After two jam packed days, on Sunday (June 7), Governors Ball 2015 came to a close. If each day had its own genre sorted out, this would be the indie rock day. After sets from deadmau5, Drake, Florence + The Machine and more earlier in the weekend, day three was guitar-filled as The Black Keys, Tame Impala, The War on Drugs and more took to the four stages at NYC's Randall's Island.
With tired feet from endless standing and enthusiastic love of music in our hearts, Music Times was there to see how it all went down.
1:03 - Walking across the bridge into Randall's Island, it's clear it's Lana Del Rey day as I count no fewer than one dozen flower crowds on girls' heads. Lana's impact is clear. - Carolyn Menyes
1:20 - Walk up to the festival gates, and wow. The line to get in from bag check takes at least 15 minutes once I arrive. Later I'm told a press badge should've helped me to avoid this. Lesson learned. -CM
1:40 - We are still waiting on Echosmith who appear to have everything set up, but are 10 minutes late. The crowd is growing restless at this point. Two minutes later, they finally appear on stage- Ryan Middleton
1:44- "I wish you could see what I'm seeing this is so f*cking cool," Strand of Oaks' Timothy Showalter said to the Honda Stage audience as everyone clapped along. For the audience, it's equally awesome. -CM
2:02 - Why buy lunch when you can just eat 15 bags of free Kettle Brand potato chips? The free snack is the buzz of the festival and everyone is nomming on them. And, you know, their Maple Bacon chip is something to be tasted. Super yummy fun times. -CM
2:14 - Echosmith finish with their big hit "Cool Kids" and the crowd goes wild. -RM
2:48 - This is pretty ridiculous in the Gotham Tent. For the second time in two days, the tent is rocking with a bass / trap artist from2:15 - 3 delivers one of the wildest sets of the weekend. Australian duo Hermitude are going at it live with one man on live keys and the other going back and forth between a set of turntables and drum pads. -RM
2:57 - Governors Ball's token country act this year was Sturgill Simpson, who took to the main stage to Run the Jewels blasting from the speakers. It was this dichotomy that carried Simpson's set. He blasted through his psychedelic country with a twang and flawless voice that could be rivaled by the best of the fest. -CM
3:10 - Logic is great at crowd interaction shouting out some dude who tweeted at him earlier, while also giving props to various signs in the crowd. -RM
3:35 - After playing though a solid portion of his critically acclaimed LP Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Sturgill Simpson ended his set with a seven-minute cover of The Osbourne Brothers, with some T Rex thrown in for good measure. This ain't your normal country show, even if my boots were stomping the whole time. -CM
A little country at #govballnyc with Sturgill Simpson.
A photo posted by Music Times (@themusictimes) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:43pm PDT
3:45 - Royal Blood walk out to Pharoehe Monch's classic pump up anthem "Simon Says." This is going to be good.
4:06 - Mayer Hawthorne covers Bel Biv DeVoe's "Poison" with a sexual energy that's nearly terrifying. So funky fresh here at the Gotham Tent. -CM
4:27 - Royal Blood plays "Out of the Black" as the audience thrashes along. It's easy to see how this Brits have been dubbed the next Muse. So much raw power has taken over the Big Apple Stage. -CM
4:30 - Seriously. If you're looking for Lana Del Rey's presence, look no further than the flower crown stall, which has a line longer than Ramen Burger (and that's saying something). -CM
5:15 - If you're looking for a lot of fist bumping, just go to a Tame Impala show and wait for "Elephant." Thousands of hands in the air here at the main stage. -CM
Getting psychedelic with @tame_impala at #govballnyc #nofilter #tameimpala A photo posted by Music Times (@themusictimes) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:44pm PDT
5:25 - This is becoming a problem. A-Trak has an equipment malfunction and has to kill a few minutes by shouting out some people in the crowd and shooting t-shirts into the sea of people at the Honda Stage. -RM
5:28 - The blend of trap, hip-hop and electro continues with A-Trak's skills as a DJ. -RM
5:46 - Millenials <3 Weird Al Yankovic, and the Gotham Tent is filled with die hard lovers of this hilarious polka rocker. He opens up with two new tracks from Mandatory Fun, his polka medley and his spin on Lorde's "Royals," fittingly titled "Foil." -CM
6:25 - The War On Drugs have been putting on an incredible show at the Big Apple stage and the crowd gets moving for the Lost In A Dream hit "Under The Pressure." -RM
6:32 - After playing through a slew of favorites, including "Fat," "Word Crimes" and "White and Nerdy," Weird Al breaks out the beards for an energized take on "Amish Paradise." So many costumes can be seen throughout this set, and Weird Al puts on a hell of a show. The dedicated fans here are singing along to every word, but this song still holds up the strongest. -CM
Getting a lesson in #wordcrimes with @alfredyankovic at #govballnyc!
A photo posted by Music Times (@themusictimes) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:45pm PDT
7:16 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Kites do the thing... They play "Champagne Supernova." At this point, I was on the hunt for food, but I quickly ran to the stage to sing along to this Oasis classic, which was a major player in my teen years. Later, they closed with "Don't Look Back in Anger," and it was equally satisfying, with everyone singing along. When will Oasis reunite so they can headline GovBall? -CM
7:20 - Big Gigantic bring out Cherub to perform their track "The Night Is Young" with live vocals. The sax is super sexy today with Jeremy Salken going HAM on drums. The duo even brought pyro for their set, something other headliners didn't even bother to invest in. -RM
8:25 - Flying Lotus drops his You're Dead track with Kendrick Lamar, who happens to be in town, just at Summer Jam, "Never Catch Me." The sun setting makes for a good atmospere for FLyLo's weird electronic music rhythms and sounds. -RM
8:43 - Governors Ball 2015 has been really dance friendly, with EDM taking up time slots on all four days. And Hot Chip was at the Big Apple Stage to bring the party to a close. Though my feet were tired and my back aching from three days of festing, when Hot Chip launched in to "Ready For the Floor" followed by "I Feel Better," it was impossible not to dance along. It made me, in fact, ready for the floor. -CM
Grooving to @hot_chip at #govballnyc on this final night! A photo posted by Music Times (@themusictimes) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:18pm PDT
9:15 - At last the moment people have waited for -- The Black Keys are back in New York City and ready to rock the main stage at Gov Ball. -RM
9:40 - There are these key lime pie popsicles which are super delicious and creamy. Bonus? Only $4. Double bonus? THEY HAVE PIE CRUST IN THE ICE CREAM. Incredible. -CM
9:45 - The Black Keys are known for being from Ohio, especially by other Ohio people as a few people behind me point out between songs getting an O-H-I-O chant going before going dude on dude shoulders with a state flag and charging to the front. -RM
9:49 - Lana Del Rey takes a lengthy pause in her atmospheric set to take selfies with her fans in the front row. Their GovBall was just made. -CM
10:16 - Del Rey's vocals are notably a little too quiet over at the closing set of the Honda Stage, as The Black Keys' roaring blues rock can be heard across the festival grounds. Nonetheless, she launches into "Video Games" and everyone in the audience loses their mind. -CM
10:40 - The Black Keys finish with El Camino hit "Little Black Submarine" as the catchy, building rock tune sends fans off into the night. Once the Black Keys are done, a short small fireworks display erupts over the Gov Ball stage, which forces people to stop walking away and turn around for a quick picture or two.-RM
10:50 - Weary legs carry everyone home as people are all smiles from another wonderful Gov Ball. -RM
