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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STL GLD, Sunday @ 1 p.m.

Riding high off a monster 2017, in which they released the Boston Music Awards’ Album of the Year in Torch Song and had the entire city talking about their performance at the awards ceremony in December, STL GLD continue Boston’s hip-hop time in the Boston Calling spotlight. In 2016 it was Michael Christmas, last year it was Cousin Stizz, and this year it’s emcee and lyricist Moe Pope and producer The Arcitype showing the kids rolling up for Eminem how we do it in the clubs. Pope’s on-stage battle cry of “Peace!” and social awareness will not be lost on the young crowd amassed at the athletic grounds. Our one request to organizers is this: While STL GLD are certainly capable of getting the party started, we wish they were performing later in the day to as many people as possible. Alas, they kick off Sunday, so roll up early.

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

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