After two intense days, we decided to take day three a little more casually. This proved a hard plan to follow after watching Banks perform. Taking the stage dressed entirely in black, her clothes more similar to that of an ancient priestess than that of your traditional R&B singer, Banks commanded the audience immediately with her stage presence, at least while she was singing. In between songs though, Banks' personality seemed to shift entirely, morphing from an explosive force during songs such as "Brain", to a timid and reserved individual. I think it's this dichotomy that makes her so alluring and identifiable; while she sings she is what everyone can aspire to be at their strongest, but once she stops, she is just as vulnerable as most people feel on a day to day basis.
The final act we took in was England's James Blake. While it was bittersweet to reach the end of our 2014 The Governors Ball experience, ending it with James Blake couldn't have been a more fitting end. Playing his mix of R&B, post-dubstep and electronic music, all while the sun set behind him and his band, Blake played one of the best hours of the entire festival. The highlight of his set though had to be a tie between his cover of Bill Withers' "Hope She'll Be Happier" or "Measurements," a song which relies heavily on James Blake looping his own voice live, an experience that required complete silence from the audience. After a couple of attempts, James Blake was finally given the quiet he deserved and finished the song, and left after a simple bow to the audience.
The first act we took in on day two was a testament to the fantastic scheduling efforts of the festival coordinators. While all the bands from the first day could be easily placed into a popular radio station's playlist (even Julian Casablancas+The Voids had their pop elements), Deafheaven was an entirely different story. Playing a strange hybrid of black metal, shoegaze and post-rock, Deafheaven was the black sheep of the festival. Much like the crowd for Julian Casablancas+The Voids, the crowd for Deafheaven was mostly there for the following act Chance the Rapper. Needless to say, when Deafheaven played their first song, pummelling the audience with breakneck drumming and the frontman George Clarke's screams, most of the audience were overwhelmed. For some though, myself included, this was an almost transcendent experience, with Clarke conducting us with his outstretched hands through this twisted form of meditation.
While this is a music blog, I couldn't rightfully describe The Governors Ball experience without talking about the food. Instead of just offering cheap hot dogs or hamburgers, the organizers found talented up and coming restaurants and food trucks to offer high quality food to the festival attendees. One such restaurant was New York's own, Pommes Frites. Offering huge portions of fries shoved into cones and then smothered with a selection of delicious sauces, this almost overtook all the musical acts as my favourite part of the festival.
After refuelling on unhealthy amounts of fries, we decided to camp out the main stage to get a good view for headliner Jack White. Luckily this meant we also got a chance to see New York natives, The Strokes, play one of their very first shows after a long hiatus. The crowd was packed together tightly, with everyone wanting to be as close as possible to see one of this generation's greatest bands play for their hometown audience. The Strokes did not disappoint, playing a good mix of crowd favourites, deeper cuts, and for their encore played one of their best songs, "New York City Cops." The following Youtube clip not only displays this song, but better yet, shows just how how the energy in the crowd was.
After a fantastic first day at the Governors Ball, it would have been hard to see any other day topping it, if not for the fact that day two had the act that had brought me back to New York, Jack White. White has achieved near mythological status, playing in the The White Stripes for almost 15 years, but also putting out records with The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, and now his own solo work. Not performing with a set list, he carried on this improvisational attitude to his backing band as well, playing them almost as instruments. Pointing out specific musicians if he wanted them to solo, or stop playing, his songs would morph as they went on, turning classics such as "Seven Nation Army" into almost entirely new songs. During his set, he stopped to say that this festival had a unique energy to it, an almost palpable sense of excitement. I'd be one to agree, although I'd say White doesn't do himself justice in accepting that the source of that energy may in fact stem from him and his guitar.
What type of food do you think best compliments a concert? Is Jack White the best or the greatest? Let me know in the comments below.
Janelle Monae has to have one of the greatest stage presences I have ever been witness to. From the beginning of her set, with Monae coming out onto the stage in a wheelchair and straightjacket, the crowd knew immediately that they were going to be witness to a fantastic concert. Once she removed that jacket, I don't think Monae stopped performing once, carrying out some of the fanciest footwork since the 1950's, all while singing perfectly. The end of her set, with her announcer placing a cape on her exhausted body, brought forth comparisons to the legendary showman James Brown, and I believe all those comparisons were well deserved.
We stuck around the main stage to take in Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of The Strokes, perform a set with his new band, the aptly named Julian Casablancas+The Voids. The music was fantastic, a version of futuristic dystopian punk, sounding like the soundtrack to the excellent 1988 anime film "Akira." Even better than the music though was the reaction of the crowd, many of whom were either waiting there to get a good view for the next band, Pheonix, or had come as fans of The Strokes. Probably expecting to see Julian play the synth pop of his 2009 solo album "Phrazes for the Young" or something more akin to the Strokes, what the audience got instead was neon coloured outfits, insane backdrops, and songs that at sometimes veered into pure noise. Below is probably my favourite song they played during their set, and while the audio quality may not be amazing, the visuals and energy of the song make up for it.
Earlier this month, New York hosted what has become one of the biggest music festivals in North America. While it has still yet to reach the gargantuan, and some would argue bloated, size of festivals such as California's Coachella, The Governors Ball has grown from it's humble, single day, 12 act lineup, to a three day spectacular. From June 6 to 8, New York's Randall's Island hosted the festival yet again, and for a second year in a row, I packed my bags, endured a 12 hour bus ride, and found myself checking into a cheap hostel, ready for a weekend of heat exhaustion, good food, and better music. In the following blog entries I'm going to talk about why The Governors Ball might just be one of the best music experiences.
DAY 1:
My festival companion and I got to the festival grounds at around noon, just in time to see the very first band open up the festival. Little Comets put on a fantastic show, playing danceable indie-pop, some songs featuring reggae and dub influences, while others leaning very much on the bands obvious enjoyment of disco. I wasn't familiar with the band at all before hand, and while, after listening to their material wouldn't necessarily qualify myself as a die-hard fanatic, their set was an excellent way to start off the day. The good thing about a festival with such diverse offerings is that you are destined to see bands you've heard nothing from before.
The next act we took in was Run the Jewels, a hip-hop supergroup consisting of producer/rapper El-P and Atlanta's Killer Mike. From the opening up their concert by leading a sing along to Queen's "We are the Champions," to Killer Mike's fantastic dance moves, Run the Jewels exploded onto the stage full of fun and energy, enough to dwarf rappers half their age. This coupled with El-P's fantastic production, and both rapper's focus on crafting entertaining and insightful lyrics, Run the Jewels remain on of my favourite acts of the entire festival. To attempt to describe the joy these two bring to the stage in mere words would be doing them a disservice, so please watch some highlights of their set Billboard put together. (Warning: Explicit language)
Let me know of what you think makes a festival successful? Is it the location, the quality of the acts, or something else all together? Post your opinions in the comments.
