It wouldn't be a NYC summer without Governors Ball. An incredible weekend filled with an incredibly wide range of performances that kicks off the perfect summer. From June 7th to June 9th, Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY was the hubspot for all types of music genres.
With great anticipation for the weekend we finally got to see a few artists on our radar. Starting off on Friday we waited for Dominic Fike to hit the main stage. With no set design, using the big screens is always a great way to fill up the stage. During his set he displayed a handful of photographs that belonged to the well known LIFE magazine. Although he never acknowledged the photos behind him, it really captivated the audience. What he did make known during his set was that he “loves New York” and he loves the women in it! This had the girls screaming at the top of their lungs praising him for having such great taste. Towards the end of his set he played some of our favorite hits, including “babydoll, “misses” and “why”. Dominic had such a dynamic set, from running around the stage to performing acoustic versions of his songs. With such a lively set he pulled in a huge crowd for a Friday afternoon.
Truth be told, we were most excited for the weekend. Obviously we had artists we wanted to see but we also took a peek at some other sets. We were mind blown at the incredible artists that weren't on our radar. One of the artists that shook us to the ground was Doechii. She brought a sense of sexiness back to Gov Ball. Doechiis music is music you want to listen to if you want to feel like a bad ass bitch. She's a rapper that combines both dance and alternative rap and creates something that has never been done before. What makes her even more iconic is that she's part of the LGBTQ+ community and she's proud of it. First thing she said when she ran onto the stage was “where my gays at”. If there's one line that gets a crowd pumped, it's that one. The gays and girls were dancing the entire set with music that made you feel confident and sexy.
Speaking of sexy and confident, after Doechiis set the girls and gays ran over to the main stage to camp out for Sabrina Carpenter. Since the announcement of the Gov Ball lineup last year, Sabrina released songs that skyrocketed her career and she had a huge crowd show out for her set. The crowd consisted of mini skirts, go go boots and lots of bows which perfectly encapsulates the Sabrina Carpenter aesthetic. She stepped onto the stage with a pastel yellow coquette bodysuit that gave her the silhouette of a princess. With a bright light shining down on her, she looked nothing other than angelic while performing her first few songs. One of the songs that she performed was crowd favorite “Feather” and the whole performance felt as if she was floating around the stage. She danced around the stage so gracefully and exuded a priestess aura. One thing that Sabrina made sure to show off other than her cute dance moves, was her sensational and captivating vocals. Singing songs such as “because i liked a boy” really shows off the range Sabrina has within her music. During her set she quotes one of her songs and says “i can't relate to desperation” as she waits for the crowd to settle down she follows up with “well i'm just a girl and i'm desperate for you guys to love my new song”. The crowd knows exactly what song she was referring to because the day before her Gov Ball Performance she released a new song with a music video titled “Please Please Please”. This was Sabrina's first live debut of her new song and somehow the crowd knew all the words. If that doesn't you she's an upcoming pop star princess, we don't know what will.
Saturday's line up had the crowd running back and forth between stages. One side consisted of all types of rap with artists like Doechii, Riovaz, Bakar and Sexxy Red. And the other side consisted of pop artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, Carly Rae Jepson and Claire Rosinkranz. The festival had one more stage that was towards the back of the map and it was sponsored by LHG hotels. At this stage we had a few indie artists such as D4vd, Hippo Campus and TV girl.
One of our favorite sets from the LHG stage was TV girl. This is an all star band from California and 10 years ago they released their well known album, French Exit. They hooked the audience by playing a few of their top hits and slowly transitioned to their new music. They recently released a new album and the lead singer Brad Petering was airing his internal thoughts. He asked himself if the new album was bad, but he came to the conclusion that people were wrong and that his new music is actually really good. He goes on to perform the new music and it was received very well by the crowd. The band consisted of the normal instrument lineup but they had two back up singers that added an ethereal touch to their set. The backup singers created an atmosphere that felt somewhat holy. They added a touch of gospel to TV girls music which made their set feel very spiritual.
If we’re going to be honest we were most excited for Sunday for one main reason, to see Chappell Roan live. We could write a 10 page essay on Chappell’'s set but we’ll cut it down. As expected, Chappell pulled in the biggest crowd Gov Ball had seen that weekend. Chappell did the unimaginable of having a crowd bigger than the headliners. Her rise to fame came quick but she's been working on her career for over a decade. For those who don't know much about Chappell Roan, she is a drag queen that makes pop music about being gay. Which is exactly how her set started. While the crowd waited for the band to walk onto the stage there was a video of a computer screen being displayed that had search history with questions like “am i gay?”. The video compilation was a really fun way to represent what it's like to realize you're gay and it deeply resonated with at least 75% of the crowd.
Chappell is known for having a specific theme to her shows and she always has incredible makeup and costume design to bring it all together. So obviously the crowd was excited to see what she would look like for her Gov Ball set. Her band came out in matching Taxi driver outfits and it gave us a clue as to what her theme could be. The band sets up and they quickly roll in a huge apple with smoke coming out from the side. They turn the apple around to reveal Chappell Roan in full costume as the Statue of Liberty smoking a huge joint. Without doubt, this costume design was one of her fan favorites. The cheers kept going and they only got louder when Chappell opened up the set with the “I Am The Midwest Princess Intro”. This set was truly banger after banger. The crowd was jumping up and down the entire time. As expected, everyone in the crowd already knew the “Hot To Go” dance but Chappell still takes the time to teach the crowd just in case. She counts down the song and everyone immediately starts singing.. It was such an incredible sight to see thousands of people do the dance in unison. As people are saying, the Hot To Go dance is becoming our generation's version of the YMCA and I couldn't agree more. Chappell Roans' set was one of the best performances of Gov Ball and it was an incredible experience to be in the crowd and witness history first hand.
I cried, I laughed, I smiled, and I danced. What more could you ask for from a music festival experience. Governors Ball never fails to create such an amazing weekend to kick off the best time of year. We’ll be patiently waiting for Gov Ball’s 2025 lineup announcement and we’ll be sure to keep you updated!