Boston Calling Returns In 2022 With Headliners Foo Fighters And Rage Against The Machine

If times were the way they used to be, upwards of 40,000 music fans would be descending on Harvard's athletic fields this weekend for Boston Calling. But along with festivals worldwide, the pandemic forced producers to cancel the three-day concert romp both this year and last.

Now – on the eve of what would've been Boston Calling 2021's kick-off – the hosts are announcing two headlining acts for 2022.

The enduring 12-time Grammy Award-winning band Foo Fighters will share the bill with Rage Against the Machine – as they were supposed to in 2020.

Foo Fighters are making the festival rounds this year, including Lollapalooza and Osheaga in July, and Bonnaroo in September. Rage Against the Machine has postponed its reunion tour to 2022. When they come to the Northeast for Boston Calling next year, it will be their only New England performance.

“We couldn’t be happier to return in 2022 and deliver a full-scale festival with two of the world’s most celebrated rock bands as our headliners,” Boston Calling events co-founder and chief executive officer Brian Appel said in the announcement. “We’ve spent the past year working on a festival that our fans can really look forward to, and we’re so excited to share more news and surprises as we get into next year.”

The two-year lag time of Rage Against The Machine's appearance in Boston have given their billing more heft. In the wake of George Floyd's killing a year ago, the band's self-titled debut album reappeared on the U.S. music charts as the racial justice movement embraced the band's anti-racism song “Killing In The Name Of.” Its nearly three decade-old lyrics were written to condemn white supremacy in American society after police officers brutally beat Rodney King in 1991.

Rage Against The Machine also released a short documentary during the pandemic that uses the making of that song to explore institutional racism throughout U.S. history.

Foo Fighters will have new music to unleash on the Boston crowds. The band released an album during the pandemic called “Medicine At Midnight,” so fans will have a chance to hear fresh songs from that recording.

Boston Calling was founded in 2013 at City Hall Plaza and moved to the Harvard Athletic Complex in 2017. The rest of next year's 60-act lineup will be announced in the coming months, along with the festival's third headliner. Early bird ticket packages are now on sale.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Rage Against the Machine's national tour dates. Their reunion tour has been postponed to 2022.