Music

Here are the songs to know ahead of Boston Calling 2024

From big stars to local bands, these are the songs to stream before the festival.

Katie McGinness and Brian Madigan take a photo in front of the Boston Calling welcome arch at Boston Calling May 27, 2023. Erin Clark/Globe Staff

By Kristina DaPonte

May 20, 2024

3 minutes to read

It’s almost Memorial Day Weekend, which means it’s almost time for Boston Calling.

The music festival, taking place from May 24-26 at the Harvard Athletic Complex, will bring over 50 unique bands and artists to Boston. From internationally-known names to local New England artists, Boston Calling’s lineup spans genres and generations.

Much of the lineup is made up of local artists, who often take to the venue’s Orange Stage to share their music with the audiences looking to discover new bands and singers. Bigger artists, such as Hozier and Ed Sheeran, have fan-favorite tunes that always attract a crowd.

These 21 local artists are a must-see at Boston Calling 2024

The lineup may also give audiences a collaborative performances or two: Reneé Rapp (Friday) and Megan Thee Stallion (Sunday) could take the stage together for their song “Not My Fault” from the 2024 “Mean Girls” movie, while Leon Bridges (Friday) and Khruangbin (Saturday) could come together to perform “Texas Sun” or “Mariella.”

We’ve created a list of the top songs to know from each artist performing at Boston Calling before the festival kicks off. We combined artists’ most-streamed songs on Spotify and some of their most recent singles with recommendations from the Boston.com staff. A Spotify playlist with all listed songs can be found below.

Songs to know ahead of Boston Calling 2024

Friday, May 24

Ed Sheeran: “Shape of You,” “Shivers,” “Eyes Closed”
Leon Bridges: “River,” “Beyond,” “Motorbike”
Reneé Rapp: “Pretty Girls,” “Too Well,” “I Hate Boston,” “Tummy Hurts”
Young the Giant: “Cough Syrup,” “Mind Over Matter,” “Superposition”
Luke Hemmings: “Shakes,” “Close My Eyes,” “Benny”
David Kushner: “Daylight,” “Hero,” “Mr. Forgettable,” “Skin and Bones”
Cannons: “Fire for You,” “Bad Dream,” “Loving You”
Beach Weather: “Sex, Drugs, Etc.,” “Chit Chat,” “Swoon”
Ric Wilson: “Wake Up, Get Down,” “Electric Photograph,” “WHOA WAIT”
Madi Diaz: “Resentment,” “New Person, Old Place,” “Don’t Do Me Good”
MARIS: “Was It A Dream?” “Crashland,” “Voicemail”
Divine Sweater: “I Knew You Better,” “2×2,” “Waste My Time,” “Deep Side”
Kieran Rhodes: “Disengage,” “What Got Into You,” “Song Within a Song (I Don’t Really Wanna Know)”
kei: “berserk,” “made me,” “sick asf”
JVK: “My Own Man,” “Good Talk,” “Body Double”
Justin Clancy: “The Bottom Line,” “Run from the Devil,” “Strip Mall”
The Wolff Sisters: “Down by the Lake,” “Leave This Town,” “Hurricane”

Saturday, May 25

Tyler Childers: “All Your’n,” “Lady May,” “Going Home,” “Feathered Indians”
Trey Anastasio & Classic Tabs: “Clint Eastwood,” “Cayman Review,” “Ether Sunday”
Khruangbin: “Mariella” (with Leon Bridges), “Texas Sun (with Leon Bridges),” “People Everywhere (Still Alive)”
Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls: “I Still Believe,” “Recovery,” “Do One,” “Girl From The Record Shop”
Jessie Murph: “Always Been You,” “Pray,” “Son of a B*tch”
d4vd: “Romantic Homicide,” “Here With Me,” “Sleep Well”
The Red Clay Strays: “Wondering Why,” “Good Godly Woman,” “Stone’s Throw”
Tanner Usrey: “Come Back Down,” “Beautiful Lies,” “Take Me Home”
Bad Rabbits: “Can’t Fool Me,” “Royal Flush,” “Goin Up”
The Castellows: “Heartline Hill,” “Hurricane,” “Cowboy Kind of Love,” “No. 7 Road”
Motherfolk: “Kill the Sun,” “Salt Lake City,” “Trying to Kill the Moon”
Senseless Optimism: “Nothin to Me,” “lost my mind (in yours),” “What You Won’t Do for Love,” “IT’S YOU”
ToriTori: “Places,” “Daily,” “Sundown”
Ward Hayden & the Outliers: “Hackensack,” “Write a Song,” “Brilliant Disguise,” “Dancing in the Dark”
Paper Lady: “Five of Swords,” “EVE,” “Winter Comes”
Cakeswagg: “Big Plays,” “Ferb & Phineas,” “Cake Batter”
Highwater Haulers: “Housefire,” “Highway Crosses,” “Puncher’s Chance”

Sunday, May 26

The Killers: “Mr. Brightside,” “Somebody Told Me,” “When You Were Young”
Hozier: “Almost (Sweet Music),” “Too Sweet,” “Take Me to Church,” “Work Song,” “Would That I”
Megan Thee Stallion: “HISS,” “Savage,” and “BOA”
The Revivalists: “Wish I Knew You,” “Soulfight,” “It Was A Sin”
Alvvays: “Archie, Marry Me,” “Dreams Tonite,” “Adult Diversion”
Lovejoy: “One Day,” “Call Me What You Like,” “Perfume”
Chappell Roan: “Femininomenon,” “Good Luck, Babe!” “HOT TO GO!” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Guilty Pleasure,” “My Kink Is Karma”
Blondshell: “Salad,” “Kiss City,” “Olympus”
Royel Otis: “Oysters In My Pocket,” Sofa King,” “Kool Aid”
The Heavy Heavy: “Go Down River,” “Real Love Baby,” “Miles And Miles”
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram: “Outside Of This Town,” “Been Here Before,” “662”
Francis of Delirium: “Quit F*cking Around,” “Blue Tuesday,” “Give It Back to Me”
STEFAN THEV: “ghouls! zombies! skeletons!” “sparks don’t fly!” “sex! money! violence!”
The Thing: “Midnight,” “Beige Bouquet,” “Dixie Queen”
Fleshwater: “Kiss the Ladder,” “Closet,” “The Razor’s Apple”
Zola Simone: “Old Soul,” “Easy,” “Pirouette”
Billy Dean Thomas: “Valentine,” “We All Go Up,” “Tina Turnup”
Tysk Tysk Task: “Intolerable,” “Colors,” “Rosegold”

Here are the songs to know ahead of Boston Calling 2024

From big stars to local bands, these are the songs to stream before the festival.

These 21 local artists are a must-see at Boston Calling 2024