Confirmed: Rage Against the Machine Is on the 2020 Boston Calling Lineup

What to expect at the festival this year, including some Boston rock royalty and an all-local comedy showcase.

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The dream of the ’90s is alive at Boston Calling. At least that’s the case when it comes to the festival’s 2020 headliners, who are not two, but three of the biggest acts popularized in the decade. After rumors swirled about this a few weeks ago, we finally have confirmation that Rage Against the Machine has been booked for the three-day event, joining Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers at the top of the bill.

When the festival returns to the Harvard Athletic Complex over Memorial Day Weekend, it’ll have a heavy dose of local talent, including the almighty Dinosaur Jr., Lowell-based electropop outfit PVRIS, Boston shoegaze band the Sheila Divine, and Boston underground industrial hip hop group Camp Blood. Twelve DJs, who also all hail from the Boston area, are slated to perform as well. Notably, the lineup includes Best of Boston winning rapper Cliff Notez, who publicly beefed with Boston Calling last year over its lineup’s lack of local hip hop and hosted a competing event in Dorchester, called Boston Answering.

You may recognize some Boston Calling alums on the lineup. Run the Jewels will be making their third appearance, and Brittany Howard will be back for seconds, after she performed with Alabama Shakes in 2015.

Comedy fans will also notice a shift at this year’s festival. While Boston Calling has hosted some big names in the past— among them Michael Che, Fred Armisen, and Jenny Slate—all the talent this year is from the Boston area, including friend-of-the-mag Lamont Price. “There’s a lot of great talent in this town, so I think it should be on display,” says Price, who has helped organize the festival’s comedy programming since 2016, and says he’s loved the opportunity to perform for gigantic crowds. “The reach is remarkable and it’s pretty dope that there’s gonna be some more local flair this year.”

Comics will no longer perform in the festival’s Arena area, a Harvard hockey rink that for the past several years has been used both for stand-up comedy and DJ sets. Boston Calling isn’t saying much about specifics, but a spokeswoman confirms comedians “will perform in a new area.” As for the Arena itself, Boston Calling is promising some “exciting new Arena programming” is in store, but that’s still hush-hush as well.

Single-day tickets are not yet available, but three-day passes are on sale now for $399 for general admission, $949.99 for VIP, and $1,999 for platinum.

Friday May 22, 2020

Foo Fighters

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit

Brittany Howard

Noname

The Struts

Sharon Van Etten

PUP

Andrew W.K.

Iann Dior

The Districts

Brutus

Pony Bradshaw

The Sheila Divine

DJs

Liz Ladoux

DJ Knife & DJ Joshua Carl

Bearly Yvng (Big Bear & YVNG PAVL)

DJ Ryan Brown

Comedians

Alingon Mitra

Will Smalley

Sam Ike

Emily Ruskowski

Shawn Carter

Drew Dunn

Katie Que

Saturday May 23, 2020

Rage Against The Machine

Run The Jewels

Banks

Koffee

Pink Sweat$

Dave

Orville Peck

RJD2

Jay Som

Girl in Red

Phony Ppl

Dreamers

Camp Blood

DJs

DJ Frank White

BREK.ONE

DJ J-Wall

DJ Guru Sanaal

Comedians

Orlando Baxter

Andrew Mayer

Al Park

Katlin McFee

Peter Martin

J Smitty

Sunday May 24, 2020

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The 1975

Liam Gallagher

Angels & Airwaves

LP

Phoebe Bridgers

Dinosaur Jr.

PVRIS

Beabadoobee

Jack Harlow

Mew

Djo

Cliff Notez

DJs

DJ 7L

DJ RM

ReaL P

DJ Slick Vick

Comedians

Lamont Price

Hanna Evensen

Sean Sullivan

Jason Cordova

Will Noonan

Tooky Kavanagh