Through a blend of savvy planning and good luck, this year’s edition of Governors Ball arrived in a maelstrom of exciting new music from its artists. Hometown heroes The Strokes released the Future Present Past EP, their first new music in over three years. Kanye West teased G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Winter compilation with “Champions”. Vic Mensa dropped his There’s Alot Going On EP for free if you pledged to vote in November. And of course, the special guest turned out to be new supergroup Prophets of Rage.
With new kid on the block Panorama looming – also at Randall’s Island next July – landing all these timely acts boded well for New York City’s current premier music festival in its first year not run independently. (In an effort to compete with the AEG Live-backed Panorama, GovBall ultimately succumbed and was bought by Live Nation.)
Photo by Ben Kaye
The sprawling, boomerang-shaped festival grounds were relatively easy to navigate, even as crowds began to peak by Saturday afternoon. Art installations memorializing Prince and Lemmy Kilmister stood tall near the main stage. Water refilling stations moved quickly, and lines for bathrooms weren’t outrageously long. And The Infatuation stacked the food lineup with an impressive array of NYC’s favorite restaurants and food trucks, including Wafels and Dinges, Korilla BBQ, Momofuku Milk Bar, and Mighty Quinn’s BBQ. Lines for #govballeeeeeeats did grow long around dinner time, but I never waited more than about 20 minutes for food.
However, all the planning couldn’t anticipate the weekend’s other major story line, (surprise!) the weather. Friday brought near-ideal festival conditions: overcast and cool with the occasional drizzle. Saturday arrived with more stifling heat, which gave way to ominous clouds overhead. Finally, during HAIM and Miguel’s evening sets, the sky opened up, unleashing a torrential downpour on the packed crowds. Because leaving Randall’s Island isn’t especially easy, most fans stuck around till The Killers’ triumphant headlining set, which kicked off magically as the rain finally tapered off.
Photo by Philip Cosores
With thunderstorms forecasted throughout Sunday, the final day was officially canceled “due to severe weather and a high likelihood of lightning in the area.” As dangerous lightning caused injuries at Rock am Ring in Germany this same weekend, it’s hard to blame organizers for not wanting to risk stranding tens of thousands of people on Randall’s Island in the middle of a thunderstorm. This resulted in some of the most anticipated sets of the weekend not going forward, including Kanye West, Vic Mensa, and Prophets of Rage.
Despite the unfortunately abbreviated lineup, dry off and revisit the best and worst moments GovBall had to offer in 2016.
–Killian Young
Staff Writer
Lord Huron
Photo by Killian Young
Easygoing folk music is usually a pretty safe bet for music festivals, but Lord Huron didn’t quite connect during their early evening Saturday spot on the main stage. (The audience partly consisted of early arrivals for later sets by HAIM and The Killers.) To their credit, the Los Angeles folk quartet’s performance was technically sound and showed the band members’ rapport despite not evoking much of a crowd response on tracks like “Lonesome Dreams” and “Meet Me in the Woods”. At last, toward the end of the set, Lord Huron got the crowd moving with their catchiest (although lyrically bleak) track, “Fool for Love”. –Killian Young
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Mac Miller
Photo by Philip Cosores
Mac Miller probably should have been on the main stage. Not sure what it is about dudes nicknamed Mac (see: De Marco as well), but his main crowd easily dwarfed Lord Huron’s and stretched nearly halfway back to the adjacent Big Apple stage. And it makes a lot of sense: Gov Ball is easily one of the most hip-hop-heavy festivals of the year. However, compared to a lot of this year’s stellar lineup, Miller’s music isn’t really up to par. He puts a lot of energy into his set when’s he’s actually performing, but there’s way too many genre cliches. He must have told people to put their hands up nearly every other song and repeatedly asked the crowd to make some noise. That would be cool if he was an old-school rapper or at least had the songs to back up the participation. Hip-hop has always been a tough genre to translate into a live setting, and, while Miller had plenty of time to refine his show, right now he’s sub-par when he should be justifying his late afternoon slot. Maybe next time, Mac. –Edward Dunbar
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M83
Photo by Ben Kaye
It takes determination to wait out a downpour to see a beloved act, so major credit to the fans who stuck around for M83. I’m just not sure it was all that worth it. Anthony Gonzalez and co. were fine, and even occasionally breathtaking in their cinematic orchestrations, but for a closing act that required braving the weather, they did awfully little with what felt like an awful lot. A stunning light show set the mood well; it’s just that mood felt terribly one-note by halfway through the set. The fact that even the notably odder sounds of Junk failed to stand out only underlines how flat the entire show felt — especially with a standout set from the The Killers bleeding in over the damp and muddy fields. –Ben Kaye
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Catfish and the Bottlemen
Photo by Philip Cosores
Rocking the same slacker cool style of The Strokes – who headlined the same stage the night before – charismatic lead singer Van McCann warmed up a small but dedicated main stage audience on Saturday afternoon. On early highlight “Soundcheck”, McCann slung his guitar overhead and head-banged his shaggy hair, while the fans shouted along to the chorus. And Catfish and the Bottlemen deserve credit for sounding even more vibrant live than on recording, from the punchy guitar riff of “Twice” to the bouncy bass and thumping drum line on “Tyrants”. –Killian Young
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Bloc Party
Photo by Ben Kaye
Similarly to The Strokes, Bloc Party are a band that had arguably peaked with their debut album, 2005’s Silent Alarm. However, unlike The Strokes, the goodwill that was generated was quickly squashed once the band was cut down by two members. Those Silent Alarm hits are here, but they don’t have the same bite as before. Previous drummer Matt Tong was such an integral part of the band’s frenzied sound that, despite the very talented Louise Bartle’s best efforts, everything felt a little sluggish compared to before. It doesn’t help that their new material is very average. A run through of the thrilling “Helicopter” brought the energy up, but sound issues were prevalent for anyone behind the sound booth. Come on Gov Ball, turn it up a bit! –Edward Dunbar
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Nothing
Photo by Ben Kaye
A shoegazing rock band like Nothing is only bound for so much success during an afternoon festival set. Their music is meant for tighter corners and sound engineers who can handle their grittier assault without a feedback issue. Still, the Philly rockers played hard and heavy, and the small crowd of fans ready for the loud stuff certainly seemed to enjoy themselves. It was fairly evident that everyone — both the band and the audience — would’ve enjoyed themselves more in a dim-lit venue than the midday sun, but that’s more a remark on the location than the performance. Even the baby with the giant, sound-canceling headphones didn’t seem to mind a little noise to start off the day. –Ben Kaye
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Bully
Photo by Killian Young
With clouds looming overhead and a light drizzle beginning to fall, the crowd’s initial response to Bully’s tracks was tepid, even on rollicking cuts “I Remember” and “Trash”. But as lead singer Alicia Bognanno roared back on “Six” over its climactic guitar riffs, a mosh pit opened up near the stage. The Nashville quartet sustained this energy with rocking renditions of Feels Like standouts “Trying” and “Milkman”. “This is one of my favorite festivals … starting now,” Bognanno joked toward the end of the set. The band’s debut record is nearing a year since its release, so Bully kept the set fresh by closing out with a headbanging McLusky cover. –Killian Young
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Torres
Photo by Philip Cosores
While her music drifts between heartbreaking delicacy and spitting daggers, Torres’ Mackenzie Scott was wise enough to focus on the latter in the Saturday afternoon sun. That isn’t to say it’s a straight-up rock show. With the four-piece donning all white clothing and silver lipstick, Scott’s tense vocals tried to let in a darkness that simply was not present so early in the day. The set’s best moment came in the form of older song “Honey”, beefed up a bit from the album version but showcasing how Torres can juxtapose both of the project’s tendencies within a single song. –Philip Cosores
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Of Monsters and Men
Photo by Killian Young
Of Monsters and Men have been opening most of their recent sets with the slow-burning track “Thousand Eyes”, the Beneath the Skin cut that starts with singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s reserved croon before giving way to swelling instrumentals and a militaristic drumbeat. It was a risk to try to inject some dramatic flair into a festival set that didn’t quite land. The audience really got energized and enthusiastically clapped along by the third track, My Head Is an Animal’s “King and Lionheart”. (The Icelandic band’s debut record resonated more with the audience throughout.) “This is a really good song to dance to – just a heads up,” Hilmarsdóttir warned the crowd before launching into the soaring harmonies of “Mountain Song”. One thing’s for sure: Of Monsters and Men’s older music is great festival material, from the climactic release of “Lakehouse” to the triumphant horns and shouted words on “Little Talks”. When the latter kicked off, the crowd erupted in euphoric movement. –Killian Young
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Purity Ring
Photo by Philip Cosores
Gov Ball, here’s an idea: Take the Bacardi money you spent on booking a private (and very slow) ferry and drop it on making your tent even bigger. As more rain started to fall (albeit very lightly), the tent got more and more packed for Purity Ring. Not the biggest problem, but when you only have one other stage to distract people, sometimes a tent just doesn’t cut it. Shelter from the storm would have been nice, but at least everyone got to see Purity Ring’s very bright and very intricate light show. I mean, if it wasn’t in a tent, that shit could be seen from the moon. Unfortunately, singer Megan James’ vocals could barely be heard outside of the tent for the first couple of songs. It seems to be a pattern every year that all of the smaller stages at Gov Ball have inadequate volume for those stuck further away. Eventually, things improved, and Purity Ring had all the right moves to get the crowd to shake off the rain and have a damn good time. –Edward Dunbar
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