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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We first tumble serendipitously into Rostam’s set on the Panhandle, a smaller venue for comfy indie artists. The former Vampire Weekend shredder hosted a lovely welcome for attendees, a quick and violent contrast from the upcoming nightmare awaiting us at Land’s End.

Lil Uzi Vert fans are a scourge. For an artist that has a considerable affiliation with mental health awareness, I’ve never seen a fan base so miss the point completely. There was no humanity in that crowd, between people pulled over the fence for crying and our photographer Nate nearly getting his gear obliterated, it echoed sentiments of Travis Scott’s infamous headline.

Jack Harlow was a toothless replica of Uzi although I’m still cross that I tolerated health hazards for such a bland act. Admittedly he was unlucky – placed between Mac DeMarco and Green Day, both of whom explored two ends of the sonic spectrum. Mac DeMarco’s profound chill boat-rhythm bumps compared with BJ Armstrong just going complete apeshit on the American Idiot tracks was an epic contrast. There simply was just no room for Harlow, nor was there room for him to bring up some significant social updates in his hometown of Louisville. But I digress.

Pussy Riot did satisfy my expectations because a literal Russian designated foreign agent took her shirt off to reveal a “FREE BRITNEY GRINER” message. Nadezhda has functionally inherited the band at this point, with the other past 10 members forgoing a less mainstream role for a more actively political one. Not sure if the crowd was ready for her succubic death-pop screams, however. Personally, my favorite part was when she cracked a blood-red whip over and over again while the word “VASECTOMY” lacerated on the big screen.

One thing, in particular, OSL likes to flaunt is a section on the festival grounds where the purchasing/consumption of cannabis is safe and legal. Grass Lands comprises the southernmost section of the park, practically a carnival that folks use to get away from the Land’s End aural blast zone. Ambulances and police were on standby, though much like previous iterations of the fest there was no urgent need for their intervention. It made for a lovely pit stop between stages.

All hyperpop acts were backlogged into Sunday, so the Lord’s afternoon was enhanced by palpable chaos. Glaive into 100 Gecs into Kim Petras is complete nonsense. 17-year-old Glaive’s unreleased track “Florida” is a four-on-the-floor banger, a necessary moment for a shy crowd to get to know one another via slam jamming. Petras performed Slut Pop in its entirety, a staple for her latest shows and one the crowd was quite notably looking forward to. Gecs flew too close to the sun; their set was cut short although that seems appropriate for them to be honest.

With how quick each turnover was, every headliner was set for success before their gig even started. Polo & Pan’s visuals were some of the best. Ani Kuni received a syllabic word-by-word visualization of the sampled Native American chant. Disclosure’s latest track “Waterfall” is some of their best work since the Settle days, evoking a Mura Masa-esque production that sent the crowd in every direction. 

SZA was the only artist done dirty. She started off her CTRL-era ballad “Drew Barrymore” smoothly enough but her monitors cut out, knocking off a beautiful song in her repertoire. The sound team turned it around before the next track. As such the audience experienced a cathartic performance, one that concluded with SZA compensating for her vocal prowess in front of a gorgeous lighthouse-themed stage décor. 

It was smooth sailing the entire weekend. Major 3-day music festivals will take it out of you, they’re an endurance test if nothing else. OSL at least attempts to streamline the experience into something less arduous. Straight up, I’ve never had better music festival snacks from any other concert experience. The scrumptious food almost made the inflated prices worth it.

It takes one thousand things at once to operate in tandem to make an event of this magnitude flow as well as it did. The lands beyond have proven themselves to be worth trekking to, a tall order considering the sheer number of fests on the west. In no uncertain terms:

Outside is the right side, man.

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