Let’s get this straight – Governors Ball is a young person’s festival. A three-day bracelet is the status symbol to have for high schoolers across NYC. The biggest lines were for the cookie dough vendors, the mozzarella sticks and the mochi ice cream. There was a bigger line at the candy bar than at any beer vendor all weekend. Even the fest veterans insist that the crowds are getting younger and younger each year.
There are a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost is the music – Gov Ball does a great job of staying on top of artists that are incredibly current. Almost every act on stage had a release that dropped within the last month or two. Popularity is measured in number of streams, or views, instead of traditional album sales. This leads to a focus on up-and-coming rappers, DJs, dance acts, pop stars and young rock bands. Secondly, the venue is accessible by foot. One can’t drive to Gov Ball, so New Yorkers of all ages can take public transportation and walk over the Triborough Bridge to the festival. Thirdly, the festival is chock full of activities for teenagers and 20 somethings – mini golf, Instagram promotions, giant jenga games, balloon art, free cans of Coke, vitamin water, candy, and Subway sandwiches to name a few. Lastly, it can be tough on older folks as there are virtually no places to sit – if you go to Gov Ball for the entire line-up, you may find yourself on your feet for 12 hours or so (including the walk across the bridge).
Although Gov Ball offers a diverse range of music including rock, rap, EDM, dance, roots, and pop, and presents both up-and-coming, established and at the top of their game artists, it was the rap/hip hop acts that drew the most enthusiasm from the crowd. Chance the Rapper, Schoolboy Q, Rae Sremmurd, Childish Gambino, Logic and Wiz Khalifa were all as packed as any stage at any festival imaginable. Even Tool, who got top festival billing and drew a strong, loyal crowd was less crowded than the acts mentioned above. Most festivals draw on a fair number of local acts – especially for the early timeslots. Gov Ball 2017 didn’t seem to subscribe to this practice as there seemed to be more British acts than acts from NYC.
Although Gov Ball draws 50,000 attendees each day, it is an extremely manageable music festival. While the festival is spread out along the north side of Randall’s Island (a recreational island in between Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens), it feels compact and easy to maneuver to all the activities, food and music. There are only four stages and never more than two acts playing at a time. Even so, the longest walk from the front row of the Gov Ball NYC stage to the front row of the Honda stage will only cost you five minutes. There is a downside to this as well, if the two bands playing at the same time have significantly different sized fan bases, the result can be most of the festival-goers crowded into a single stage. The festival has a very New York atmosphere – with quotations and fun facts about NYC on the jumbotron between sets, views of the City in one direction and of the Triborough Bridge in another, food truck culture, and cool kid vibe.
Friday
The first day of Gov Ball started out slow as the crowd filtered in from work and school. By around six pm, the majority of the festival goers had arrived. The sun was shining for most of the day and the temperature was in the mid 70s. The festival had done a nice job of laying fresh, thick green sod which made the grounds look great and gave folks a relaxing place to sprawl out. The festival was also chock-full of large art installations which lit up as the sun went down. Those who arrived early got the treat of an adorable Australian/Zimbabwean Tkay Maidza’s prancing around the stage with the biggest smile with her dance and rap. As for the music, there were four acts that separated themselves from the rest of the pack:
Judah & the Lion – This Nashville-based band channel the hip-hop they grew up with through their traditional folk instruments (banjo, mandolin, guitar, drums and occasional accordion). They delivered an energetic set and really connected with the audience. Lead singer Judah Akers never stopped moving – spinning and throwing himself all over the stage. And the music is all over the place too, but in a really good way. At one point Judah Akers said, “I know some of you come to festivals to see your favorite band and others come to discover new bands, so we’re going to play a song you all know so we are all on the same level. This was our favorite song in fourth grade.” And then the band kicked off a great rendition of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. Late in the set, Akers climbed down to the rail and then threw himself into the crowd for a sing and a crowd surf; meanwhile mandolin player Brain Macdonald climbed the stage scaffolding and hung out over the crowd before sprinkling his water bottle over the fans. As the set closed, they launched into “Going to Mars,” getting the crowd to chant “We Can Do Anything” and finally ending with a raucous “Take It All Back.” That infectious song became an ear worm for the weekend, but again, in a really good way.
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires – The 68-year-old “Screaming Eagle of Soul”, performing again after his recent bout with cancer, delivered an emotional performance on the Bacardi stage. His set was complete with fabulous costumes (a red ensemble which evoked Michael Jackson and a silver lame suit that Elvis would have been proud to wear), sultry hip gyrations that might make Miley Cyrus blush, powerful soul vocals and some strong social commentary. At one point he spoke directly to the crowd talking to “believers” and “non-believers” alike, “God made the white rose, then the yellow rose, then the red rose, but I need all of you to do me a favor – don’t forget the black rose! We all need to take care of each other.” at which point he ran to the drum set and grabbed a bunch of roses and threw them one by one to the crowd. He was backed by a six-piece band that kept the crowd moving even during his costume change.
Michael Kiwanuka’s warm vocals saturated the Big Apple stage to a decent crowd – the first two rows of which seemed to be young white women who were all singing every word of every song. If the irony of them all singing “I’m a Black Man in a White World” was lost on him, it wasn’t on his lead guitar player or the five black security guards facing the crowd. His voice is gorgeous; he writes beautiful and passionate songs, and the music is full and complex. His set was touching and felt intimate. He closed out with a Hendrix cover – “May This Be Love (Waterfalls)” and then launched into the title track of his recent album Love & Hate.
Schoolboy Q brought lots of energy to his set with his rapid-fire style and aggressive flow that inspired several mosh pits to open up around the Honda stage. He played most of his hits including “That Part and Collard Greens” and gave several heartfelt shout-outs to the late A$AP Yams who helped give Schoolboy Q his start.
Other notable acts were MUNA who featured a deep voice to go along with her pop songs; Francis and the Lights who brought fans sprinting to the stage when Chance the Rapper sat in for his last electronica-infused pop number, May I Have This Dance; Tove Lo who danced all over the stage and into the crowd; Kelhani who delivered a well-rehearsed and choreographed show; and Flume who took full advantage of Gov Ball’s brand new Honda stage which featured a 3D projection system that projected images that were extraordinary.
Surely others will debate this point, but to this audience member, both Lorde and Chance the Rapper fell a bit flat and although they had moments of energy, neither seemed to provide the wow factor that the audience was awaiting. Lorde dramatically entered in black lace with her head and shoulders covered in a white veil and mid first song uncovered to reveal her full beauty including glittered eyes and hands. She was backed by dancers in a large glass box mounted on stage behind her. She strutted the stage and belted out both her hits – “Royals” and “Team” – as well as new songs from Melodrama, her new album releasing later this month, a standout being “Liability,” which had an edge. Lorde closed with soon-to-be-summer hit “Green Light.”
Chance’s set started with promise as he rode in on a green motor bike to “Mixtape” and dismounted with a semi-orchestrated crash. He seemed happy to be there, connected with the crowd, and worked the full stage. His set included “Angels, No Problem,” and a compilation of Kanye West songs, and he returned a favor when he brought Francis & the Lights up for a reprise of “May I Have This Dance.” “Same Drugs,” his lament about a lost love, had many of his fans in tears. His show featured a range of realistic and animated backdrops as well as smoke and lights. However, much of the rest of the set was uneven with peaks and valleys of energy.
Saturday
Saturday was the day to get to Gov Ball on time. The first four bands were all great and worthy of more than the 30 or 45 minute sets they were granted. British VANT played their first US date ever and this four-piece driving rock/punk band delivered a strong and political performance. Willing to take on integration, homophobia, sexism, Donald Trump and everything else wrong with the world, they poured through a ton of songs from their 2017 release Dumb Blood. Unfortunately, they were so good, it allowed a little time to run to catch the end of Jessie Reyez (more on her below). The second time slot brought on the heavy sound of Welles, Jehsea Wells’ band, on the Big Apple stage, a contrast to the dreamy and delicious pop of Lo Moon in the Barcardi tent.
Other Saturday standout performances were:
BANKS commanded the Bacardi stage with her mesmerizing vocals and stage show. Dressed in black and veiled, she entered the stage flanked by two dancers encased in simple costumes of black stretchy netting. BANKS and the two dancers danced as one pulsating mass of humanity as well as separately. The dancers were on stage for many of the numbers to great effect. he was also backed by a drummer and a keyboard/guitar player. The songs were powerful, the choreography was emotive, and her connection to the audience was intense. At one point she asked the audience, who wanted to capture every image, if they could put away their phones for one song and share that song with her. She was both confidentially empowered and humbly thankful for being able to perform.
Rae Sremmurd brought their high energy hip-hop chops to the Bacardi stage and delivered the party that many of the other hiphop acts like YG and Wu-Tang Clan talked about, but didn’t produce. The Mississippi duo inspired the largest crowd the Bacardi stage saw all weekend to let loose, shouting back lyrics and dancing frenetically for the full sixty-minute set. Within the first three songs, many of the fans that had come to the tent early and garnered the rail opted to be pulled over the fence to return to the safety of the back.
Jessie Reyez and her acoustic guitar that she “copped” from her dad opened the day with personal songs that celebrated womanhood which almost seemed like a pre-emptive retort to the misogynistic lyrics of some of the male rappers yet to perform. Although it was her first festival performance and she was virtually alone with a chair, a microphone and a guitar, she seemed entirely at home on the stage where Childish Gambino would close several hours later. A singer-songwriter but with diverse musical flourishes to her songs, her unique voice stood out. After “closing” with “I Wish I Could Hurt You Back,” she seemed to be granted one more song, so as the stage was being cleared behind her, she crouched down to the stage edge and onto the amps to perform a kickass “Gatekeeper” protesting the sexism of the music industry. Powerful indeed.
Childish Gambino closed the Honda stage to a packed crowd, and as this was the only show he plans to play in 2017, he decided to go all out with a huge band that included keys, vibes, piano, drums, percussion, bass, two guitars and a four person choir. Entering the stage all in white including a head wrap, he shed his shirt early on in the set to the crowd’s delight. His set ran the gamut from hip hop to rap to funk to soul and had fans entranced by all his songs, his prancing and his banter. He finished the night with “Redbone” complete with schtick about bringing a woman to a house party and closing the deal that got some laughs and had the crowd grooving along with him. This was the show not to miss. His set was high energy the entire time; the only blemish on his performance was that he ended a full 15 minutes early which left the crowd wanting more.
There were other notable performances Albanian/British pop singer Dua Lipa who displayed a sultry sounding pop voice that sounded like it could be in the Amy Winehouse family as she played songs from her debut album, Dua Lipa, released the day before including an excellent “Hotter Than Hell”; young British rapper Stormzy who filled the stage and inspired the crowd; and from crowd reviews EDM artist Marshmello delivered on the Honda Stage.
Saturday brought some acts that fell a little flat. Roots rockers The Head and The Heart played a nice set but their energy and music was a tiny bit shy of standing out. YG and Wu-Yang Clan kept talking about how they were going to bring the party, but it became obvious that just saying so doesn’t make it true. Though honestly, “Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nuthing to F’Wit” has been running around the brain since this show. And their influential multiple-MC hip hop let all the young folk experience the roots of 90s rap. Car Seat Headrest played bright sounding guitars juxtaposed with music that was supposed to sound angry but came off more like mainstream pop, though they got rocking towards the end of their set. Saint Motel focused their brand of pop around a drum track that was reminiscent of many 80s pop bands like Depeche Mode. And while Phoenix played decently and the mirror that hung behind them at a 45-degree angle provided an interesting perspective they didn’t bring enough to justify their headlining spot. Mid-set, “Love Like a Sunset” had a heavy sound that finally allowed the music to stand out.
Sunday
It’s hard to talk about an outdoor summer festival without discussing the weather, especially after last year’s unfortunate cancellation of Sunday’s Gov Ball. For fans tracking the weather, it was touch and go all week. Early reports predicted thunderstorms and rain on at least two of the days, but as the week went on the forecast changed daily but always for the better. As it turned out, Friday had a few brief sprinkles, Saturday was perfect and warm, and Sunday brought some rain but nothing putting on a poncho briefly or a good attitude couldn’t handle. When The Orwells hit the stage, a light shower had just stopped and lead singer Mario Cuomo looked up at the sky and cursed it saying “Lighting was in our rider!”
Sunday featured a lineup with more bands with a harder rock edge. This was well reflected by the crowd demographics which seemed to gain an average of 10 years and 30 pounds.
On Sunday the festival was dominated by the Gov Ball NYC stage which featured the best single stage lineup of the whole festival. Of the seven best performances of the day, five hailed from that stage. Logic was the one rapper on the Big Apple stage that delivered superb rhymes, a positive message and incredible flow. He was at times supremely boastful and confident, while at others humbled by the community and jubilation displayed by the audience.
Ron Gallo opened the day playing angsty rock with touches of surf punk and irony. Even though he only had a 30-minute slot, he made the most of it and made a few new fans playing songs from his new Heavy Meta release.
The Orwells played solid rock that was equal parts grunge and alternative rock. They were having so much fun on stage drinking and dancing around they got the audience going with dueling push pits on either side of the sound stage divider. Highlights were “Vacation” and a cover of The Raconteurs’ “Steady, As She Goes.” If this is Orwells-style rock and roll at 1:30 in the afternoon, imagine this band in a club at 1:30 in the morning!
Royal Blood almost stole the show. The all out rock n’ roll energy of this British drum and bass duo had the chops and attitude that kept even the Tool fans satisfied for the full hour set. Bassist Mike Kerr traded basses with every song, and at no point during their set did you find yourself craving a lead guitar.
The next band to dominate the Gov Ball NYC stage was Kentucky to London transplant modern rock stalwarts Cage the Elephant, that featured both their lead singer, Matt Shultz, and lead guitarist Brad Shults making frequent trips into the crowd. Both used every inch of the giant festival stage with Matt full-on sprinting back and forth at times. They kept their energy level turned all the way up from the moment they took the stage to the moment Matt exited the stage via the most impressive crowd surfing display most have witnessed, standing and rolling barefoot and shirtless for about 50 yards from the stage to the soundboard.
The final act of the day was Tool who hadn’t played a NY-area gig for 11 years. The crowd was pumped (many of whom were dressed in Tool garb), the stage was set and Tool delivered a fantastic performance starting with a 12-minute version of “The Grudge.” Many people think of Tool as a heavy metal band and although they pack power, their music is intricate and their playing is incredible. It is hard to decide if the MVP of the band is bassist, Justin Chancellor; drummer, Danny Carey; or guitarist, Adam Jones. Throw in the driving vocals of Maynard James Keenan, who stood in the back in near darkness clad in black storm trooper gear and you can have quite the debate. The highlight of their show was their pounding version of “AEnima” which was dazzling. Seeing bands of this caliber just makes one realize that there’s a reason that certain bands get big and have staying power – they’re professionals who know how to deliver a show.
Earlier in the day on the Big Apple stage Mondo Cozmo “Spelled with a Z because that’s how my dog spells it” performed a solid rock ‘n roll set reminiscent of early U2. They provided one of the more comical moments of the festival when lead singer Josh Ostrander begged someone to go buy him a beer for the $31 that was in his pocket. Midway through the next song, the beer appeared and the money was exchanged. Their current hit “Shine” features Ostrander’s great voice and allows them to build from a simple start. They also played an interesting cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” which was done at a slightly slower and jagged pace that sounded like the song was being bumped down a staircase in a rolling suitcase – somehow it sounded better than the original to this reviewer.
There were other worthy performances on Sunday as well. Closer Wiz Khalifa played a set that alternated between laid back hip hop songs like Pull Up and upbeat anthems like Black and Yellow. If Tool was not your choice, Wiz Khalifa was a fantastic alternative. Phantogram played a solid set with their stylized brand of indie synth rock closing with the catchy “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore.” Parquet Courts (rock), Jack Martini (funky and eclectic “are you making babies yet” R&B) and Warpaint (harmonizing indie rock) all turned in good sets as well.
Gov Ball offers something for all musical tastes. And if you just like good music, you can’t go wrong at any stage. The only problem is maintaining stamina for three straight 12-hour days, finding time to eat and pee, and worrying that you might be missing something great on the other stage. You can often learn a lot about a festival by asking the lost and found workers for their best stories of the weekend. There were two gems offered: One man showed up Saturday morning saying he had lost his cell phone, wallet and cargo shorts the night before, to which the lost and found worker replied, “sounds like you had a good night.” The second story was about a young woman who reported losing a Kate Spade wallet. One matching the description had been turned in, but when questioned, the young woman couldn’t confirm her address or birthday on her ID in the wallet. She then sheepishly admitted that it was her fake ID. Aah to be young again.
One Response
Fantastic review & great overview of Gov Ball. Loved all the pictures