Queens started their set and already, from a distance I could tell that the set was something I did not want to miss! I sprinted across the plaza as I was drawn to the stage like a magnet and barely made it, completely out of breath for the start of their second song… and thank God I did. Once in a while you witness a performance that makes you feel, that gives you goosebumps, one that even makes you well up with tears. It’s even better when that performance comes blazing out of the gate from someone you would never expect. Christine and the Queens delivered all of that. The spunky, emotional, Christine backed by her eccentric team of dancers and musicians had me not only entertained but inspired. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, unique and totally inspiring; her powerful message of love and acceptance for all humans moved everyone in the crowd including myself. The performance remained one of my favorites of the day and the entire weekend.
Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires were the next “wow” performance on the bill. I have seen many of my fellow colleague’s photos of the Funk/Soul singer and his group of talented musicians and I was excited to check the performance of my list of “must shoots”. Charles Bradley at the ripe age of 67 moves around like a sex crazed teenager. His incredible performance lived up to, and surpassed my expectations and had everyone in the crowd hanging on his every note.
The Front Bottoms were next up on the Jet Blue Stage, and their solid fan base assaulted us in the pit with ear piercing screams of enthusiasm. They gave a solid and steady performance that had the crowd dancing and singing along.
I am not a newbie to the performances of Elle King. I personally am a huge fan of her raw voice as well as her “take no bullshit” attitude. Rocking new blue hair and a glass of liquor she took the stage and had the audience in the palm of her hand from beginning to end.
As Elle King wrapped up her set, attention was drawn back to the Jet Blue Stage where the elaborate black and white stage set up for Janelle Monae was only a mere glimpse of what was about to happen. The highly anticipated performance had a lot of hype to live up to as Janelle Monae is known to deliver an incredible performance. And that she did. Janelle was flawless. From her perfect voice, electric stage presence and stunning beauty, it is clear that she was made to entertain. She performed her own hits like “Electric Lady” and “Dance Apocolyptic” with covers of classics like James Brown’s “I Got You” and Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back”. She closed with a powerful tribute to Prince, performing a cover of “Let’s Go Crazy” that had the crowd dancing and belting the lyrics along with the songstress.
The three sisters of HAIM kept the energy at a ten. Rocking the Xfinity Stage with an elaborate light and mirror show, also choosing to pay homage to the late great Prince with a cover of “I Would Die For You” as Christine and the Queens joined in on the celebration.
The energy in the plaza had slowly built throughout the day, consistently fueled by solid performance after solid performance by the time headliner Disclosure took the stage. The crowd that remained was a young one, wild for the dance music that was about to be served up by the duo. Unfortunately the hopes of a surprise appearance by either Sam Smith (who was rumored to be in Boston) or Lorde (just wildly wishful thinking) were not met. But Disclosure still delivered what was expected of them and the crowd writhed with the heavy beat of bass until they closed out the festival with a spectacular stage light show and a finale performance of “Latch”, my personal favorite of theirs that even had me dancing along.
Sunday was by far the best day of the weekend and a perfect ending to another amazing Boston Calling Festival!
Boston Calling Day 3 – City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA
