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Photos: Gov Ball parties hard all weekend with Halsey, Flume, Ashnikko, Kaytranada and J Cole
By
Scott Lynch
Published Jun 13, 2022
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By
Scott Lynch
Published Jun 13, 2022
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Some 100,000 people flooded the Citi Field parking lots this past weekend for the 11th annual Governors Ball music festival. The weather totally cooperated while nearly 50 different acts performed on three big stages — and on all three days the vibes were impeccable.
"I'm having a blast," Detroit native Laura Topf told Gothamist from the front rail, right before Japanese Breakfast came on stage on Sunday. "This is a great time, all the sets today have been great. I've been here all weekend, and meeting everyone in the pit has been super fun. Everyone's so cool. Everyone's very nice, and, like, not rude."
Glass Animals fans lining the stage ahead of the band's set on Sunday.
"This is maybe the biggest event I've been to since COVID," Topf added. "I'm glad that people are still being courteous and haven't forgotten how to interact, even though we've kind of been on our own for a couple of years."
Saturday's musical highlights included headliner Halsey doing an emotional cover of Kate Bush's resurgent 1985 classic, "Running Up That Hill," as well as introducing her new single, "So Good." Ashnikko, who once said "the internet raised me," basked in the love from thousands of fans, who screamed along to every word of her brash, sex-positive songs.
Ashnikko
Flume's trippy stage show and swirling beats were perfectly timed for his sunset performance. And NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, whose DJ handle is Diesel, threw down an electrifying set of club hits and head bangers.
The only (slight) buzzkill for fans on Saturday: Roddy Ricch's main stage performance was canceled at the last minute after he was arrested while entering the stadium with a loaded gun in his car. (All charges against Rich have been dismissed, according to the Daily News.)
Japanese Breakfast
Sunday was another lovely day in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park — the only remnants of overnight rain were a few large puddles — and the entire lineup went on as scheduled. 100 Gecs' twitchy bangers sent the kids into a giddy frenzy, and their out-of-character acoustic tune was greeted with giggles and cheers.
Japanese Breakfast had a winning performance as always — she even makes banging a gong look both fierce and fun — and Becky G bounced around the stage with a whole troupe of dancers. “This is a lot of exercise!” she said about 45 minutes into her hour-long set. A trio of big-name fan favorites — Kaytranada, J. Cole, and Playboi Carti — closed out each of the three stages.
Check out our report and photos from Friday's opening-night bash here.
Tagged
governors ball
Music
festivals
concerts
citi field
Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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