Boston’s meteoric rise as a music festival destination continues with Converse’s announcement of a new five-day mini-festival being hosted at the intimate 525-person venue, The Sinclair in Harvard Square. Oh, and it’s completely free.
The Converse Rubber Tracks series, which has hosted free shows at the venue before, has snagged acts that could easily fill a venue three times its size including The Replacements, Passion Pit, Dinosaur Jr., Slayer and Descendents in celebration of their new world headquarters in the city. The series will run from April 27 through May 1.
“We knew when we were moving into Boston that we wanted to do something that really celebrated the move and the local community and wanted to give something back,” Jed Lewis, Converse’s global music marketing director, told the Boston Globe upon the fest’s announcement. “It’s important for us to be active in the creative community.”
Chance the Rapper is bound to be another big ticket.
The Converse Rubber Tracks concert series is yet another high-profile event enhancing the city’s growing reputation as a festival-friendly location, joining the ranks of other major events like Boston Calling, Summer Arts Weekend, Together Boston, and Life is good. Just five years ago, Boston was pegged by many bookers as a tough place to put up a large-scale music event but this festival resurgence in addition to a crop of successful local bands is bringing Boston back to the forefront of the music-lover’s consciousness.
As with any free show, the competition for tickets is going to be fierce to secure a spot, but Converse is prepared with an online lottery system that opens this coming Monday at noon. Users must register and select a chance at two tickets for one of the five nights. Registration closes next Wednesday at noon, and those receiving tickets will be selected at random and informed beginning that evening. Converse is saying that due to interest, it’s likely that some will get shut out from the event, but such is the nature of the beast.
Slayer will be headlining the third night of the festival.
Excited yet? Here’s the lineup at The Sinclair for the five-night festival – start drafting your picks for best lineup now!
April 27: The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., the Young Leaves
April 28: Passion Pit, Baths, Radclyffe Hall
April 29: Slayer, Doomriders, Rozamov
April 30: Chance the Rapper, Action Bronson, Michael Christmas
May 1: Descendents, King Tuff, Bent Shapes
[h/t Boston Globe]
