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In MusicSpotlight

Daylight Saving: 12 acts to catch at Boston Calling ’18 before the sun sets

By Michael O'Connor Marottaon

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Studio 52 is a community artist space located in the heart of Allston, and is proud to support the Boston music scene and local artist community.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated with the latest festival info and set times. Featured Big Thief image by Shervin Lainez.

A day before Boston Calling Music Festival released its full lineup, the headliners were apparently accidentally leaked online by one of the FM radio stations in town. It gave an early glimpse into the top-billing anchors of this spring's festival, going down May 25 to 27 at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, and fired up the usual debates over quality and relevancy.

But it turns out the real juice for Boston Calling '18 was hidden underneath the big-font bigwigs (Eminem, The Killers, and Jack White, with notables like Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, The National, Khalid and Tyler, The Creator on Line 2). This year's Boston Calling has maybe its strongest undercard ever, meaning a lot of the anticipated highlights will be going down while the sun is still up.

RELATED: Mass Education: Natalie Portman rolls out guest lineup for Boston Calling

Sure, we can't wait to hear The Killers play songs off Hot Fuss, Eminem's first show in Boston in 13 years should be all sorts of "Fuck Trump" fun, and Jack White is gonna Jack White the shit out of all of us whether we like it or not. But those daytime hours are where the magic truly is, and we've picked 11 bands and artists, out of the overall 45, that we are most excited about. We might come up with another 11 by the weekend.

For stage information, hit the cheap sheet way down below.

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Stormzy, Sunday @ 5:55 p.m.

UPDATE: Stormzy has bailed “due to illness,” replaced by Boston rapper Cousin Stizz.

Will this be the year U.K. grime kicks in the doors of the U.S.A.? We certainly don’t know, but we do know that London’s Stormzy will bring an entirely different flavor to Boston Calling that we don’t really see elsewhere on the flyer, one that scratches both the EDM and hip-hop itch in one full flick. On the strength of frantic debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, the British emcee of Ghanian descent was named Artist of the Year at the 2017 BBC Music Awards, defeating the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lorde in the process. Gang Signs & Prayer was also the first grime record to hit Number 1 in the British charts, a massive score for a scene that’s remained relatively underground and just outside the mainstream.

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Follow Michael Marotta on Twitter @vMichaelv; featured Brockhampton photo courtesy of Boston Calling.

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