The Governors Ball 2014 Introduction & Day One Recap pt. 1

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.