For many of us, Memorial Weekend means many things: a short respite from school or work, a trip to Cape Ann or Cape Cod (or wherever you choose to go), or for the music lovers and those with cash lying around, Boston Calling weekend. The past couple of years—minus the ones that the pandemic has canceled—however, have been disappointing for festival goers. So…why?

First, what is it? Well, Boston Calling has been put on almost every single year since 2013. The opening lineup was a postcard for the time: Fun., Of Monsters and Men, Young the Giant, Marina and the Diamonds, Portugal, the Man, and a few other smaller artists. Fall 2013 brought in Vampire Weekend and Kendrick Lamar. The following year brought in Bastille, The Neighborhood in the spring, and Lorde, The 1975, and Twenty One Pilots in the fall. In 2015, Marina and the Diamonds returned with Tame Impala, and Vance Joy in the spring. And Of Monsters and Men returned as Hozier made his first appearance in the fall. And then they began to falter. 

The two festivals a year were sucking up money—so they moved to one a year. But the lineup remained legendary: Sia, Robyn, Janelle Monae, Haim, and Sufjan Stevens. In 2017, Tool, (for the teachers reading) Mumford & Sons, Chance the Rapper, Weezer, The 1975, and Mitski, as well as a few comedy acts that people seemed to enjoy because Natalie Portman attended the following year in 2018. With her were Eminem, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Tyler the Creator, and Portugal, the Man. 

In 2019, they faltered again. While there were big names, like Twenty One Pilots, Janelle Monae, Tame Impala, Travis Scott, Mitski, Hozier, and Marina, the following year was canceled. The headliners were supposed to be the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and the Foo Fighters. To my fellow students wondering who those three are, yes, I understand. That was the question. 2022 had the same problem. The headliners were Nine Inch Nails, The Strokes (who later backed out due to COVID), and Metallica, and younger attendees had no idea who Nine Inch Nails and Metallica were. 2023 was a similar problem too—Foo Fighters, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Lumineers, Alanis Morrisette, Paramore, and Queens of the Stone Age were headlining. The Lumineers, Paramore, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, sure, but the others, definitely not. It’s a little better this year—they stepped up their game, with acts like Ed Sheeran, Renee Rapp, Young The Giant, Tyler Childers, The Killers, Hozier, Megan thee Stallion, and Chappell Roan. The lineups have been good, so why are people so disappointed? 

There’s one simple answer. It’s way too much money. The one-day pass for General Admission was $140. For one pass. A single, general admission three-day ticket, to attend all weekend, is $389. And that’s not a guarantee you’ll see every artist perform—there are four different stages and quite a distance between them, so if, say, Megan Thee Stallion is playing Sunday on the Green Stage from 6:25 to 7:25, you have 10 minutes to get to the Red Stage if you want to see Hozier. In my humble opinion, it’s a complete waste of time and money. And the food! Memorial weekend is hot. It always has been. Food and drink is expensive. It’s a festival, of course. But again, completely not worth it. Concerts have always been expensive, and they are growing increasingly so—much to the chagrin of everyone but the artists—but this is ridiculous. 

Recently, people have been lamenting about artists no longer coming to Boston despite the number of incredible venues in the area. And it’s true, we see fewer and fewer artists coming to the area every year. Boston Calling has an amazing opportunity to reach both fans and artists, but it lets down the fans. What started as a way to bring Boston together after the marathon bombing is not doing its job.