Since its launch in 2011, Governors Ball (affectionally known as Gov Ball) has become an East Coast festival staple. Created by Tom Russell and Jordan Wolowitz, two best friends who realised the impact of music festivals within the cultural landscape and noticed that their hometown of NYC ought to have a summer jewel fit for Lady Liberty’s crown; the music bash has now become the Tri-state area’s answer to other beloved festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo.
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This year, Gov Ball will be returning to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens from June 7 through 9. 2024 marks the festival’s 13th edition and to celebrate it, here are NME‘s picks of the five iconic moments to take place at the fest since its inception.
2011: A young Mac Miller takes the stage at the first-edition of Gov Ball
In 2010, 19-year-old Mac Miller released his fourth mixtape ‘K.I.D.S‘ and shortly followed it up with 2011’s ‘Best Day Ever’ mixtape and the ‘On and On and Beyond’ EP. The up-and-coming rapper played a slot at the festival on Governor’s Island in support of the releases.
Speaking about Miller’s performance at the bash, Gov Ball co-founder Tom Russell told Consequence Of Sound: “His ‘K.I.D.S’ mixtape had come out and we used to crank that album all the fucking time at extraordinary volumes. To hear him come out and play songs from that was incredible,” with co-founder Jordan Wolowitz adding: “His set had as many people as the headliners that night. I was watching it thinking, ‘Wow, this is going to be a very important artist.'”
2014: OutKast’s killer headlining set following their rough Coachella reunion
Following their bumpy reunion slot at 2014’s Coachella festival – which earned lukewarm reviews and saw rock icon Prince reach out to André 3000 with advice and critique – OutKast made their way across the country to perform a killer headlining set at Gov Ball just two months after. Sprinkled with their hits ‘Ms. Jackson’, ‘Prototype’, ‘Hey Ya!’, ‘Roses’, ‘So Fresh, So Clean’ and ‘The Whole World’ with a surprise appearance from Killer Mike, the hip-hop duo redeemed themselves with a high-energy killer set.
2016: Kanye West announces surprise 2am show at Webster Hall following Gov Ball cancellation
Sadly, one cannot guarantee the weather for a festival. On the final day of Gov Ball’s 2016 dates, the NYC weather decided to take a turn for the worst and bring in a severe storm. The festival organisers had to make the hard decision to cancel the last day which was set to see Kanye West – who had recently released ‘The Life Of Pablo‘ – close out the weekend.
The rapper went on to tweet that he would be playing at surprise gig at Webster Hall in downtown Manhattan due to the cancelation. The announcement caused complete riot in the streets and eventually had the gig canceled before Ye could even make it to the building. West did cause a mob on 3rd St when he pulled up, standing out of the roof of a car to see the scene.
Look at this power. It's almost 2 AM & more than half of these people aren't going to get in. pic.twitter.com/sdGyKEhFzi
— Ronald Isley (@yoyotrav) June 6, 2016
2018: Pusha T stirs the pot, giving his Drake diss track ‘Infrared’ its live debut
Pusha T took to the stage at Gov Ball 2018 as a late addition after the announcement that Brockhampton had pulled out. The rapper had recently released his third LP ‘Daytona‘ and was in the midst of beefing with Drake.
For his preliminary song of the set, Pusha T surprised everyone with the live debut of ‘Infrared’, his diss track aimed at Drizzy which contained alleged references to the rapper and his alleged use of ghostwriters. During the performance, the crowd chanted “Fuck Drake!” twice, fueling crazy energy.
2021: Duck Sauce takeover and bring their massive inflatable guest
Comprised of DJs Armand van Helden and A-Trak – Duck Sauce took over the Grubhub stage in the parking lot of Citi Field to perform an electrifying set for festival attendees.
While hitting the decks, the duo had a very special guest in the form of a giant inflatable rubber duck wearing a little gold bomber jacket. Their tracks ‘Big Bad Wolf’, ‘aNYway’ and their 2011 hit ‘Barbra Streisand’ soundtracked their 4pm slot, turning the parking lot into a makeshift rave.
