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Thursday, June 2, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS
Highs, lows and stars of Boston Calling
MUSIC FESTIVAL REVIEW
Eclectic group of
artists make their
way to New England
By KAREN HUA
Daily Arts Writer
BOSTON - Three days, 39 acts,
smack in the middle of historic
Beantown.
Revealed in a press release Friday,
2016 is the final year that City Hall
Plaza will host Boston Calling, as
the music festival is slated to move
to Harvard’s athletic campus in
Allston, Mass. next May and expand
to incorporate Natalie Portman’s
(“Black Swan”) film festival. The
traditionally biannual event will
also discontinue its September
edition.
Saturday reached a high of 99
degrees
while
Sunday
chilled
the plaza with unusually cool
temperatures.
Likewise,
here
are the highs and lows of Boston
Calling’s seventh festival.
Sufjan Stevens
Many of the 50,000 attendees this
year didn’t know how to pronounce
Sufjan (Soof-yan) Stevens, but they
most likely witnessed the most
alien concert of their lives. Kicking
off the weekend, Stevens brought
every flashy prop, costume and
pyrotechnic imaginable to the stage:
butterfly wings, pompoms, blow-
up figurines, eccentric wigs and
goggles and hats, a full disco-ball
suit and a whole balloon suit. Unlike
music
festivals
like
Bonnaroo,
Boston
Calling
isn’t
notorious
for encouraging egregious drug
experimentation,
but
Stevens
and his neon-clad backup singers
danced around like robotic versions
of Richard Simmons, reminiscent
of an acid trip. Every performer
on his stage breathed his electric
aesthetic, producing sounds that
(albeit didn’t sound like English)
glittered and sparkled. He ended
his set on his more recognizable,
“Chicago,” a semi-autobiographical
song about youthful idealism. In a
nutshell, it embodied Stevens’ show:
a dreamlike fantasy manifested into
reality. He cooed: “All things go /
All things go,” as though to assuage
the youth in the crowd. Needless to
say, Stevens’ performance shattered
the schema for a typical concert
experience; he defined an out-of-
body sensation.
Sia
Even though Sia closed only
the first night, she takes home the
prize for “Best of the Fest.” There
was absolutely no performance
that could compare to her drop-
dead stunning multimedia concert
– an experience that intertwined
live-action
performance
with
audiovisual beauty. The Australian
pop singer arrived in her iconic
black-and-white wig that covered
her eyes, and she commanded the
back corner of the stage, where
she didn’t budge for the entire set.
Instead, she surprised an erupting
audience with her music-video
star, “Dance Moms” child prodigy
Maddie Ziegler, whose live talents
were unparalleled by any other. Sia
arrived with her entourage of other
eccentric dancers as well, ranging
in gender and age, all donning
nude-colored
leotards
and
her
signature wig. The two Jumbotrons
that consistently broadcasted live
onstage action actually displayed
pre-recorded
footage
for
Sia’s
performance
—
tricking
the
audience into believing that what
they saw on screen mirrored the
real-life movements before them.
So, the concert in a word: meta.
Celebrities
that
danced
across
the screen such as Kristen Wiig
(“SNL”) and Paul Dano (“Little Miss
Sunshine”) weren’t actually present
onstage — and who knows? Perhaps
Sia wasn’t even there singing
herself.
Børns
The highly-anticipated Børns,
donned in hippie vibes and a
tucked floral shirt, fell a little short
of expectations. Garrett Borns,
originally
from
Grand
Haven,
Mich., swayed in his stationary
spot on stage, and though his music
asks for a laxer rock atmosphere,
even
performances
for
upbeat
tracks
like
“American
Money”
didn’t exude the soul the song begs
for. With an unchanging backdrop
and minimalistic lights, the singer
could have put on a more riveting
performance to compensate for his
low-budget technical props – like
many artists in the middle of the
star-power scale did.
City and Colour
Amid the hazy New England heat,
Saturday was mellow. The Vaccines
were chill, Børns was soft, Canadian
singer City and Colour was both of
those things while oozing the soul
the former two artists lacked. If
sound could cry, if songs could be
laced with tears, if music could
hang longing in the air — that was
exactly what City and Colour did.
Starting with more popular tracks
like “The Girl” and “Lover Come
Back,” the set list cooled down in
coordination with the setting sun.
City and Colour elongated many of
his songs, and his acoustic melodies
and chilling falsettos carried the
crowd into the night.
Courtney Barnett
Courtney
Barnett
is
not
everyone’s cup of tea, and in fact,
she may purposely be tea that’s hard
to swallow. The Australian singer-
songwriter’s music isn’t exactly
mainstream, yet she received a
Grammy nomination last year for
Best New Artist; she’s surely a
hardcore rocker, yet her stream-of-
consciousness lyrical style strays
her into the indie category. Barnett’s
concerts are always about the music
— no shock elements, no extravagant
wardrobe, no makeup— just her and
her fiery, ferociously feminist hits.
While she didn’t travel much during
her set, her stationary position
didn’t hold her hostage like it did for
others. Barnett leapt up into the air;
she slammed her body down on the
stage, she rang out her guitar so hard
that the strings seemed at peril to
snap. She didn’t disappoint with the
crowd favorite, “Pedestrian at Best,”
in which, ironically, she screams:
“Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only
disappoint you.” Her passion was
undeniable, but with downcast eyes
and hair covering her countenance,
her performance offered more of an
aloof rather than direct chemistry
for the audience. At least it’s safe to
say Barnett had as much fun as her
fans.
Miike Snow
As
Boston
Calling
proved,
stationary
movement
doesn’t
always
equate
to
a
static
performance. ODESZA, Disclosure,
Courtney Barnett and others stand
mostly in one spot on stage, yet the
passion their facial expressions and
vocal chops move audiences for
them. While Andrew Wyatt, the
lead singer of Miike Snow, used the
stage to his advantage, his traveling
didn’t make for as dynamic a
performance because he seemed to
approach his music more passively.
Frequently returning to his cup of
hot tea, Wyatt seemed to be more
immersed in a rehearsal session
than his screaming fans. This may
be attributed to the fact that Wyatt
and his band “don’t think (they’re)
stars.” In an exclusive interview
with The Michigan Daily, Wyatt
said of iii, their third and most
recent album, “This record is more
like American to me … It feels like
it’s drawing from Black American
music traditions.” Wyatt explained
he grew up highly influenced by
Black icons like Stevie Wonder and
Earth, Wind and Fire, and now, he
defines: “extremely nerdy European
and extreme disadvantaged African
Americans: between those two
crews, that’s where music moves
forward,
generally
speaking.”
Miike
Snow
surely
has
the
European aspect, as Wyatt, the only
American in a trio of Swedes, writes
all the songs with his bandmates.
Wyatt explained that most of their
work is held together by hooks, so
they understand how to produce a
catchy song, but Miike Snow could
have worked harder to build their
own hype at their Boston Calling
performance. Though they only
recently
started
using
laptops
during their sets, they manipulate
all their sounds live. The band is
known for playing songs for as long
(or as short) as they feel. “Animal”
beat on for nearly eight minutes
that night — but not quite at the
rave vibe they were going for. Miike
Snow’s three big closers, “Burial,”
“Genghis Khan” and “Animal” felt
a bit anticlimactic for a group like
Miike Snow.
ODESZA
If the haze wore the crowd
down,
ODESZA
reinvigorated
heat-exhausted festival-goers to
party on. ODESZA concerts always
reverberate with such energy, it’s
hard for them to get old, even after
seeing them one, two, four or more
times. Though the back of the crowd
was slow to warm up, by the end of
their set, their electronic-meets-
ethereal sound fired everyone up.
ODESZA
successfully
launched
Boston into the summer with tracks
like (ironically) “Summer’s Gone”
and “How Did I Get Here.” It’s
an unfair comparison to smaller,
lower-budget indie bands, but stage
lights and production design really
enhance the quality of a concert
experience. As phenomenal as
Robyn’s show was, the majority of
the tired plaza filtered out following
ODESZA. It looks like ODESZA was
the real headliner Saturday night.
Robyn
Robyn was one big late-night
dance party — pure thrill, pure
fun. As one of the most dynamic
performers
the
festival
saw,
Robyn’s merits were unfortunately
overshadowed by the tepid turnout
following ODESZA’S smashing set.
Boston Calling was the first stop
of her American festival tour, so
she came fully equipped with her
one-legged fringe pantsuit and
her ponytail microphone stand.
Interestingly, Robyn made the
creative decision to remix some of
her most popular songs by inviting
some of her favorite artists onstage
with her. Some highlights included
The
Black
Madonna
during
“Indestructible,” and popular hits
such as “Dancing On My Own” with
French duo Cassius and “Stars 4
Ever” with Zhala & Heal the World.
Silhouetted by red and blue lights,
Robyn showcased her impressive
stamina by bouncing with nonstop
energy. Her spirit almost sparkled
on stage, as though her music sweat
out through her pores instead of
escaping from the microphone.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Frontman
Ruban
Nielson
sauntered on stage — no need
for an introduction — and just
began playing. The band clearly
felt comfortable on the stage, as
if they were jamming among an
audience of friends. Nielsen, a
multi-instrumentalist, built up into
a drumroll, introducing rougher
rhythms that allowed him to shred
his guitar and groove to undertones
of synth. He immersed himself so
deeply in the music that the lacking
lights and backdrop seemed to fade
away amid echoes from their Multi-
Love album.
Elle King
Who would’ve known this beauty
was the spawn of crude comedian
Rob
Schneider?
After
hearing
King’s set, though, it may make
sense, as she unabashedly bellowed
provocative lyrics about “being
slutty” and openly admitted to
having one too many drinks before
her performance. Nevertheless, the
crass and sass she brought to the
stage was still outlined by a feminist
fire that refused to apologize for
being
an
independent
“chain-
smoking, hard-drinking woman.”
With a raspy voice and edgy
country-meets-rocker
aesthetic,
the “hillbilly from Ohio” strummed
her banjo named Claire and sang
about her heartbreaking days. The
crowd fell immediately in love with
her candor and bowed down to
their new Queen.
For more coverage of Boston
Calling, visit michigandaily.com/