Governors Ball returned to the Big Apple in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens for another weekend of music showcases. Unlike last year’s panic about possibly shutting down the festival due to air quality, this year had bright, blue, and sunny skies for all three days. Friday had some fabulous performers despite some people commenting that the Governor’s Ball hasn’t been at the same caliber in the past couple of years as it used to be.

Underscores was one of the first performers on Friday at the IHC stage and blew it out of the park. Her stage design and outfit were minimal but she brought 110% of her energy to the crowd. Underscores had a lot of similar qualities to 100 gecs but in the best way possible. Her music passion was visible from the get-go, she was just happy to be up there having fun sharing her talent with her audience. It was a smaller crowd, but a crowd you could tell really appreciated her talent. Everyone was dancing, jumping, and whipping their heads back and forth to “my guy (corporate shuffle)”.

Left image: Underscores by Paigge Warton; Right: Yung Gravy by Josh Sobel

Yung Gravy, performing at the GoPuff stage was another Friday highlight. It was definitely a younger crowd, probably because he has a large tikTok presence, but folks of all ages were in attendance to some extent. Yung Gravy, dressed in a bright yellow button-down with a white suit covered in flowers, immediately had the crowd swooning with his low, sexy baritone vocals. He debuted his new single “white claw” which he just dropped that day in collaboration with Shania Twain, probably the biggest collab in his career thus far. He even joined the crowd during his last song to distribute roses to fans in the audience and kissed one of the fans, her husband didn’t look too happy, but she looked absolutely thrilled.

Dominic Fike took the main stage in the early evening with his little nephew in his arms. An extremely sweet, adorable way to start his set. He played a variety of old and new tracks, but much to everyone’s dismay, he did not play arguably his most popular song “3 Nights” but did play tunes like “Babydoll” and “misses.”

Post Malone ended the night with a performance filled with fan favorites like “Better Now” and newer songs like “I had some help”. His energy and personality were one of the most incredible of the festival. You could tell he was having just as much fun performing as every fan in the audience watching him. He even brought up two fans in the middle of his show to perform a song with him, which was incredibly heartwarming.

Images: Post Malone by N Bradley

Saturday’s highlights included an incredible set from Sabrina Carpenter, who is fresh from her tour with Taylor Swift. She charmed the audience with her beautiful yellow dress and bubbly personality. Sabrina performed her new single “Please Please Please” for the first time ever which was a real treat for all her fans. She was another performer you could tell was having great fun on stage and had nearly every person in the crowd singing along with her. Another highlight of Saturday was Carly Rae Jepson who feels like an artist you want to see perform on a beautiful summer day and that’s exactly what we got. “Talking to Myself” and “Call Me Maybe” were just a couple of the hot hits she sang during her energetic performance.

Left image: Sabrina Carpenter by @deaniechen; Right: Chappell Roan by N Bradley 

Sunday was the biggest day by far and getting tickets for this day seemed reminiscent of the Hunger Games. Everyone was fighting for their chance to see SZA, but arguably the more sought-after artist to see was Chappell Roan since her skyrocket to stardom over the last two months. The quote circulating across the internet this past weekend was that Sunday’s GovBall lineup was for the girls and the gays, which felt pretty accurate when looking at the majority of the crowd. Chappell took the stage to one of the biggest crowds of the entire festival. People lined up several acts in advance for her set which you could tell by all the signature pink cowboy hats. To say Chappell put on a fabulous show is a gross understatement. She entered the stage in a giant paper mache apple and exited the apple painted green and dressed like the Statue of Liberty. The enormous amount of creativity put into the outfit, the stage, and even her on-stage support team (her backup dancers were dressed like NYC taxis) was undeniable. Her entire show was incredible, but the most memorable moment for most people was “HOT TO GO!” which had every fan dancing to the signature dance that’s been blowing up all over the internet.

Left image: Saint Levant by @deaniechen; Right: Elyanna by N Bradley 

There was also the incredibly powerful and moving performance from Jerusalem-born Palestinian rapper Saint Levant. His Sunday fans came prepared with Palestinian flags and “free Palestine” posters. Saint Levant offered a beautiful set filled with great songs like “Nails,” “Very Few Friends,” and closed it all with “From Gaza, With Love“. It was one of the most emotional performances of the festival.

Elyanna was another Palestinian performer, not only is she a wonderful vocalist, but she is an incredible dancer. Elyanna and her dancers were dressed in stunning white outfits and her set included a lot of unique choreography with long white fabric.

SZA closed out Sunday’s festival with screaming excited fans. The artist didn’t disappoint and put on what some might call a jaw-droppingly fantastic set. “All the Stars” was beautiful and fans went wild when she brought out two swords for an insane Kill Bill-inspired dance number. One of the most powerful voices of the decade, not to mention an unbelievable dancer as well, SZA closed out the Governors Ball with a bang.

All images courtesy of Governor’s Ball

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Friday was arguably the most popular day overall because there was a great range of popular and upcoming artists spread out over the course of the day. Joey Badass delivered an incredible set with high energy to his die-hard fans. Remi Wolf was an absolute joy and her friendly, but funky stage presence made the crowd feel at home. Opening with “Disco Man” and closing with “Photo ID,” she had the entire audience dancing from start to finish. On the other stage, Ice Spice killed her short, but fabulous set with one of the largest crowds of the festival. New York absolutely showed up to watch the Queens’ native perform on her home turf.

Kim Petras and LIZZO were a perfect end to Friday and were amazing artists to kick off pride month with. Kim opened her set with her new single “Alone” and then proceeded to play the entirety of Slut Pop EP. She was nothing less than incredible and continued fiercely even as her set was interrupted by a downpour of rain. “You guys sure look wet out there” she shouted at one point after “They Wanna Fuck” teasing the crowd with her insinuation. LIZZO took the main stage playing all her hits and giving a killer performance as well as showering the audience with positive affirmations. “Soulmate” and “Good as Hell” had the entire crowd feeling self-love.

Saturday’s highlights included an incredible set from Rina Sawayama. She had earpiece troubles during her opener “Hold the Girl” but quickly recovered to deliver an amazing performance with beautiful visuals set as a backdrop. FINNEAS also delivered an amazing set, fairly simple. He and his band had the entire crowd singing along to “I Don’t Miss You At All”. One other highlight of Saturday was aespa’s Governors Ball debut performance. Although missing one of their members, Giselle, the group still delivered an impressive high-energy performance.

With Kendrick Lamar being the closing act  Sunday was the most packed day at the festival by far. There were people lining up for Kendrick the moment the festival opened. The other artists, however, still drew large crowds for their sets. Pusha T played a really fun set on the Bacardi stage dropping hits like “Diet Coke” and “Runaway”. Pink Pantheress charmed the crowd with her cute demeanor and bubbly personality. She was smiling and clearly having a lot of fun during her set, the audience couldn’t help but have fun with her. Closing with “Boy’s a Liar,” she promised the audience she’d be out there dancing with them to Kendrick later that night.

Lil Nas X had quite the performance as well, although I don’t think he’d argue it was his personal favorite. Halfway through the opening number “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” his earpiece blew out and he stopped the song exiting the stage to solve the issue. Lil Nas X returned soon enough letting the audience know this just was not his day. In all honestly, however, he still delivered an incredible set for the artist being down bad, but you could sense he wasn’t having the greatest time up on stage.

Kendrick took the main stage at 8:45 pm and gave one of the weekend’s best performances. No one would argue that he had the biggest crowd of the festival by far. That being said he had a lot of hype to live up to and his fans were itching for him to take the stage all day. Kedrick did not disappoint and delivered an unbelievably fantastic set. Opening with “N95,” the crowd absolutely roared when the beat dropped. He played a variety of songs from his collection including tracks like “King Kunta,” “Backseat Freestyle,” “DNA,” and “Humble.” One of the biggest highlights of the set was “family ties” where he surprised the audience and brought up Baby Keem. The chemistry between the two of them was remarkable to watch and listen to. It was an unforgettable night and a spectacular end to the Governors Ball.

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Friday’s set list was packed with artists and was a fairly hip-hop-heavy day, but Aly & AJ kicked off the event with a flash from the past but chose to omit “Potential Break Up Song” from their set which left some fans quite disappointed. Coi Leray gave a fun and energetic performance that got her whole crowd movin’ and groovin’. Her fabulous red bikini fit also rocked everyone’s world.

left: Dev Coi Leray after her set; right: Del Water Gap

It was a rap-filled afternoon after the first few sets and JPEGMAFIA gave a vibrant and entertaining performance. He completely lit up the stage, dancing and interacting with the crowd. This was arguably one of the best performers of the weekend. His cover of “Call Me Maybe” was beautifully haunting and a perfect break in between his more brash and intense numbers. 

Some craziness and complications clearly happened in the day leading up to Friday, because a single time slot was replaced not once, but twice last minute. First MIGOS were replaced with Lil Wayne and then (an hour before) Lil Wayne was replaced by A$AP Ferg [cover image]. A rollercoaster of emotions for hip hop and rap fans, but A$AP Ferg did not disappoint. A$AP Ferg took the stage with confidence and charm, commenting on the situation:  “I was just chillin’, and then I got a call from the festival like, ‘Yo Ferg! We need your ass to come right now!” The whole crowd laughed and A$AP Ferg gave an incredible performance despite being a last-minute addition to the lineup. The ground was shaking during “Plain Jane”.

Jack Harlow gathered what seemed like one of the biggest crowds of the night. The air was filled with excitement for this set, but while Harlow’s looks and vocals were very much on point that set felt deflated, something was missing in his surprisingly subtle stage presence. In parallel to this performance Kid Cudi’s set began and halfway through Harlow’s set a stampede of people headed towards the main stage for Cudi’s performance. Kid Cudi‘s fantastic energy and performance brought day one to an incredible end. there wasn’t a person in the crowd who wasn’t jumping to “Memories” or “Pursuit of Happiness”.

Day two started off a little cloudy and was fairly mellow with the earlier performers. Gus Dapperton and his band gave a calm and emotional set. Things REALLY picked up when Tove Lo took the main stage. Her crowd was enormous, especially for an afternoon time slot. People were thrilled to see Lo and everyone screamed their hearts out to her classic OG hit “Habits (Stay High)” and her brand new single “No One Dies From Love”.

Ashnikko was also a highlight on Saturday, femme fatale in her songs as well as on stage, she brought a crazy fun energy to her performance. Proving she’s not just a TokTok viral star, Ashnikko took the party to the crowd and everyone was vibing during her reimagined cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8ter Boi”.

The night ended with a fantastic performance by Flume which people were talking about well into the next day. Naturally, Halsey stunned the audience with her gorgeous vocals, she even gave all the Stranger Things fans a beautiful cover of “Running Up That Hill”.

Sunday started out with the threat of rain, but luckily it never came. No make-up was ruined and no outfits were soaked. It was actually near-perfect weather for jumping to your favorite tunes in the middle of a sweaty crowd.

100 gecs was another crowd favourite performance. They had a really large crowd despite it being relatively early in the day. Definitely one of the wildest crowds of the weekend! Head banging, moshing, and screaming all naturally took place.

Del Water Gap also gave a stunningly beautiful performance, once on the Bacardi Stage and then again in a more intimate setting at the Bud Light Seltzer Sessions. “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat” is just one of the most subtly striking tunes you could hear. After the set, we were able to chat with Holden about his performances and his festival experience:

“Big shows are great because you’re just getting all this energy and all this adrenaline. It’s like gasoline! But little shows are great because you can be a human, and it’s intimate, you can talk and take your time. Festivals are great because you get to be around new people, you get to be outside and I just love being around other artists too. I mean especially after the last two years. I made all these friends on Instagram you know, these other musicians, and getting to walk out of my trailer and see a musician I admire and walk up to them and be like hi were here together. It’s just such a gift.”

Another amazing performance was given by Jazmine Sullivan. Her insane vocals reached new levels of perfection and had many fans in tears by the end of the set. She was extremely honest on stage, gave beautiful vocal runs, and was sending love to each and every person in the crowd.

J Cole was the final artist of the festival and ended the night on a high note. J Cole is one of the biggest artists in the rap universe so it was legendary to hear iconic songs like “Wet Dreamz” and “No Role Modelz”.

The atmosphere and ambiance were unique at Governors Ball this year. People were riled up and ready for music festivals again. Some sets bumped, some disappointed. The sun was burning hot all day, but that didn’t stop people from having a great time. Every artist came out with full energy for the fans. What was the best moment of the festival? Kid Cudi’s absolute fire performance of “Pursuit of Happiness?” A$AP Ferg’s heroic save of Friday’s afternoon? Tove Lo flashing a crowd of thousands? Guess that’s up to each attendee’s personal opinion.

photos by Devin Kasparian

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