With 27 bands, five comedians (officially), three days, and three stages, the seventh Boston Calling Music Festival is without question the biggest, most ambitious, and most diverse one yet. And since Robyn is headlining Saturday night, we’re ready to declare it the best. But before we start dancing on our own deep in the concrete bowels of City Hall Plaza, it’s important to note the sheer quality of this weekend’s lineup from top to bottom. Boston Calling added an impressive array of local talent, from folky guitar-rock trio Palehound and future hip-hop superstar Michael Christmas on the big stage to comedians like Lamont Price and Ken Reid delivering the ha-ha on the side. The headliners — Haim, Disclosure, Janelle Monae, Sia, and that aforementioned Swedish superstar — all reflect the current climate of pop music like few of the fests before it. And we even hear there’s a new Boston Calling beer. While you lick your lips for all that, drink up our official Boston Calling preview, with staff selections on just who we are most excited to party with this weekend.
Lisa Hannigan, Friday at 7 p.m.
By Michael Christopher
Much like her sometimes languidly paced music, it’s taken Lisa Hannigan a bit to extract herself from the shadow cast by being the deferential foil to the angst of fellow Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice, a position she hasn’t held in about eight years. Following two critically acclaimed solo efforts, both of which were award-winning in her home country, she may be poised for a breakthrough on these shores for record number three as it’s slated to be at least a partial collaboration with The National’s Aaron Dessner, a co-curator of Boston Calling. Titled At Swim, and due out in mid-August, it will be Hannigan’s first LP since 2011’s Passenger. In the time since, she has kept busy doing film and television soundtrack work, while laying the foundation for the new album with Dessner hit an uptick in the past several months, culminating with several live festival appearances together where they’ve been debuting material.
