This past weekend was the Governor’s Ball Music Festival held on Randall’s Island in New York City. As a newcomer, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Upon arrival, one could feel the excitement and high energies everyone was carrying, as they bounced around the island.
The second I entered the festival, west coast artist Cuco had his set going. His sound is that of the bedroom pop kind of vibe, and although a lot of his songs were mellow and calming, he concluded his set with his new single “CR-V,” and managed to get the smaller sized crowd on their feet.
It is definitely a cool feeling to be able to walk into one artistic circle to the next; people having the option to join a different musical performance by merely walking by.
Next, Jay Electronica was performing. He brought a very humorous energy to the ball; consistently talking to the crowd, inviting them on stage, and running into the crowd itself, whenever given the chance. He definitely emphasized why so many people trek out to the yearly event; although it’s a large music festival, one feels so connected to every artist performing. The artist is just as excited as the listener to be where they are.
One of the more exciting performances was rapper 2 Chainz’s set. My friends and I managed to get fairly close to the stage, and everyone was congealed together. Although it was extremely hot, he put in all the energy the crowd needed.
Galantis was performing just at evening, the crowd was acting very mellow and the cool breeze started to sink in. Everyone was dancing, and they managed to keep the tired out crowd hype with remixes of “Heads Will Roll,” among others for an hour and a half.
Probably the biggest headliner the festival had, Travis Scott, concluded the night. His stage definitely brought the most people, and it was easy to feel like an ant whenever looking around the venue. He brought trap, fire and flames, but also mellowed the crowd out with songs like “Love Galore.”
While I was of course excited to see all of the artists performing, it was just as interesting to watch the people that attended. There’s such an interesting melange of city culture.
Everyone’s exuberant and wearing something crazy. There are people of all ages, from 10 to 65. There are people inviting strangers to dance with them and friends reuniting after not seeing each other in what seems like ages.
There are people throwing things absolutely everywhere.
Most notably a hamburger being thrown from afar into my watermelon pitcher, my friends ankle being bruised from a coconut gone awry and 2 chainz quite literally stopping his concert because someone threw a watermelon and a girl nearly got concussed.
The Governor’s Ball gets down and dirty. People are excited to be at the event and they’re certainly not afraid to show it.
Overall the experience is sweaty, tiring, exhausting but absolutely all worth it. Everyone around you is unified in their excitement to hear music and see artists they’ve admired for years