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Photos, Videos: Governors Ball Rocks Out To The Strokes, Jamie XX, & Father John Misty
By
Scott Heins
Published Jun 4, 2016
Modified Jun 4, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Jun 4, 2016
Modified Jun 4, 2016
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Rainy skies did nothing to dampen the mood during the first day of Governors Ball 2016, which brought thousands of music-loving, selfie-snapping people to Randall's Island Friday. Headliners included Robyn and The Strokes, who received an especially raucous welcome from their hometown crowd. Frontman Julian Casablancas was in top form, sneering through classics like "Last Night" and "Reptilia" in addition to songs off the band's brand-new EP, Future Present Past.
Afternoon highlights included indie-rap supergroup Big Grams (made up of Outkast MC Big Boi and electro duo Phantogram), Queens native Action Bronson, indie rock legend Beck, British dance pop band Years And Years, along with Father John Misty, whose constant slithering and prayer-style kneeling made for some of the day's most impressive stage presence. The day's high-point, however, came during Jamie XX's evening set. Straying from his 2015 solo LP In Colour, the DJ/produce dug back into classic soul courtesy of Idris Muhammad in between feverish house records. XX pushed the tent-covered point to very high places before finally dropping his finest track, "Gosh."
But what about those crowds? At this point, the fan population at Governors Ball is exactly what you'd expect. Expensive, multi-artist music festivals are grade-A FOMO fodder, and as a result the day was a non-stop Snapchat/Instagram/Twitter party. And while it was a shame to see so many people reach for their phones just as some artists were hitting their peak, the music was great, the kids were decent to each other, nothing is ever perfect, it is what it is!
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Action Bronson
Big Grams
father john misty
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Jamie XX
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Years and Years
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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