Boston Calling 2022: The Chelsea Curve, Dutch Tulips, Paper Tigers
The trio of Boston bands are part of a healthy homegrown lineup at this weekend's Boston Calling Music Festival
Boston Calling Music Festival returns this weekend after a two-year absence (hey, you know why!), and the trio of headliners — Metallica, The Strokes, and Nine Inch Nails — are sure to turn each festive day a fairly late night at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston. But there’s plenty to see during the afternoons across a healthy homegrown slate and solid undercard, and included are a trio of bands from the publi*sist network: The Chelsea Curve, Dutch Tulips, and Paper Tigers.
Get properly amped up by checking out some sights and sounds from each band below, and score ticket information for Boston Calling 2022 over at bostoncalling.com.
If you’re not attending, tune in to UncertainFM all weekend long as the Boston-based privateer radio station broadcasts live from the festival grounds.
The Chelsea Curve: Friday at 2:55 p.m. on the Tivoli Audio Orange Stage
The Boston mod-pop trio just returned from a series of shows in London and Liverpool, bringing their stylish British Invasion-inspired punk to the masses across the Atlantic. Now, they show it all off here at home, taking the stage a few short weeks after releasing debut record All The Things via Red On Red Records. The Chelsea Curve spent most of last year unveiling The Singles Scene, a monthly series of new music that delivered eight raucous singles, and sing-along / shout-along guitar bangers like “Top It Up” and “Girl Cavedog” should sound wonderful under the midday sun. Look sharp.
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Dutch Tulips: Saturday at 2:55 p.m. on the Tivoli Audio Orange Stage
Not all bands can make home any stage they play, from the intimate clubs to major outdoor music festivals, but Dutch Tulips’ expansive and elastic indie-pop should fill the air with a frenetic bounce. Having just wrapped up a three-month residency series at The Jungle in Somerville, Dutch Tulips are ready to show off 2021 debut album Double Visions to the festival crowd, kickstarting a direct line of sonic DNA that extends across the Boston Calling lineup to the likes of Weezer and Modest Mouse. Tracks like “Sick Middle” and “Tell Me Your Codes” jump as high as the clouds with frantic excitement, so the open-air environment should serve Dutch Tulips well.
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Paper Tigers: Sunday at 2:50 p.m. on the Tivoli Audio Orange Stage
Fresh off last week’s release of electric EP I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me This Sooner, the Allston alt-rock and indie band feels like a dynamic force to be reckoned with. Paper Tigers are one of the more talked-about bands coming out of Boston in 2022, building upon late-’21 breakout record A Schism Cataclysm with anthemic, arena-ready sounds that are tailor-made for the festival circuit. The indie grandeur of singles like “A Portrait of a Scene” and “Goldmine” can rattle against the sky and corral the curious, giving the quartet, who all lives less than two miles from the Harvard Athletic Complex, a home field advantage like no other.
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