New Yorkers might not have a music festival at the same level as Coachella, Bonnaroo, or Lollapalooza yet, but the folks behind Governors Ball are sure aiming to get there sooner than later. In its fifth edition, GovBall brought the likes of Tame Impala, Drake, The Black Keys, Chromeo, Hot Chip, Flying Lotus, Björk among others acts to a three day bash at Randall Island. Even though the lack of Latino presence on stage is disheartening to us, we happily play along to bring you some photos and a short recap with some of winners and losers.
WINNERS:
- St. Vincent, Tame Impala, Hot Chip, Florence & The Machine, Royal Blood, Rudimental, Hermitude, Ratatat and The Black Keys kicked asssss.
- Mis Primos Filipinos: No lines, great cheeseburgers at Jeepney Filipino Gastropub.
- The Weather: Thank God it didn’t rain during the festival, otherwise we’ve had a repeat of 2013’s Mud Fest.
- Freebies: Believe or not you can survive all three days on the freebies being handed out at the festival.
- Free SPF: Why did the young man put on SPF? To protect his skin from Lana del Ray. (ok I stole this joke).
LOSERS:
- Lana Del Whisper: We could barely hear Lana Del Rey’s performance. Either the sound system was turned down to meet city sound regulations or we were standing at a dead spot. If you can hear your friend’s thought at a concert that’s a problem.
- Ramen Burgers: It’s okay to wait in line an eternity for a ramen burger at Smorgasburg; not at an entire set at a music festival.
- Deadmau5 Power Struggle: Power issues cut out the sound multiple times during Deadmau5’s closing set on day 2. The crowd went nuts chanting “fix this shit” while the tech crew tried to solve the ongoing issue.
- Joel Moya: Myself for not listening to the lady who warned me not to open the porta-potty door. #ayfoocoño
- Lack of Sazón: We’re not referring to food, they had Latino cuisines covered. We’d like to see at least five Gringo friendly Latino acts on the next lineup of GovBall. Hint to Founders Entertainment: we’re a train stop away from your office, let’s talk.