In the rain, full sets don’t matter as much as songs do. Hear me out: Even under the flimsy shelter of a poncho, bearing a stiff upper lip in a festival downpour, you’re more likely to remember how you felt that day than the nuances of every artist’s motions and messaging. Then, enter a song — the song that will make you, a shivering prune of flesh, know that the rain-soaked struggle was worth it. Here are five of those songs from Friday’s busy day at Boston Calling.
Holy Roller, ‘The Chain‘
If executed poorly, “The Chain” can become the nail in the coffin for a festival performer, revealing them as a weak link on a lineup. But if executed with the same fervor as Fleetwood Mac, it’ll be one of the best damn things you hear all day, and Holy Roller know exactly which camp they belong to. The Virginia band had a dynamic enough roster of vocalists to orchestrate a gender-swapped approach to the song’s intricate harmonies; their take on “The Chain” jangled with with all the magic of Fleetwood Mac, minus the divorce. Bonus: Check out our V List interview with the band.
Dalton & the Sheriffs, ‘The Strummer’
When TLC tapped out of Friday’s lineup at the last minute, Boston’s music community came correct. Adding to twangy tunes from headliner Luke Bryan, Max McNown, Sheryl Crow, and Megan Moroney was a stripped-down set from area country act Dalton & the Sheriffs, who appeared as an acoustic duo for the last-minute gig. Nothing could have encapsulated their status as swift stand-ins like “The Strummer,” an original from the band that boasts pride in being a balladeer. It was the day’s true “hometown hero” moment.
Sheryl Crow, ‘A Change Would Do You Good’
There is something exceptionally therapeutic, albeit on the nose, about a communal recitation of the faux-voicemail at an event titled “Boston Calling.” Sheryl Crow’s country-hued rock leaned more towards “soak” than “sun” during Friday night’s set, but the refrain from “A Change Would Do You Good” was a sneaky reminder that a rainy day at a music festival is still better than a balmy day spent in Zoom meetings. All together now, as you hit your phone’s “do not disturb” setting: “Hello, it’s me / I’m not at home / If you’d like to reach me / Leave me alone.”
Megan Moroney, ‘Girl in the Mirror‘
Did anyone really expect the woman selling “Am I Okay?” sweatshirts to not play a tear-jerker? The merch — a nod to Megan Moroney’s 2024 album, also titled Am I Okay? — was a stamp of vulernability that Friday’s cowgirl-boot-clad crowd was eager to flaunt, and the singer reciprocated the openness by reaching back to her 2023 LP Lucky to perform “Girl in the Mirror.” Numb fingers didn’t dampen Moroney’s delivery of the low-key country confessional, which felt as fragile as the raw New England weather.
T-Pain, ‘Bartender’ mixed with ‘Get Low’
Some people might call T-Pain’s Friday evening set a boisterous final curtain for the Friday programming at the Allianz Blue Stage. We call it the ultimate pre-game session for all of the guests prepping for Saturday’s millennial-heavy lineup. There’s a handful of moments from the rapper’s set that could qualify as peak early-aughts material, but a mashup of his song “Bartender” and the Lil Jon/East Side Boyz collab “Get Low” felt like the official introduction to the weekend’s millennial contingent. The only thing that could have induced more nostalgia would have been Lil Jon getting shot out of a canon, hollering “YEEEEAH!” as he rocketed towards Boston Calling’s nearby Ferris Wheel. There’s always next year (weather permitting).
Keep it locked to Vanyaland for all our continuing coverage throughout the weekend.