Not everyone, it seems, is delighted with the demographics of this year’s Boston Calling lineup.
Among those performing at the three-day music festival in May are headliners Luke Combs, Fall Out Boy, and Dave Matthews Band, and the online reaction is decidedly mixed. The chief complaint seems to be that the roster of acts, which also includes Public Enemy, T-Pain, TLC, Sheryl Crow, Sublime, and The Black Crowes is, well, old.
“This would be such a good lineup if it were 2009,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.
“I remember when Boston Calling used to have dope lineups,” wrote another.
The festival, which takes place over Memorial Day Weekend at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, typically draws an all-ages crowd, and it likely will again this year. But the inclusion of so many acts whose heyday was decades ago is being met with a chorus of boos. For example, Crow’s biggest hit, “All I Wanna Do,” was released in 1993; Public Enemy’s landmark LP, “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” came out more than 35 years ago; and DMB have been at it long enough that they’re already enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“The 90s called and they want their lineup back,” one person wrote on Instagram.
Of course, there’s some amount of griping every year. Boston Calling, which began at City Hall Plaza in 2013, can’t possibly be cool enough for everyone. “This is my favorite annual post,” one commenter wrote below the festival’s announcement on Facebook. “I get to see all of the know-it-alls complain about the lineup as if anyone cares that you’re not interested in going.”
Festival organizers declined to comment on the criticism, but noted they have a history of featuring acts before they become stars. Chappell Roan, though hardly an unknown when she performed at last year’s Boston Calling, is on another level now. In the release announcing this year’s lineup, organizers said for every established act – and, yes, there are some – there are also several “emerging artists.” They include country singer Max McNown, alt-rock violinist SOFIA ISELLA, and R&B/soul/hip-hop ensemble SNACKTIME.
Mark Shanahan can be reached at mark.shanahan@globe.com.