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Everything you need to know about Boston Calling 2024
Music
Your guide to Boston Calling 2024, including a full schedule, must-see artists, set times, and helpful tips to get the most out of the annual music festival.
Believe it or not, Memorial Day weekend is already upon us, which means the 2024 Boston Calling Music Festival will soon bring more than 50 artists to the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston this Friday through Sunday.
A fixture in the Boston cultural scene since its debut in 2013, Boston Calling has consistently attracted top-level talent to its festival. The 2024 Boston Calling lineup is no different, with English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, folk-country artist Tyler Childers, and arena rock stars The Killers headlining Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.
To help you get the most out of your Boston Calling 2024 experience, we’ve put together a guide to what you should know before attending the festival this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Below, you’ll find more info on some of the best artists to see, the best food at Boston Calling, rules on what not to bring to the festival, transportation logistics, and more.
Click the links below to jump directly to the following information:
Friday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds open to audiences at 1 p.m. on Friday, with Divine Sweater kicking off the music at 1:45 on the Red Stage.
Before Ed Sheeran closes the night out from the Green Stage at 8:40 p.m., other top artists in Friday’s lineup include Young the Giant (7:40 p.m., Blue Stage), Leon Bridges (7:05 p.m. Red Stage), and “I Hate Boston” singer Reneé Rapp (5:55 p.m., Green Stage).
Saturday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds once again open at 1 p.m., 45 minutes before Senseless Optimism gets the music started on the Red Stage.
Tyler Childers closes out the day from the Green Stage at 9 p.m., with other notable performances including Jessie Murph (7:35 p.m., Blue Stage), Trey Anastasio & Classic Tab (7:15 p.m., Red Stage), and Khruangbin (6:05 p.m., Green Stage).
Sunday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds open for a final time at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with Stefan Thev first on the bill at 1:40 p.m. on the Red Stage.
The Killers will close out the festival from the Green Stage at 9:10 p.m., with festival grounds closing at 11 p.m.
Sunday is the only day that has sold out of both GA and Platinum tickets, an indicator of the strong lineup on hand for the final day. Top artists performing on Sunday include Hozier (7:35 p.m., Red Stage), Megan Thee Stallion (6:25 p.m., Green Stage), Chappell Roan (4:05 p.m., Green Stage) and Alvvays (7:50 p.m., Blue Stage).
What local bands and artists should I see at Boston Calling 2024?
Boston Calling has always featured local artists as part of its festival lineup. In fact, R&B/soul group Bad Rabbits were the very first act to take the stage at the first Boston Calling back in 2013.
But in recent years, the festival has pushed to make local artists a larger part of the lineup, with 21 of the 51 acts in this year’s lineup boasting local ties.
Boston Calling co-founder Brian Appel noted the shift during the announcement of the 2022 festival lineup, saying that after everything “Boston musicians endured during the pandemic,” the festival would “shine a spotlight on local and regional artists more than ever before.”
On Friday, swing by the Blue Stage at 2:15 to catch Berklee College of Music student Kieran Rhodes. Rhodes appeared on the seventeenth season of America’s Got Talent in 2022, and was one of the artists at Connecticut’s Sound on Sound Music Festival alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mayer.
On Saturday, Bad Rabbits will be on the Red Stage at 3 p.m. Founded in Boston in 2007, the group performs an eclectic blend of neo-soul, funk rock, post-hardcore, and about 15 other genres, none of which can fully encapsulate the band’s sound.
As for Sunday, try to show up early for The Thing, who will bring an old-school rock sensibility to the Blue Stage at 2:10 p.m.
To see a full list of hometown performers, check out our Boston Calling 2024 local music guide, which features info on all 21 local artists playing this weekend.
What should I eat and drink at Boston Calling 2024?
Boston Calling is making sure that concertgoers will be well-fed for the performances.
For veterans of the festival, many of the restaurants will be familiar. The Smoke Shop BBQ, which has experimented with its portable, festival-friendly take on barbecue since 2017, is bringing back its Ultimate BBQ Cone, stuffed with burnt ends, pimento mac ‘n cheese, pit beans, coleslaw, and pickled jalapeños. You won’t find the BBQ cone on the regular menu at any of Andy Husbands’ restaurants, so if you’re a fan of novelty, this is one to try.
For those seeking something new, Boston Calling first-timers include The MacBar (offering mac ‘n cheese), Ricen (thai food), and the popular local seafood chain Shaking Crab.
You’ll find something for pretty much any taste, whether it’s gyros from Greco, grilled cheese from Roxy’s, or wood-fired Neapolitan pies from PieSons Pizza.
The beer will come courtesy Miller, Heineken, and Sam Adams, while Truly, White Claw, and Twisted Tea will handle the canned cocktails. Josh Cellars will be uncorking the wine, and there will also be drink choices from Jack Daniel’s.
To see a full list of participating vendors and some of the options available to VIP and Platinum ticket-holders, check out our full Boston Calling 2024 food and drink guide.
How do I get to and from Boston Calling 2024?
The long and short of how you should travel to and from Boston Calling can be summed up in two words: public transportation.
The easiest way to get to the festival is to take the MBTA Red Line to Harvard Station. From there, it’s a straight shot to the festival: Take John F. Kennedy Street, cross the Anderson Memorial Bridge, and you’ll see the festival entrance on the right side of the street. In total, the walk takes ten minutes.
If you’re not near the Red Line, you can also take the Commuter Rail to the Boston Landing station, which is 1.1 miles from the festival. The 66 and 86 bus routes also stop at Harvard Stadium. For transportation directions from your specific location, use the MBTA Trip Planner.
There is no parking at the festival, and no street parking in nearby neighborhoods. Boston police will be ticketing and towing any vehicles illegally parked near the festival.
If you want to use a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft, organizers recommend setting the destination as Harvard Stadium. At the end of the night, there will be signage directing concertgoers to dedicated rideshare spots.
You should note that Boston and Cambridge PD will close JFK and North Harvard St. to traffic from 9 p.m. to midnight each night to ensure pedestrian safety, so public transportation really is the best option.
How can I avoid long lines at Boston Calling?
Boston Calling is a large music festival, so you’re inevitably going to run into crowds at some point during the day. But as someone who has attended every single edition, I’ve learned a few helpful tips along the way.
1. Pre-register your wristband
In an effort to speed up lines for concessions and merch, Boston Calling 2024 is an entirely cashless festival.
Festivalgoers can register their wristband either before or during the festival to connect it to a credit or debit card through the Boston Calling website. Vendors will also accept credit cards.
2. Buy artist merch early
The biggest lines at previous editions of Boston Calling have been for the official artist and festival merchandise, which can be purchased just inside the entrance.
Boston Calling 2024 has added a second merch kiosk to help minimize the issue, but if you’re set on getting a Reneé Rapp tank or a Killers tee, you might want to consider setting aside the first 30 minutes of your time at the festival to make your purchase.
3. Learn the festival map, and take the road less traveled
Another way to avoid any bottlenecks is to familiarize yourself with the festival map (see below) before heading to Allston on Friday.
The layout remains basically the same from previous festivals, with a few small tweaks. You enter from the corner of Soldiers Field Rd. and N. Harvard St., then proceed to the entrance.
If you’re headed to the Red or Green stages, proceed straight, where you will pass a number of food options and brand activations. If you want the Blue or Orange stages, make a left toward the merch stations.
There is always less traffic on the path from the Blue Stage to the Red Stage (located on the far left of the map below). It’s not only a more direct path, you’ll also pass local artists on the Orange Stage you may not have known about.
What items are banned at Boston Calling 2024?
Before getting into the banned items, here are a few things you can bring to the Boston Calling 2024:
— Small clutch purses and fanny packs that are 6″ x 9″ or smaller with no more than one pocket
— Hydration packs and reusable water bottles that are empty
— Cameras without detachable lenses or other accessories like tripods
— Sunscreen in non-aerosol cans, provided they are 3.4 ounces or less
Now for the list of stuff you can’t bring:
— Aerosol containers, glass containers, coolers, hammocks, chairs, blankets, towels, inflatables, umbrellas, strollers, carts, frisbees, binoculars, professional recording equipment, drones, selfie sticks, fireworks, illegal substances, and weapons.
Additionally, Boston Calling remains a smoke-free festival. The festival’s rules no longer explicitly ban items like cigarettes or vapes by name, but its guidelines say that “medicines needing to be inhaled or smoked” can only be done via “a prescribed inhaler,” which effectively means the same thing.
Can I still buy tickets to Boston Calling 2024?
You can still purchase tickets of almost every type on the Boston Calling website. The only day with limited availability is Sunday, which has sold out of GA and Platinum tickets.
Single-day tickets cost $196 for GA, $320 for GA+, $499 for VIP, and $1399 for Platinum. All of the listed prices already include fees, so you won’t have the usual unpleasant surprise of prices jumping when you get ready to pay.
Three-day tickets, meanwhile, cost $392 for GA, $639 for GA+, $1199 for VIP, and $2899 for Platinum.
There are also a number of tickets available below those price points on secondary ticket resale websites like StubHub. Though StubHub offers a money-back guarantee for fraudulent tickets, Boston Calling says that it cannot guarantee the authenticity of any tickets not purchased directly through its website.
The Boston Red Sox were expected to have a busy offseason to build on their short 2025 playoff appearance, their first in four seasons. Boston delivered, albeit not in the way many reporters and fans expected — Alex Bregman left and no one was traded from the outfield surplus.
Roster construction questions have loomed over the Red Sox since last season. They were emphasized by Masataka Yoshida’s return from surgery rehab and Roman Anthony’s arrival to the big leagues. Boston has four-six outfielders, depending where it envisions Yoshida and Kristian Campbell playing, and a designated hitter spot it likes to keep flexible — moving an outfielder makes the most sense to solve this quandary.
The best case-scenario for addressing the packed outfield would be to find a trade suitor for Yoshida, which has proven difficult-to-impossible over his first three seasons with the Red Sox. Red Sox insiders Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive think Boston may have to make an extremely difficult decision to free up Yoshida’s roster spot.
“You wonder, at what point does this become a — not Patrick Sandoval situation — but a Pablo Sandoval, where you rip the Band-Aid off and just release,” McAdam theorized on the “Fenway Rundown” podcast (subscription required).
Red Sox insiders wonder if/when Boston will release Masataka Yoshida, as it did with Pablo Sandoval in 2017
Pablo Sandoval is infamous among Red Sox fans. He signed a five-year, $90 million deal before the 2015 season and he only lasted two and a half years before the Red Sox cut him loose. His tenure was marked by career lows at the plate, injuries and a perceived lack of effort that soured things quickly with Boston. Yoshida hasn’t lived up to the expectations the Red Sox had when they signed him, but he’s no Sandoval.
McAdam postulated that the Red Sox may be waiting until there is less money remaining on Yoshida’s contract before they potentially release him. Like Sandoval, Yoshida signed a five-year, $90 million deal before the 2023 season, which has only just reached its halfway point. The Red Sox still owe him over $36 million, and by releasing him, they’d be forced to eat that money.
The amount of money remaining on Yoshida’s contract is just one obstacle that may be preventing the Red Sox from finding a trade partner to move him elsewhere. Yoshida has never played more than 140 games in a MLB season with 303 total over his three-year tenure, mostly because he’s dealt with so many injuries since moving stateside.
Maybe the Red Sox could attach a top prospect to him and eat some of his contract money to entice another team into a trade, like they already did with Jordan Hicks this winter. But that would require sacrificing a quality prospect and it would cost more money, just to move a good hitter who tries hard at his job.
There’s no easy way to fit Yoshida onto Boston’s roster, but the decision to salary dump or release him will be just as hard. Yoshida hasn’t been a bad player for the Red Sox and he doesn’t deserve the Sandoval treatment, but his trade value may only decrease if he spends another year with minimal playing time. Alex Cora and Craig Breslow have a real dilemma on their hands with this roster.
Boston, MA
Thirteen states have adopted a simple criminal justice reform. It’s time for Mass. to join them. – The Boston Globe
That law is not just right. It’s also smart. But we have been lousy about putting it into practice.
Only 10 percent of those eligible to have their records sealed here have actually done it, according to The Clean Slate Initiative, an advocacy group. That’s because we’ve made it impossibly complicated.
Having a criminal record is an enormous obstacle for people who have done their time and are trying to rebuild their lives. A conviction, even a minor one, even from long ago, can mean being rejected by employers and denied by landlords. Cases that were dismissed, or which prosecutors dropped, and even many that ended in not guilty findings also show up on criminal background checks. That can keep someone from getting life insurance, credit, a real estate license, and other professional certifications. It also means they can’t volunteer at their kids’ schools or coach Little League.
“I have grown men in my office crying because they can’t get housing,” said Leslie Credle, who heads Justice 4 Housing, which helps move formerly incarcerated people into permanent homes. “Individuals who were once breadwinners come home and now they’re a burden to their family. It’s a lifetime sentence … even if you have done your time.”
Maybe you’ve gotten this far and are thinking this doesn’t affect you. It does.
Nearly half of US children have at least one parent with a criminal record. People with solid jobs and stable housing are more likely to support their families and communities. They are more likely to fill vacancies at all kinds of businesses that need more workers to thrive. They are also way less likely to reoffend, or to rely on public benefits.
So why have we made the process so much harder than it needs to be?
Right now, a person who has served her time and stayed out of trouble for the waiting period must petition the commissioner of probation in writing, or go before a judge. It’s needlessly complex, requiring time and familiarity with a backlogged and sometimes hostile system. And that’s if they know they can get their records sealed in the first place.
“It’s like double jeopardy,” said Shay, 36, who finally got hers sealed a few years ago. “You can’t try somebody twice for the same crime, but you can double punish them. In my case, I was punished triple.”
Shay, who asked that her last name be withheld, was 22 when she was convicted of carrying a dangerous weapon — a misdemeanor. She did six months in jail, paid thousands in fines and other costs, and had a successful probation. Since then, her record has held her back in ways big and small.
“I had to keep explaining it to people when I wanted to get a job and apply for housing,” she said. “I could not go on any field trips with my daughter, so now she had to suffer.” They had to stay on other people’s couches for months because a landlord ran a background check and gave an apartment to someone else.
Shay knew she could seal her record, thanks to Greater Boston Legal Services. But doing it, even with an attorney’s help, was a whole other thing. Her first application got lost somewhere between the post office and the probation department, which cost her a year. It took two years to process her second application, she said.
“Now here we are, years later, and it’s no longer a burden I have to worry about,” said Shay, who now works to help those with records get into the cannabis industry.
She’s doing well now, but why should it ever be this hard?
In 13 other states — including Oklahoma, Michigan, and Utah — they automatically seal criminal records after someone has met the conditions. It’s embarrassing that Massachusetts hasn’t joined them yet. Legislators have introduced measures to automatically seal eligible criminal records a bunch of times since 2019, but they’ve gone nowhere.
Clean Slate Massachusetts is working to make this time different, with the help of a huge coalition of community partners, including business leaders who understand we all thrive when more people can find work and stability. Yet again, legislators have proposed two bills that would require the state to automatically seal records in cases that are already eligible under the law.
So much about this country is messed up right now. Here is something we can actually fix.
What the heck are we waiting for?
—–
This story has been updated to correct the charge of which Shay was convicted.
Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham can be reached at yvonne.abraham@globe.com.
Most of the MBTA is back to regular service after Monday’s blizzard, but one commuter line remains on a modified schedule.
Riders of the Fall River/New Bedford MBTA Commuter Rail Line are hoping for things to be back to normal soon. The overwhelming amount of snow was still slowing things down Wednesday.
Ana Berahe is back in Brockton after traveling abroad. She’s never heard the word “delay” so many times in her life, from flights to train rides.
“I’m super happy, because it’s been three days that I was supposed to be home,” she said.
Phillip Eng, general manager of the MBTA and interim secretary of MassDOT, speaks about transportation in the wake of a major blizzard.
In Fall River, streets remained blanketed and cars buried with snow on Wednesday afternoon. Crews are working around the clock to make roads passable.
Keolis shared video of crews clearing train tracks Wednesday.
“I’m waiting on the train, or I’m waiting in the cold, out here, in the slush,” said commuter Aaliyah Alba.
“It was a little bit of a problem, just because they were doing the bus from Fall River to Taunton,” said Jeremy Williams of Brockton. “It was a little delayed, but other than that, it was fine.”
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