Organisers have promised to “improve the experience” going forward

Organisers of Boston Calling have responded to audience complaints, which claimed that the 2024 instalment was overcrowded.

This year’s edition of the festival was held over Memorial Day weekend, and took place at the Harvard Athletic Complex. It saw performances from huge acts including The Killers, Megan Thee Stallion, Ed Sheeran, Reneé Rapp and more.

However, many of those in attendance came forward with complaints about how the event was structured, and criticised organisers for struggling with issues of overcrowding and heat.

“Boston Calling [on] Sunday was actually ridiculously unsafe… People were passing out left and right at Hozier’s set and there was a 30 minute line for water,” one visitor wrote on X/Twitter, also adding that they thought it was “way oversold and organized so badly”.

 

Another shared a similar sentiment alongside a video showing the extensive queues festivalgoers had to stand in to get water. “This was an absolute disaster,” they wrote.

A review by journalist Kevin Slane, written for Boston.com, echoed the same message, and criticised the festival organisers for seemingly overbooking the Sunday instalment.

“I’ve been to every single Boston Calling, and I’ve never seen the festival more crowded than it was on Sunday,” the review read. “The number I heard from a few different festival sources was 40,000 people (compared to only 16,000 on Saturday), but it felt like even more than that.”

 

Now, organisers have shared a statement with visitors, and stated that while the event was not overbooked, they are working to make improvements next time around.

“We deeply appreciate the audience, staff, and performers who make Boston Calling possible, and want to acknowledge feedback from Sunday,” the statement read.

“While attendee count was several thousand below the official capacity rating of the site, we never want anyone to feel uncomfortable or unsafe at the show.”

The message continued: “The safety and well-being of our fans, artists, guests and staff is paramount. We will continue to work with public officials and our operations team to improve the experience, layout, and ultimately create a better environment for everyone.”

 

According to various reports, it was primarily the Sunday edition that led to the complaints, and was the busiest day at the festival. It saw headline performances from The Killers and Hozier, as well as appearances from Megan Thee Stallion, Lovejoy, The Revivalists, Chappel Roan, Blondshell, Royel Otis, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram and more.

Last year’s Boston Calling included the headliners Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Paramore, The National, The Lumineers and Alanis Morissette.

NME gave the Foo Fighters’ set a four-star review, writing: “To say the Foo Fighters are reinvigorated would be to suggest that they were somehow on the wane before, but the new dimension and momentum Freese adds to their sound lends them a slickness and weight that will surely see them remaining a rock’n’roll mainstay.”