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Governors Ball ’14

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GOVERNORS  BALL ’14

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We, the Congressmen, Getting Down At the Local Governors Ball. Get looped in (or go ahead, relive it) with this high quality, 3-day low-down on the….

[dropcap_sty color=”” back=”” font_weight=”normal/bold”]W[/dropcap_sty]e, the Congressmen, Getting Down At the Local Governors Ball. Get looped in (or go ahead, relive it) with this high quality, 3-day low-down on the thrills, skills, and snatch-ups from NYC’s sublimely solid and increasingly more premium summer-priority.

Dropping in on Governors Ball – where NYC rocks it by sunlight and kicks it by stage light; where the morning bash turns to nighttime thrash – three times over.  Where a squeeze of sunblock gets you closer to the front, and a popsicle wins you at chance at a strangers camelback. It’s where the artists you dig, dig up the tricks at every stop, and when it shows up for the weekend, it disappoints no one.

Credit is thrown to the 3-day lineup – a beautifully busy aggregation of hip hop, indie-pop, electronic, folk and rock appearances – all with a lot of good, a lot for everyone, and a little something for anyone.

With that said, here’s some sound-making, mind-pleasing takeaways you should get in on:

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The Righteous Co-eds. All is well and good under the sweet seduction of the co-ed bands – the hard-to-refuse result of a quality midday set by Little Daylight and an ultimate 80’s-infused show by Haerts, a BK-based 4-piece who turned a mild addiction to “Hemiplegia” and “Wings” into a serious repeat habit.

Two other knockout ‘girl and boy’ crews were the superb sandy-on-sax, brother-sister duo, Wild Belle, and the adrenaline enhancing echo-like tunes of long-time treasured New Zealand band, The Naked and Famous.

An Endless Indie-Genre To Get After. The weekend brought on a 3-day high of hot temps and fiery new indie-pop, rock, and folk acts. The clear champs were the boys of PAPA – a savagely stellar LA-bred but NY-formed 4-peice, who ruled in by way of their too-easy to crush on presence and a sweetly sunny-rock that can get anyone going dangerously and dearly berserk for. Next up on the nasty-good and notable is Montreal-based band, Half Moon Run. Indie-rock masters of hard-hitting harmonies, solid percussions, and un-intrusive complexities, this crew showed up as the sole satisfier to the proud cult-ears of those likely obsessed with Alt-J and/or Foals. Eyes are also wide on beach, fuzz-pop Cayucas, and indie-pop’s Bleachers, formed by Jack Antonoff of Fun, who crazed a sizable crowd despite having released only 2 songs.

The Girl Power. Welcome to Governors Ball 2014 – the most rampant gathering of fierce female vocalists, killer dance-muses, and unattainable girl crushes. In the queue of new to praise is witchingly charming Cali-act, Banks, the dually dreamy-disco leads of femme-pop crew, Lucius, and soul-tronic super-star, Aluna Francis, known for her role in trip-hop duo AlunaGeorge and her essential on-stage appearances with Disclosure.

Hip-Hop is Everything. Fans fan-ed out fabulously to a monstrously mega handful of top-notch hip-hop, rap, and neo-soul acts. The high of highlights included flawlessly fly performance by Chance the Rapper, the cooler than you team-up between Earl Sweatshirt, and Tyler, the Creator, and a late-night ambush by OutKast’s far-out dance fête.

Rock is Doing A-Ok. Just name your disorderly mob method and find the ball still nostalgic and needy for the stunning rock that rocks their world.  Pop a peek at any delightful go-to sets, including eternal favorites like TV on the Radio, Jack White, The Strokes, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, or black metal band, Deafheaven to see a sea of fans getting hard, heavy, and happy to it.

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Electronic is Becoming Even More Delicious. Governing the ball this year was the explosive electronic eco-system of impulsive buoyant-beats, neon-hyphy hits and crafty chill-wave spells. Innocence was lightly shattered by several stand out acts from the most fresh and fetch of electronic tribes, duos, and disc jockeys – including Disclosure, Glitch Mob and RJD2. And despite heartbreaking sound spottiness from Tanlines, fun was still for the taking during a heavenly hour with shimmering and sheer-sounding Washed Out and glittery DJ-duo, Classixx.

Last but not Least, the Advantageous Extra-Curricular. First lesson learned? Get down with the silent disco – especially when the brilliantly talented boys of psych-pop, electronic-rock, American Royalty are packing in the party.

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Written by: Danielle Cohen

Photographer Credits: Sean McGlynn / Forest Woodward




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