Lineup: Tool/Weezer/Major Lazer/Cage the Elephant/Run the Jewels/Flatbush Zombies/Converge/The Hotelier/Numerous Others
Venue: Harvard Athletic Complex, Allston, MA
Date: May 27th, 2017
The Hotelier: As someone who hadn't heard a note of their music prior to seeing them live, I can say that the hype The Hotelier has picked up in indie/emo circles over the past few years is completely justified. The emotion that drives every one of their songs reminds me of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me-era Brand New and vocalist Christian Holden has a really distinct voice that fits the melancholy tone of their music incredibly well. After blindly ignoring the praise for their last two LP's (2014's Home, Like Noplace Is There and 2016' Goodness), this set was all the convincing I needed to finally check out The Hotelier's studio material.
Converge: Mathcore pioneers Converge they didn't let their status as an extreme metal outlier on an indie rock-heavy festival prevent them from wreaking their typical levels of havoc. Despite playing on a massive stage in front of a pretty scarce crowd, this show contained every ounce of the beautiful, unrelenting chaos that defines their headlining shows. Even though this was my third time seeing them, the level of intensity that Converge brings to the stage continues to floor me. They're one of the few acts whose I would describe as a force of nature and that gift for creating pure musical destruction paired with their mind-blowing technical prowess makes them one of my favorite bands to see live.
Flatbush Zombies: Screw trying to be eloquent, Flatbush Zombies are fuckin LIT live. The New York hip-hip trio's 50-minute set was exactly the type of non-stop party I wanted at a big festival like this. The rapping from Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick the Architect was spot-on, the setlist was full of bangers and perhaps most importantly, they possess the authentic punk-rock aesthetic that so many other rappers right now try to emulate with little-to-no success. I've rambled on and on in the past about how frustratingly erratic live hip-hop performances can be, so it's always great to see an act that doesn't fuck around and puts forth 110% effort the entire time they're on stage. If it wasn't for the crowd's relatively low energy level, this would've been my favorite set of the day.
Run the Jewels: Death, taxes and Run the Jewels kicking all sorts of ass live are life's only guarantees. The dream team of Killer Mike and El-P delivered an hour-long set of hardcore hip-hop perfection and unlike Flatbush Zombies, the crowd matched their energy every step of the way. The near-identical setlist and rehashing of a majority of the stage banter from their headlining tour in February made this the least enjoyable of the four times I've seen them, but RTJ was still dope as hell.
Cage the Elephant: I only watched these guys because I needed to kill some time before Weezer went on, but they ended up being pretty decent. They had some solid bluesy riffs and their singer's Mick Jagger-esque mannerisms were entertaining to watch. I don't envision myself ever becoming a Cage the Elephant fan, but their live show was a perfectly adequate, inoffensive way to spend 45 minutes at a festival.
Weezer: In my eyes, Weezer was the biggest wild card on this entire festival. I've been nothing more than a casual fan of theirs since my teenage years and they've released a grand total of two albums that I've enjoyed (2014's Everything Will Be Alright in the End and 2016's The White Album) since Y2K hit, so I wouldn't have been the least surprised if they ended up not making much of an impression on me. Not only did Weezer not underwhelm, they ended up putting on one of my favorite sets of the day. Their set was essentially a 75-minute journey through the biggest hits of their nearly 30-year career and while you could certainly accuse of them pandering to the festival crowd, it was an exhilarating blast of pure nostalgia. The combination of the band's musical precision and frontman Rivers Cuomo's geeky energy made me feel like I was seeing them on the Blue Album or Pinkerton tour. I'm a moron for doubting Weezer's ability as a live act and I would go see them again without hesitation.
Tool: On a day that was full of excellent performances, a letdown was bound to happen. Unfortunately, that letdown came in the form of Boston Calling's top headliner Tool.
To be fair, the issues that bogged down Tool's set had pretty much nothing to do with the band itself. The combination of the spot I was standing in near the back right of the festival's main stage area (I wasn't willing to skip out on Weezer and Run the Jewels in order to secure a spot near the front) and a wonky PA system made around 90% of Tool's set an auditory nightmare. The first two songs of the set ("The Grudge" and "Parabola") were borderline inaudible and after they turned the sound up to a more reasonable volume prior to the start of "Schism", the guitars and vocals alternated between being super loud and really quiet for the next hour or so. By the time these issues subsided shortly after the start of "Vicarious", the set was pretty much over and the damage had already been done. Tool clearly can't be blamed for problems with the festival's sound system, but those issues with the PA still put an undeniable damper on the quality of their set.
Of course for a band of Tool's caliber, a shitty sound mix wasn't enough to completely derail their performance. Tool is the closest thing the metal community has to a jam band and their live show emphasizes why they are the biggest psychedelic weirdos in heavy music. The parade of inexplicably strange imagery that floods their wall-to-wall video backdrop and vocalist Maynard James Keenan's minimalist, oddball stage presence (he stood in the back of the stage next to the drum riser for the duration of the set) perfectly matches the trippy, instrumental-driven vibe of their music. The restrained, hallucinatory vibe that drives Tool's shows is the complete antithesis of the genre's traditionally high-energy atmosphere and I doubt I'll ever experience anything like it from another metal band as long as I live.
Tool's musicianship was also unsurprisingly outstanding. Their rhythm section of bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey was among the tightest I've ever seen play live and when I could actually hear him, Keenan's vocals sounded fantastic. I've always admired Tool as musicians, but seeing them pull their material off without any hiccups has sent that respect level into the stratosphere. While it was far from perfect, it was cool to finally get to experience Tool's renowned visual/laser show and superb musicianship in person.
Scores:
The Hotelier 7.5/10
Converge 9.5/10
Flatbush Zombies 9/10
Run the Jewels 9/10
Cage the Elephant 6/10
Weezer 9/10
Tool 8/10
Setlists:
Converge:
Dark Horse
Aimless Arrow
The Broken Vow
Trespasses
All We Love We Leave Behind
Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast
Reap What You Sow
Glacial Pace
Eagles Become Vultures
Concubine
Jane Doe
Flatbush Zombies:
The Odyssey
Bounce
New Song
This is It
Trade-Off
New Song
Glorious Thugs
New Phone, Who Dis?
New Song
Bath Salt (A$AP Mob cover)
Palm Trees
Run the Jewels:
Talk to Me
Legend Has It
Call Ticketron
Blockbuster Night Part 1
Oh My Darling Don't Cry
Nobody Speak (DJ Shadow cover)
Hey Kids (Bumaye)
Stay Gold
Don't Get Captured
Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)
Panther Like a Panther
Lie, Cheat, Steal
A Report to the Shareholders
Down
Run the Jewels
Weezer:
Hash Pipe
My Name is Jonas
Pork and Beans
Feels Like Summer
Memories
Hey Ya! (Outkast cover)
(If You're Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You to
Perfect Situation
Troublemaker
Thank God for Girls
Beverly Hills
Dope Nose/Back to the Shack/Keep Fishin'/The Good Life/Surf Wax America (medley)
Undone-The Sweater Song
Island in the Sun
I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Mike Posner cover)
King of the World
Say it Ain't So
Buddy Holly
Tool:
The Grudge
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Aenema
Jambi
Third Eye
Forty Six & 2
Sweat
Vicarious
Stinkfist
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