This weekend City Hall Plaza was transformed into a summer fair grounds because of the second Boston Calling two-day music festival. With acts like Vampire Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Deer Tick, Solange, Major Lazer, and Flosstradamus, the festival was shaping up to be one of the best Boston has ever seen. I attended day two of the festival excited to see Kendrick Lamar and Solange with live bands. I was also interested in seeing the Major Lazer and Flosstradamus DJ sets for the first time.
First up was Solange with a surprising sultry and fun set. She danced and swayed through her jazzy set while performing songs like “TONY”, Losing You”, and “Don’t Let Me Down”. Trying to incite a “high school prom” dance party (as she put it), she heavily engaged with the crowd and gave a great performance. Before she started performing i was asked by a gentleman in the photo pit if she was Beyonce’s sister. I replied yes and thought to myself that it didn’t even matter. Seeing her live made her shine in her own light.
Twerkers, molly-poppers, and ragers rejoiced during DJ sets from dance DJs Major lazer and Flosstradamus. There was enough trap and reggae to keep the party going throughout the night. It’s interesting to see at music festivals that some DJs can draw bigger crowds than full bands.
The best performance of the night must go to the Man on everybody’s feature wish list, Mr. Kendrick Lamar. Coming out with a live band, Kendrick commanded the biggest crowd of the night as moonlight blanketed city hall plaza. Energetically rattling through his growing catalog, Kendrick performed songs like “P&P”, “MAAD City”, “Swimming Pools”, and more. His homie and Black Hippy philosopher Ab-Soul also made an appearance on stage and rocked out for one song. It was fitting that Kendrick had one of the biggest turnouts for the festival because the Compton black boy is flying high. Set to go on tour with Kanye West for the “Yeezus” tour this fall, I’m sure he will continue to ascend.
Boston Calling was a fun music experience for all that attended. The festival found a way to blend and mesh all types of genres and music together and provide a good time for everyone involved.
