: two stages, no overlapping sets, electronic music, and rock music. This time around, Gov. Ball moved from Governor’s Island to Randall's, not affecting attendance much but unfortunately added more of a commute to the festival’s official afterparties at the Brooklyn Bowl. The festival itself was well-behaved, with some engaging in croquet, some enjoying the food trucks on the hills, some tossing Frisbee. All in all great music in the air. Nothing to complain about. A solid good time.
Big Gigantic, the Denver, CO duo, proved to be one of the biggest surprises of Governors Ball. Producer
Dominic Lalli’s saxophone riffs and drummer
Jeremy Salken’s big beats ignited the air with drum ‘n bass, glitch, house, and jazz. Yes jazz! The brightly lit Honda Stage– and its amazing sound system– made listening to Big Gigantic a more visceral and physical experience with the kick drum existing in the sternum while the tenor jazz riffs tickling the ears. These guys were clearly going all out and wanted to make sure the audience knew it.
LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Pat Mahoney decided to name their crate-digging DJ duo,
Special Disco Version, as such when they started playing live shows around New York City a few years ago. Murphy and Mahoney’s was that of a ‘70s disco block party. “We’re going to turn this into a big block party. Can we turn it up out there?” Murphy asked in his signature deadpan. The crowd went wild. Not one body remained still.
Major Lazer’s performance arguably may have been the pinnacle of the festival. If not, definitely the most talked about. Everyone focused on
Diplo’s dancers, who bumped and grinded with impressive dexterity across the stage, on the scaffolding, in the photo pit, and above the heads of the audience. With so much booty-shaking to the thundering beats of “Original Don”, “Hold the Line” (guest vocalist Santigold, who played the same stage just a few hours earlier, unfortunately did not appear), and “Express Yourself”, it’s no wonder some people, i.e. women, took their shirts off.
Chromeo, always a good time. With their their high-heeled keyboard stands and Kraftwerk-esque backup dancers, the Canadian electrofunk put on a great performance. “Chrom-EE-oh!” everyone chanted there wasn’t much time for intellectual discussion.
P-Thugg and his companion
Dave 1 struck a balance between Auto-Tuned hamming onstage and pitch-perfect renditions of “Tenderoni”, “Bonafied Lovin’”, “Hot Mess”, “Fancy Footwork”, and other songs that will someday appear on Chromeo’s Greatest Hits. The duo will be retreating to the studio to finish up their long-awaited next LP.
Passion Pit opened with “Moth Wings”, “Take A Walk”, and bass-heavy “The Reeling”, a fantastic intro to a big, tight set that cemented the proudly Boston-based outfit alongside acts like
Foster the People. The minimal light show enhanced the overall mood. The sound cut out briefly during “It’s Alright”, but Passion Pit picked up right where they left off and the audience was too enraptured.
Kid Cudi may be a prima donna, live up to his juvenile moniker, and forget the words to his songs, but somehow he still manages to put on a great show. He gave the audience exactly what they wanted. Shouting out to the “Cudder fans” out there, he introduced WZRD beatmaker
Dot Da Genius and launched into “Mojo So Dope”, “Scott Mescudi Vs. the World”, and “one of my favorites” “Solo Dolo” off Man on the Moon. “Cud Life” tourmate and fellow Clevelander
Chip Tha Ripper also made an appearance for “All Talk”, lending Cudi some street cred before he fumbled “Cudi Zone” and had to start over. Despite all that, which for anyone else would probably be a dealbreaker (and for many people in the audience who left early, it certainly was), Dot Da Genius’ beats and Cudi’s sheer enthusiasm — not to mention David Guetta-produced closer “Memories” — made it worthwhile to stick around. Even if Cudi did get cut off promptly at 11, unceremoniously halted before a rumored rendition of “Pursuit of Happiness”.
