From Boston Calling: Friday Sound Bites

Oliver Tree

Fans from far and wide traversed the Eliot Bridge for the first time in three years to attend the three-day Boston Calling Music Festival. Among the highly anticipated acts was Oliver Tree’s iconic performance on the Delta Airlines Blue Stage. The Santa Cruz, Calif., native took to the stage wearing his signature purple-pink windbreaker and blonde wig, surrounded by his band who were similarly dressed to form a trio of Oliver clones. Tree proudly proclaimed that Boston was his favorite place to perform, referencing his March performance at House of Blues. Among some of the songs Tree performed, were “Alien Boy” from his 2020 album “Ugly Is Beautiful” and the 2016 single “When I’m Down'' stood out as most charismatic, getting the crowd fired up for the rest of the sunny day.

By Courtesy of Alisa Regassa

HAIM

Boston Calling veteran HAIM warmed up the Green stage in advance of Friday’s headliner. The trio, consisting of sisters Este, Alana, and Danielle Haim worked the crowd with a collection of soft rock tracks off their most recent album, “Women in Music Pt. III.” With songs like “The Steps” and “Gasoline,” HAIM had the audience singing along between impressive musical numbers and a dance break. While HAIM’s studio tracks pull inspiration from indie pop, the band is known for embracing and highlighting rock influences in their live performances. Songs like “My Song 5” and “Up From A Dream” were imbued with heavier instrumentation in their live renditions as each of the sisters rapidly switched between, drums, keys, and guitar. This proved to be a perfect match for the many rock enthusiasts in Boston Calling’s audience.

By Courtesy of Alisa Regassa

Rüfüs Du Sol

Friday’s last act to grace the Red Stage was the Australian trio Rüfüs Du Sol. With Tyrone Lindqvist on vocals and guitar, Jon George on the keyboards, and James Hunt on the drums, the EDM house band swathed the Boston crowd in impeccable vibes. With an impressive 90 minute setlist that featured hit songs like “You Were Right” from their 2015 “Bloom” album, Rüfüs lit up Harvard Athletic Complex as the sun went down. Using hallucinogenic strobe lights that distorted and fractured their appearance, they took advantage of the dark sky to put their stage effects to good use.

—Staff writer Alisa S. Regassa can be reached at alisa.regassa@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alisaregassa. Staff writer Jen A. Hughes can be reached at jen.hughes@thecrimson.com. You can find her on twitter @JenHughes_.