This past weekend, the annual Governors Ball returned to New York City’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. Artists representing the best and brightest in pop, rock, and hip-hop came to perform across three days, bringing a flock of eager fans with them.

The Needle Drop’s Jaeden Pinder, Leah Weinstein, and Victoria Borlando showed up all three days, teaming up to cover as much of the large music festival as possible (although, we unfortunately missed the promised Benson Boone backflip). In the spirit of the multi-genre nature of Gov Ball, we managed to catch a good sampling of everything.

The weekend was surely dramatic: sick headliners, a heavy rainstorm that delayed Saturday’s programming, a surprise appearance from David Byrne, JPEGMAFIA paying his respects to Taylor Swift — there’s a lot of ground to cover. So, let’s take it one day at a time! 

Friday, June 6th

Tyler, the Creator Runs Another Victory Lap

From his fervent delivery, onstage humor, and sheer audacity to see how many fireworks one could set off without singing off the eyebrows of those at the barricade, Tyler, the Creator remains a powerhouse performer through and through. Dressed in an emerald suit atop a CHROMAKOPIA-branded shipping container, the crowd hung onto Tyler’s every word, screaming along to the schoolyard chant of “Sticky” and the entirety of "New Magic Wand". The Los Angeles-rapper opened his set with the first four tracks of Chromakopia, including an especially bombastic rendition of “Rah Tah Tah", before launching into a chronological supercut of his hits (“Yonkers,” “Tamale,” “Who Dat Boy”, etc.) which most superfans have come to expect from his last few tours. Tyler treats each show like it’s a victory lap, and his second headlining slot at Governors Ball was further proof of his magnetic stage presence. – Jaeden Pinder

JPEGMAFIA Has a Newfound Drive – Inspired By the World’s Biggest Pop Star

About an hour before his set at The Grove stage, The Needle Drop caught JPEGMAFIA to discuss his reclamation of the masters for his 2018 sophomore record Veteran. “Someone that I really admire is Taylor Swift," he told us. “Not only did she rerecord [her old albums] she did it in the most insane, petty way. She re-recorded everything first, then bought her masters back with the money she made rerecording her music, which is maniacal… empress type shit.” Peggy continued to explain that eventually all of his masters will revert back to him, which he describes as “an honor.” “A lot of artists don’t get this so I’m grateful. And when I’m saying this I’m not trying to flex, I just want to show that this is what it looks like. That’s the privilege you get.”

I asked Peggy if he plans on making “Director’s Cut” editions of any of his other albums, as he just did with Veteran as well as 2024’s I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, to which he said “All of my albums will have Director’s Cuts, that’s my deluxe album now… I’m gonna flesh out everything. Anything I left out, I’m gonna put it back in there because it’s just extra content. This year and this era right now is all about content – the more content the better.”

Peggy moved around with an entourage. They joined him on stage simply to stand there unmoving the whole set. However, he was also joined on stage by a live band, something he had begun integrating into his live performances while touring for SCARING THE HOES with Danny Brown. While the band got breaks during songs that only required backing tracks and a brief, a cappella cover of “Call Me Maybe”, their chemistry with JPEG was infectious throughout the set. “I wanna give a shoutout to every one of my bald bitches in the crowd!” he exclaimed before beginning “BALD!” from 2021’s LP!

Peggy’s rapport with the crowd was undeniable before he even took the stage, with much of the crowd chanting his name as soon as the clock hit his 7:45 start time. While the weekend featured several surprise guests, JPEG brought Joey Valence and Brae on stage (who he cited as his “favorite white dudes”) to play an untitled, unreleased song. Like the rest of the set, it was pure, unadulterated fun. – Leah Weinstein

Mk.gee Slowed Down the Tempo but Kept the Energy Up

Emerging from the mist, Mk.gee mesmerized the main stage for his hour-long performance, letting the melodic reverberations of his electric guitar pour through every speaker. His live performance of “New Low” was a maximalist reimagining of the song, building onto his instrumental sections with more flourishes, snappy beats, and seemingly improvised interjections of the chorus. “Alesis” also felt grander on the giant stage: though still minimalistic — keeping to the drum, the synth board, the guitar, and the bass — Mk.gee turned the volume dial to the max, letting the metallic guitar notes ring in one’s skull. 

Yet, perhaps what led Mk.gee to stand out against the other performers was his embrace of ambient music toward the end of the set. Elongating the introduction of “Breakthespell”, the musician gradually faded between sounds of nature, soothing the audience with cricket chirps, subtle breezes, and the buzzes of cicadas. Slow, broody, and minimal makes for a spectacular show, especially when you’re as great of a guitar player as Mk.gee. – Victoria Borlando

Mannequin Pussy Are as Angry as Ever

“Sometimes the audience is reflective of the people on stage… This is one of those times,” says Mannequin Pussy frontwoman Missy Dabice. The Philly punk mainstays took the stage early in the afternoon, and after a sprint into the crowd, I got to hear the title track from their 2024 release I Got Heaven. This was my third time seeing this album cycle’s set in some capacity, having been to both their performance at Pitchfork festival last year and their final of three sold-out hometown shows at Union Transfer. Each time, though, the political climate has changed – typically for the worse. Towards the end of their sets, Missy conducts a collective scream of catharsis, which this time felt the most politically charged of them all. “Don’t let anyone tell you you’ll get less angry with time… I’ve gotten angrier and angrier every year of my life,” she professed before starting “Pigs Is Pigs”, a song about police brutality. While there were several vaguely political diatribes made by artists throughout the weekend, Mannequin Pussy make sure to never mince their words. – Leah Weinstein

Tyla Brings the Heat on a Cloudy Afternoon

After canceling her Gov Ball appearance last year due to an injury, Afrobeats superstar Tyla kicked off summer in the city with a set of her most popular tracks, plus the live debut of recent single “Bliss”. The South African pop star’s set gave a taste into what you’d expect from one of her concerts; stellar vocals, hypnotizing choreography, and a hell of a good time. Her backup crew enlivened the show with fiery hip-hop embellished with African movement, framing Tyla while her voice glided from song to song. In contrast, Tyla kept her dancing low-key, sprinkling in a couple of hip whines here and there for the energetic crowd. Though the weather was murky for most of her performance, the clouds broke just in time for her sun-kissed hit “Water”. Even under a gray sky, you couldn’t help but get down. – Jaeden Pinder

Matt Champion Had ‘Em All Bouncing

Matt Champion was one of the first big performances of the day, lighting up the Grove stage at a bright, hot 2:15 p.m. Performing songs from his debut solo record, Mika’s Laundry, the ex-Brockhampton member led a set that got the crowd jumping, the fists swinging, and all the people dancing. He even invited a young, thrilled fan on stage to dance with him during the last song, “Gbiv”. Champion threw his whole back into his music, jumping around the dozens of speakers to get both the longtime fans and the simple passers-by riled up. The sunny, funk-inspired “Slug” was easily his most captivating track: leaning fully into pop and dance music, screaming that high note every chorus, and dancing inches away from the packed crowd singing along with him, Champion was beaming corner-to-corner with confidence and fun. – Victoria Borlando

Saturday, June 7th

Musings on Weather Delays, Literacy, and Festival Management

Getting rained out is nothing new in Gov Ball history. It’s happened multiple times, causing discomfort, delays, or the occasional full-day cancellation. Saturday’s morning downpour had been forecasted for the whole week, yet it still made people act like this was the first time that rain had ever affected an outdoor festival.

Saturday’s gate time was pushed to 4:30 p.m., and even before the updated lineup was unveiled, festival goers took to social media to demand refunds. As soon as the festival released the updated schedule, disappointment kept growing. Most acts got slashed completely, leaving room only for the bigger artists. Many attendees complained about everyone's abridged slots, begging the festival to give pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray their original set times back. (Gray had one of the longest non-headliner shows with a 45-minute run time, and Rodrigo only had to cut two songs from her full setlist.)

Yet, the angered fans weren’t all to blame for miscommunication. Gov Ball first informed people of the original delayed opening at 11:50 a.m. — ten minutes before they were supposed to start the first scheduled performance. Then, the 4:30 p.m. opening time suddenly shifted to 4:00 p.m., and the line to get into the park wrapped around the surrounding grounds in several loose, multi-directional, and utterly confused lines. Not many of the guests really knew which line they were in — some waited for several minutes only to realize that the end of the queue only led to another, even longer one — and even fewer staff were there to give people any sense of orientation. Eventually, the lines on the right side of the entrance became an amorphous amoeba of people.

Due to the delays, we almost didn’t make it to the earlier performances. The Lemon Twigs, for instance, were the first band on stage with the new schedule, beginning 45 minutes after the festival doors opened. With all the confusion about lines and entrances, the holdups, and the need to tread carefully on slippery ground, we only saw the last five minutes of the band’s 30-minute set. Thankfully, the sun came out just in time for them, and their music reflected the warmth and comfort of the better weather. We are boots-on-the-ground journalists… don’t get it twisted.

Olivia Rodrigo is a Goddamn Rockstar

With absolutely zero hyperbole, this is the best live performance I’ve ever witnessed. I may only be 21, but in terms of live music, I feel like I’ve seen quite a lot. In the same weekend of my freshman year of college, I saw both the Eras Tour amongst the biggest crowd I’d ever been in, and a shitty reggae band of white dudes in a dusty basement with five other people, who just happened to be my friends that were set to perform next. It's a wide sprawl.

During our catastrophic entrance to the festival on Saturday afternoon, Jaeden and I met a mother with her tween daughter. I told her how cute her eye gems were and asked if she was there to see Rodrigo. She threw a braces-laden smile and said “yes.” That mother/daughter pair was one of thousands present on Saturday, Gov Ball’s only sold-out night, with countless girls decked out in purple, glitter, and butterflies. The crowd saw a sea of young girls sitting atop their parents’ shoulders, bright eyed and beaming with excitement to see their favorite pop star. I couldn’t help but think back to the days I’d count down the hours and minutes before a concert when I was a pre-teen, and that energy coursed through me in the moments before Rodrigo took the stage. 

Rodrigo came out guns blazing with GUTS (spilled) track "obsessed", and only one thought remained on loop in my head: she is a goddamn star. Rodrigo doesn’t need the backup dancers and floating props that hallmark her arena shows to deliver an impactful performance – she does it all on her own. In true rockstar fashion, her band is seldom ignored, with Olivia consistently interacting with them, and at one point crawling up to her guitarist during the climax of “pretty isn’t pretty”.

The highlight of the entire festival (and probably my entire year) was a surprise appearance from legendary Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, who joined Rodrigo on stage to perform “Burning Down The House” from Speaking In Tongues. I was unable to fully break out of shell shock until the performance was over. I could’ve been completely catatonic that whole time and I would not have known. They had a classically silly David Byrne dance break, Byrne looked like a powered up Super Mario, and it was all happening 100 feet in front of me. It was the greatest moment of live music I’ve ever experienced. However, I can’t help but feel like this was a coordinated effort to get people talking about David Byrne ahead of his album announcement… just a thought.

Regardless, the audience of young girls were passionately singing every word to every song despite not really being old enough to understand what any of it means. Rodrigo notably does a great job of being a role model to her young fan base by being open about her insecurities and vocal about issues she’s concerned about ($2 million of ticket sale revenue for the GUTS tour was donated to 10 different abortion funds around the world), but doesn’t ever necessarily pander to them. Her music is very true to the trials and tribulations of being in your late teens/early 20s in this day and age (as someone just a few months younger than Rodrigo, I can attest), and she never holds back from how she wants the music to sound. Rodrigo’s music is infectious, charmingly dramatic, and evocative. Say what you will about the current state of “guitar music” in the larger music canon. Olivia has nothing to prove – it’s just damn good pop music. – Leah Weinstein

It Doesn’t Have to Be Like This, Will Toledo

“We’re gonna play at least one hit,” said Car Seat Headrest frontman Will Toledo in a vie to keep attendees planted at their delayed 7:30 p.m. performance. And that’s exactly what they did. They played one hit – “Stop Smoking (We Love You)”, an interlude from the acclaimed Twin Fantasy closed out the set – and no amount of mental gymnastics could convince me that that’s a hit. Toledo and co. had four minutes left after their cathartic performance of “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, the crowd was begging for more, and they decided that “Stop Smoking” was the logical answer. 

Look, I have a great deal of sympathy for Will Toledo. This performance was only their third since Toledo recovered from his battle with long COVID, which he contracted on their last tour in 2022. But when I found the setlist from their appearance at Kilby Block Party just a few weeks prior, the reality of what was to come set in. As the years pass, Car Seat Headrest find themselves an inch closer to becoming an indie rock legacy act a la Built To Spill or Yo La Tengo. They have two all-time cult classic rock records in Teens of Denial and Twin Fantasy, with plenty of hidden gems in the nooks of their pre-label back catalog. 

Their new record, The Scholars, is a signal that Car Seat Headrest are in a period of their time as a band where they’re just gonna make whatever they feel like. The Scholars, while not a bad album by any means, has very involved worldbuilding that requires a lot of studying from the listener to really understand what is trying to be expressed from the record as a whole (not to mention its 70 minute runtime). That’s neat and all, but really not conducive to a worthwhile listening experience for anyone that’s not really willing to dedicate themselves to it. That being said, I have a really hard time trying to get behind the idea of devoting 90 percent of a festival set to playing those songs, especially when two of those songs are eight minutes or longer.

I would consider myself a fairly big fan of Car Seat Headrest, but to say I was excited to hear any of these songs live for the first time would be a flat out lie. Did we really need all 12 minutes of “Gethsemane”? I don’t think so, and the lack of energy in the crowd until “Drunk Drivers” began would lead me to believe I was not the only one that held that opinion. – Leah Weinstein

MARINA is More of a Queen Than a Princess (of Power)

I can only be happy for MARINA whenever I see her on stage. As a freshly independent artist, she radiates pure joy with every song, using all her stamina to deliver a powerful vocal performance. Plus, this was her first gig since Princess of Power came out the day before, so one could feel her pride and excitement as she played the new tracks, “Princess of Power”, “Cuntissimo”, and “I <3 You”, for her massive audience. (If you choose not to listen to the lyrics too much, you’ll find that these songs are infectiously fun live.) Even with the shortened set, MARINA managed to balance some of the stuff with older classics, opening her set with the criminally underrated “Froot”, releasing her inner diva with “How To Be A Heartbreaker”, and even breaking one of her silver kitten heels after dancing to “Primadonna”. And while I would have loved the extra thirty minutes to hear some hits from The Family Jewels (“Oh No!” to be exact), I left MARINA’s performance satisfied. – Victoria Borlando

Sunday, June 8th

Hear Me Out: Glass Animals Are the Real Headliners

I’d like to extend my condolences to Hozier, who was Sunday’s actual headliner. He tried his best to perform at his first-ever Gov Ball while battling some kind of flu, so unfortunately, it was not his best night. But, for those who were at the Kiehl’s stage just an hour earlier, we got our fix of a high-energy finale, complete with fantastic music and an overall party spirit, from Glass Animals.

As fog poured across the stage, the giant boomboxes powered on, and vaporwave visuals began to glow, the speakers blared the Space Odyssey: 2001 theme song, and the band members walked on stage. Vocalist and frontman Dave Bayley came running out the wings, already gassing the crowd up for his set. “Life Itself” was first on the setlist, and already the crowd erupted into a full-on dance. (Even the photo pit was having fun, dancing, singing along, and skipping around as we did our usual run-arounds to get our shots.) Bayley fed off the crowd’s energy, spitting it right back to them as he ran in between the barricades, immersed himself in the packed sea of people for “Gooey”, and let the crowd carry many of the songs’ verses.

Glass Animals kept themselves to the bangers and fan-favorites, only including one slow ballad, “Creatures in Heaven” (from 2024’s I Love You So F***ing Much). Unlike some artists (see: Car Seat Headrest), they indulged in a lot of their hits, playing a range of tracks from all four records. Whether it was the steamy, swampy groove of  “Take A Slice”, the adrenaline-pumping, rapid-fire punch of “Tokyo Drifting” (featuring Denzel Curry’s explosive rap verse, which some fans recited near perfectly), or the obvious final song “Heat Waves” Glass Animals played each track with confidence, ease, and love. 

In an ideal world, Glass Animals would have gotten the main stage. Not only do they have the creative vision for quirky, mind-bending, eye-catching set pieces, but the music itself is nothing short of crowd-pleasing. Their blends of hip-hop, electropop, dance music, and rock laced throughout their discography have something for everyone! I know Hozier objectively sells more tickets, but let’s not forget how awesome and rare it is that an indie art pop band with cult status at the time once held the title for longest charting song in the Billboard Hot 100, becoming inescapable for 91 weeks (almost two years!) beginning in 2021. On top of that, at least “Heat Waves” is a banger. (It’s not the best from their catalog — that, to me, goes to “Life Itself” — but it’s not “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, the overly sentimental, soul(less) song that somehow dethroned its record-breaking streak by one week.) Hearing “Heat Waves” live and seeing how fondly the audience sang each line, I was reminded how music can become a positive, unifying experience, even during a fractured, lonely time. I’m sure many people have made this band a part of their lives, regardless of what tune grabbed their attention first. If the point of Gov Ball was to highlight the greatest of indie rock and pop, then Glass Animals were the perfect spokespeople this year. – Victoria Borlando

Clairo Sashays Through the Rain

Clairo rescinded her slot at Primavera Sound to perform at Gov Ball, and while having the misfortune of Sunday’s brief rainshower landing right as her set started, the crowd’s excitement never diminished. Clairo kept the ’70s TV-inspired set design that has graced the stage throughout her Charm tour, and Claire herself wore a stunning see-through black lace long sleeve dress with a bra and boy shorts underneath.

The setlist largely mirrored her sets from Coachella this past April: a smattering of highlights from Charm, her biggest hits (“Bags”, “Amoeba”, and “Sofia”, which she had previously sworn off playing), and a couple of new arrangements of her earliest songs like “4EVER” and “Flaming Hot Cheetos” (which, personally, I would’ve preferred “Pretty Girl” in that slot).

This was my fifth time seeing Clairo perform, and she’s truly come into her own over the past couple of years. Her onstage persona is alluring and coquettish, aligning perfectly with the themes displayed on Charm. Clairo’s backing band continues to be one of the best working right now, with Berklee alums Danae Greenfield (keys) and Hailey Niswager (woodwinds, “everything else”) being key standouts.

All that said, though, the set’s most exciting moment was the addition of “Steeeam” to the setlist. The song is from the short lived 2020 side project Shelly, which broke up three months after releasing their initial two singles due to members Claud and Noa Getzug finding out they’re cousins. “Steeeam” has retroactively become a favorite in Clairo’s catalog, with Claire exclaiming, “You guys know the words!” between verses. Perhaps a Shelly reunion is in the cards, but either way, Clairo’s music and performances continue to speak for themselves. –Leah Weinstein

RAYE is Everything

Glitz, glamour, and a stunning voice that could be heard across the park: RAYE’s performance was easily one of the strongest at the entire festival. She began her set with “Oscar-Winning Tears”, dazzling the crowd with a fleet of trumpeters, guitarists, saxophonists, and more to give her soulful, R&B hit a jazzier and wilder spirit. “I have a lot of sad songs,” the UK singer-songwriter teased at the beginning of her set. “But I’m not going to be playing them for you today. We’re going to dance!” A lot of her choices for the setlist skewed toward her clubbier tracks, with “Black Mascara”, a shortened yet still explosive version of “Genesis”, and a techno interlude in the middle of “PRADA”, getting the sea of attendees jumping and screaming along. 

Yet, RAYE would not leave without proving to the festival go-ers that her voice, above all else, is a marvel. Perhaps the best part about her set wasn’t even a song. Instead, it was her live demonstration of a vocal technique she calls the “singing in the shower effect,” which relies on gradually raising both volume and pitch, echoing and reverb, and injecting a bit of operatic vocals into a sustained belt. This alone left the audience gasping and erupting into raucous applause. At the end of the set, I kept repeating to myself, “RAYE is everything!” – Victoria Borlando

The Japanese House are Happier Than Ever

Amber Bain, the woman behind the British indie pop project The Japanese House, has found herself at a high in her life. She’s been married to her wife Alyssa for just over two months, and is trying to channel that happiness into working on her eventual third record. “I'm sort of writing this chronological love album about my wife. All the songs on that are exploring writing with happiness, which is actually really hard to do,” she said during our brief interview. The George Daniel-produced “:)” (pronounced "smiley face") is her first foray into that realm. The song tells the story of Bain meeting her wife on the internet, and impulsively flying to Detroit to meet her for the first time, “...which was pretty gay of me,” she said before performing it. 

She explained that she’s taking her time with this next record, despite feeling pressure to release something on the heels of her appearance on the remix of Charli XCX’s “Apple.” “When I look at myself as a person, at myself as an artist, I think I would be happier if I could really take my time, and I'm 100 percent happy with everything I release,” she explained.

Of her past work, though, Bain attests “Narrating the intricacies of the unfolding of a relationship is something I've not really done. I usually write about the interim of a relationship, when I'm feeling really heartbroken.” During her set at the Kiehl’s Stage, those songs hit the hardest. “Dionne” from her 2020 EP Chewing Cotton Wool, is one of my favorite songs of all time, so hearing it live for the first time was an otherworldly experience. The intensity with which I sang along to the lyrics “Wishing that someone could film the way I’m looking at you right now/I want to watch it back and then kill myself” earned me some concerned looks by the barricade-hungry Clairo fans around me (she was set to take the same stage an hour later), but I simply couldn’t surrender myself to caring what they thought. – Leah Weinstein

Amaarae’s Sweaty, Stupefying Set

There came a point near the end of Amaarae’s set, just after the high gloss of “Co-Star”, where the applause seemed like it would never end – and for good reason. It undulated from thunderous to hushed, yet the instant Amaarae flashed her eyes at the crowd, it instantly shot back up to a roar. She performed a deep house track (“Slut Me Out”) along with the aforementioned “Co-Star”, which got a few laughs out from the crowd when she ribbed a certain air sign (“them Libra bitches horrible”). The Clipse-sampling “Counterfeit” was transformed into a rock track, bolstered by wailing keytar making it even more thrilling live. She also saluted her Bronx heritage, performing a montage of hip-hop tracks by New Yorkers (not including a mildly corny pivot into “Party in the U.S.A.”) including Ice Spice’s “Deli” and Pop Smoke’s “Dior”.

The best moment of her set was “Come on Home to God”, when she sat on a diner stool, letting the music overtake her, appearing rhapsodic but at peace. Amaarae has undeniable star power, commanding the stage and crowd to let go, and use her 45-minute set as a brief moment of catharsis. – Jaeden Pinder

Frost Children Party Like It’s 2011

Based on the convergence of 20-something Brooklynites at Frost Children’s set on Sunday, you might have thought you walked into one of The Dare’s Freakquencies parties. The crowd was all camo trucker hats, greasy shag cuts, ironic T-shirts, and really baggy jeans, and the Ridgewood sibling duo’s set was all gas no brakes, jumping briskly from one glitched out banger to another. Angel Prost bounced across the stage, raging out yet maintaining her nasally, blasé affectation in her raps. Even the biggest skeptic could get their head nodding to the set’s highlight, the haywire “Shake It Like A.” At one point, Lulu yelled out to crowd “This is the biggest party of the fucking world right now!” Compared to the folkier acts topping Sunday’s bill, you’d believed them. – Jaeden Pinder