Concert Review: Governor’s Ball Day 1 Roundup 6.5.26
- Samuel Leon
- 12 hours ago
- 15 min read
One of the most historically significant parks in Queens from a worldwide perspective is Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, located in between Corona and Flushing. The former waste disposal was turned into a park for the 1928 World’s Fair and revitalized for the 1963-64 World's Fair. Those fairs became breeding grounds for new inventions, exchanges of ideas with cultures, and a sense of pride for the celebration of the world that folks lived in during that time. While the World’s Fair no longer exists in the context of this historical argument, we certainly get offshoots of these celebrations, whether they be in massive competitions like the Olympics or, in the case of art, the music festival.
The relocation of Governor’s Ball to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in 2023 proved to be a significant change not only from a historical aspect but also from a visual standpoint. Gone are the parking lots of baseball stadiums and islands for stages: now, the festival grounds carry a sense of history, like the memories created now could carry on well past the initial time period you live in. During a time period where instant gratification has become the new norm, there is something to be said for the documentation of these celebrations while still feeling like you're living in those moments, and music festivals have become a pivotal ceremony to practice this.
This sense of nonstop action and the importance of every moment after entering the gates has always been a main attraction for me to festivals. I've been very lucky to attend multiple Governors Balls since my arrival in New York, as well as Lollapalooza in 2024 and the late, great Adjacent Fest in Atlantic City back in 2023. I found the simple act of walking amongst a landscape of music, merch tents, activations, and a general excitement in the air makes these seemingly simple events feel like your world. For my fourth year at New York’s premiere music festival, and my first going all three days, I was determined to convey my excitement of the fantastic lineup into words while still maintaining the sense of spontaneity I crave in festival grounds.
When Governor’s Ball announced its lineup back in January, I was pretty impressed with the range of genres they were pulling from and the lightning in a bottle energy they captured even in pockets of each day. However, my main fascination was the festival’s pivot into rock territory, with many bands that I liked in high school making their way into a more pop-centric landscape. In recent years, the festival has taken bands such as Militarie Gun and Mannequin Pussy onto the big stages, but this year boasted a lot more names to fit under the moniker of “rock” music. As someone whose music taste has shifted into all sorts of territories over the last decade, I personally couldn't be more excited, but I was curious for folks who weren't as familiar with rock, or rock fans who arrived at Gov Ball without as much experience with the festival itself.
One of the most striking differences right off the bat is the make-up of people who rushed to each of the main stage barricades. At the Verizon stage, also known as Governor’s Ball’s Main Stage, there were a myriad of teenagers with bright face beads, extravagant makeup, oversaturated graphic t-shirts, and bleached hair. On the opposite side at the Snapchat stage, there was a very similar sense of appearance in terms of makeup, hair and jewelry, with the notable exception that everything was in differing shades of black instead of bright highlighted colors. You could take it in any way you wanted, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence that Lorde was headlining the main stage and Pierce the Veil was playing late in the day at the Snapchat stage.
The Backfires
Kicking off the day at the Snapchat stage was the British turned New York rock and roll outfit The Backfires. After last year's Saturday Governor’s Ball was cut short because of the rain, The Backfires were forced to cut their set, only leaving time for an acoustic set at the Kona Big Wave stage. However, with the beautiful weather on day one this year, the Brooklyn based rock band returned with a vengeance. The group has been making a name for themselves in the indie circuit, and with a new record on the way, they are poised to become an unavoidable poster child of New York’s rock scene.
The group took the stage with the sky as blue as lead singer Alex Gomez’s denim jacket. Gomez’ appearance and attitude felt like that of a Liam Gallagher or Julian Casablancas type, but every now and again, the music would compel him to fall to his knees in true rockstar fashion. The background, consisting of clips from a Super 8 camera, served not only to evoke the nostalgia many rock n’ roll bands try to serve, but also to promote their latest single “Super 8.” The song questions what is real and what is fake amidst an ever changing world, with Gomez leading a chant to a slowly growing audience. The Backfires’ placement as the first band on the Snapchat stage was a very powerful one, serving as an introduction for the rock music of the day, and as an example of the exact kind of indie rock the New York scene has to offer.
Whatmore
Steamrolling through the early hours of the festival was the rising music collective Whatmore. One of the first of many local acts on the festival bill, this one coming from the illustrious LaGuardia High School, the collective made serious waves throughout the DIY scene over the last year, hitting up traditional venues like Bowery Ballroom and Webster Hall, as well as scattered DIY shows on rooftops and in Chinese restaurants. They’ve supported artists like Gov Ball veterans Joey Valence and Brae and are now running around the festival circuit in 2026, having made a great impression at Coachella this year.
From the second you heard the THX intro and the sound bites focused on the love of New York, you could tell there was something special with this group. As the members ran onto the stage, they all hollered in excitement, screaming for Gov Ball to make some noise over the sound of their band. Their group dynamic was very similar to what I would imagine BROCKHAMPTON would look like if they met in high school instead of Kanye West chatroom. However, simply limiting their description to a comparison like this feels unfair to the energy they portrayed on the stage. Whatmore seem like a collective of collaborators but more importantly a group of friends, with members hugging each other on stage and joking around, talking on top of one another in a way that never felt they were interjecting.
For a group so new to the live scene, Whatmore sure knew how to work the stage. Thanks to the absence of instruments for most of the set, the singers members would climb on the side of the stage, and even into the audience, where one of the guys opened up what was more than likely the first mosh pit of the day. That said, they didn't limit themselves strictly to hype, as their songs would weave into one another with varying genre fascinations on display in quick succession. The group did eventually break out more instruments for their song “jenny’s,” showcasing their abilities not just as rappers and hypemen, but as musicians and artists.
If there was any group to get into before they hit it big, this would be the one. Whatmore demonstrates the beauty of community in the face of individualism, and their catchy music is the icing on the cake.
King Princess
After stopping for a quick rest, one of only a few during the action packed day, I made it back to the Snapchat stage to check out King Princess’ set. Local Brooklynite Mikaela Mullaney Strauss has been having a moment with her latest record Girl Violence, having conquered illustrious venues like the Brooklyn Paramount last October. However, Strauss’ artistic escapades go beyond music, as she is currently in town working at The Public in the stage production of Girl, Interrupted. If there was ever a reason to call in an understudy, Governor’s Ball is certainly one of them.
In an unbridled burst of energy, King Princess threw herself upon the stage and began to sing a series of queer anthems. Songs like the anthem “Pussy Is God” had the crowd screaming lyrics alongside the thumping bass and excited guitars. Princess’ raspy voice throughout the set created a lot of character within the songs, listening to the emotions that lay bare under the exterior. Princess has been doing this for a while, so the rasp on her voice came across as a form of extreme vocal control unless she had an amateurish error. From awesome rock 'n' roll inspired cuts to power ballads, Princess’ set was truly something to behold as she had the crowd at the tip of her fingers from beginning to end.
Del Water Gap
Making his return to Governor’s Ball for the first time since 2022 was fellow Brooklyn-based artist Del Water Gap. A lot has changed since Holden Jaffe’s last appearance in the Flushing area, including two new albums under his belt, with the most recent being 2025’s excellent Chasing The Chimera, and tours that took the Del Water Gap project around the world and back. With more years of shows and more collaborations came more fans and interest in his work, and Jaffe more than delivered with a series of popular alternative rock hits that got the crowd moving in the heat.
I’ve been lucky enough to catch Del Water Gap once every two years, with this year’s iteration of Governor’s Ball marking my third viewing of his work. It’s been wonderful to see Jaffe grow into his element more and more with each passing performance. That’s not to say he never had the type of swagger that aids a music project of his style, but what made this performance feel decidedly integral was his confidence among the larger crowds and a tightness in his playing and his aesthetic that cultivated a more holistic image.
Wearing a monochromatic suit and pants, Del Water Gap took the stage with his newer track “Small Town Joan Of Arc” before moving into “Better Than I Know Myself,” a now certified Indie rock classic. While he played it nonchalant with his facial expressions, it was clear that Jaffe was enjoying his time on the stage, as his skips, hops, and jumps throughout the stage indicated the type of energy he was looking to achieve. His stoicism also left opportunities for emotionally moving moments to crack through with a faint smile, cutting through the supposed zombie-like exterior that he presented to the audience and revealing the human inside. Keeping in tune with the New York aspects of the festivals creation, Jaffe played a song called high tops written specifically about living in the city. Between the new songs and his now integral tracks like “All We Ever Do Is Talk” and “Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat,” Jaffe left his artistic footprint on the festival in the way I imagine he always dreamed of.
Turnover
Perhaps one of the more eyebrow raising additions to Governor’s Ball’s lineup at first glance is Turnover. The Virginia Beach quartet have weaved their way throughout the musical sphere since their pop punk debut EP all the way back in 2011, having dove into dream pop with 2015’s Peripheral Vision to psychedelic synth rock with Myself In The Way. Now, with the release of their dizzying Down To Earth, Turnover has begun to go even further into the fuzz, and their performance at Gov Ball brought a sense of calm amidst the chaos of the day.
In true DIY band fashion, the band’s equipment malfunctioned on them multiple times throughout the set, causing a number of delays. However, instead of letting those moments become true hindrances, the group turned that into a facet of the set. Singer Austen Getz used the downtime to promote their new album, emphasize the independence of the band, and talk about hilarious stories where it has truly been worse. When their gear wasn’t their worst enemy, the group mainly drew tracks from Down To Earth, including singles like “Nightjar” and “I See You And Realize,” as well as personal favorite “I’m Up, I’m Up.” The majority of the rest of the set was populated with tracks from their quintessential Peripheral Vision like “New Scream” and setlist mainstay “Dizzy On The Comedown.” During “Take My Head,” the combination of their onstage amps, and the massive speakers for the festival created an exponentially more distorted effect on the guitars, bringing that song to life in a way I have never seen before during their live shows.
The festival set, warts and all, was a great reiteration of what makes Turnover such a lovable band, and hopefully an introduction to remember for many others. While I wasn't able to catch the rest of the bands over on that stage, Turnover was the catalyst for numerous Indie rock bands at The Grove, including Australian rockers The Beths and the almighty Flipturn. This series of acts cultivated a very relaxing space of the entire park to get away from the chaos in the larger areas and offer a chance to drift into the dreaminess of guitars.
Pierce The Veil
If Turnover felt like a booking designed to dip a toe into the alternative music scene, Pierce The Veil’s placement as the penultimate act on the Snapchat stage was a headfirst dive into the deep end. In what might be one of the biggest success stories from the Warped Tour-era landscape, Pierce The Veil have gained a new legion of fans thanks to the success of their 2023 record The Jaws Of Life along with the continued discovery of their scene classic “King For A Day” to new generations of music listeners. Pierce The Veil’s set was singlehandedly the one I was intrigued by the most for the whole day, as I was so curious how audiences in a predominantly pop oriented festival environment would interact with one of the more intense performances of the entire day, if not the entire festival.
After a brief series of intros, the members of Pierce the Veil took the stage with gusto. Vocalist and guitarist Vic Fuentes stood his ground as the group launched into “Death Of An Executioner.” However, the moment that really got the crowd going was the very top of the next song “Bulls In The Bronx,” especially with bassist Jaime Preciado jumping and smiling just as wide as the superfans who had queued at the barricade all day. The fact that the group are twenty years deep into their career and still smiling as if it's the first time they’ve ever played to a crowd in a festival before tells you how dedicated the group is to having fun. The place I was standing didn't give me a good enough view as to how the crowd was reacting, but judging from the massive class of dust eliminating from the middle of the GA section, I can only assume that there was a mosh pit going during the set.
What I found quite heartwarming about Pierce The Veil’s performance were the details in their outfits and stage presence towards their identity. Whether it was José Alfredo Jiménez’s “El Rey” playing before they entered or the Bad Religion patch on guitarist Tony Perry’s pants, it's clear that even at the levels of fame Pierce The Veil have achieved, the group still want to honor the pillars that made them who they are. Their true to form strive for connection made their set stand out, with a potent example being when they asked the audience if there was anybody who believed music had saved their life before going into “Hold On Til May.” Of course, the closer “King For A Day” was when the crowd truly came to life with no holes barred, with many mosh pits opened and even a few attempts at crowdsurfing.
If you had told me even last year that we would be hearing breakdowns like the ones Pierce the Veil brought down upon Flushing Meadows, I would never have believed you. Now I wonder if Governor’s Ball will push the envelope in the future considering how well Pierce The Veil’s set played out. Guess time will tell!
Baby Keem
Taking on the illustrious role of the Snapchat stage headliner was the ever-charismatic Baby Keem. Keem’s had a banner year so far, with the quick release of Ca$ino back in March along with a surprise show at Webster Hall a few days prior bringing his name back into the public sphere after a quiet few years. Keem is right in the middle of the Ca$ino tour, and after a Governor’s Ball aftershow at Brooklyn Paramount, he was ready to bring the energy to his first ever proper festival headlining appearance.
Set amongst an apocalyptic landscape with a fallen casino sign, Baby Keem stepped out of the shadows and into a spotlight with opener “Ca$ino.” It was clear Baby Keem’s main goal was to get the audience as excited as possible, leaving as a little room as possible in between each song for the energy to fall. Thanks to a set of sparklers, pyro, and heavy amounts of smoke, the atmosphere was reminiscent of the dopamine producing machines that you would find in Atlantic City or Las Vegas.
With that in mind, Keem’s set wasn’t merely confined to the casino: tracks from his previous two records made their way into the setlist as well. From the rage track aptly titled “Moshpit” to breakout single “ORANGE SODA,” Keem delivered a ton of favorites that kept in line with the movement of the set. The only time audience members truly took a break from the energy was during the cut “16” from the melodic blue, focusing more on that desperate call for help as opposed to call for moshing.
If there was ever any doubt that Baby Keem was ready to headline festivals, that fear should be assuaged thanks to his performance at Gov Ball. Keem brings his decidedly unique and amazing approach to songwriting to the stage and leaves it there which, in a day of oversimplification, should be praised rather than glossed over. It’s going to be amazing to watch what heights Baby Keem goes to next.
Lorde
Concluding the festivities of the day was the artistic visionary Lorde. The Australian art pop superstar’s resume is long and highly coveted, with breakout songs like “Royals” and “Ribs” back in 2013 cementing her as a force to be reckoned with in the popular music landscape. A few years later, Lorde’s genre and era defining Melodrama asserted her power with widespread acclaim and catapulted her to the Zeitgeist in a way very few artists of her age have been able to achieve. 2025’s Virgin saw her experimenting more with the form of art pop incorporating ideas of spacious production and stylized drum samples to create something out of the box, more akin to a Caroline Polachek than a typical 2020s megastar. Lorde’s out-of-the-box style of thinking has translated beautifully from the music into the realm of the visual spectacle, culminating in one of the most inventive performances I have seen at a festival in quite a long time.
Fresh off of her Ultrasound tour from last year, Lorde dabbled with the ideas of the camera viewpoint as a character in a story, a desaturated yet still potent blue color palette, and the parallel interrogation of the past and the future to create a captivating show from beginning to end. At the very beginning of her set, the main screen brought up a camera set on a heart rate monitor, slowly zooming out to reveal Lorde sitting right next to it. From there, she took her now famous multicolor water bottle to a functioning water fountain on the stage, filling it up while she sang her breakout hit “Royals.” From there, a flood of icy blue lights ran throughout the stage as she launched into the first taste fans got of Virgin, “What Was That?” There's an added layer of importance with tracks on Virgin within the context of Governor’s Ball, as many songs off the record reference specific landmarks or New York navigational infrastructure. For “What Was That” specifically, I couldn’t help but smile as she sang about Baby’s All Right, the music venue where many artists begin their journey on the road.
Some of the more powerful moments during the performance were instances where Lorde would play older songs, such as Pure Heroine’s “Buzzcut Season” and Melodrama’s “Perfect Places,” where she would include the recorded vocals of the songs as a backing vocal. There is a strange paradox at play where her now older voice is singing alongside younger versions of herself, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in direct opposition, but always with the right words. Sonic details like these were exceptionally moving when placed alongside songs like “Favorite Daughter,” a song whose lyrics directly confront images and events of the past in an attempt to decipher the present. However, the thesis of this confrontation was illuminated in full display during her rendition of “Liability” which strategically placed a projection of old childhood videos onto her stomach, playing time-laden layers of the artist in a physical moment.
The strengths in Lorde’s show didn’t stop at the abstract. On the basis of movement, both timewise and visually, the entire show felt the type of fluidity most artists only dream about achieving. Lorde’s use of transitions stitched tracks across her discography so well you would assume they were in sequential order on an album tracklist. The greatest accomplishment came from her transition from Melodrama’s “The Louvre” into Virgin track “Current Affairs” thanks to a similar tempo between the songs. I was so enveloped in Lorde’s creation that I thought an hour had passed by when it had only been 25 minutes into her show. On a physical level, musicians and background dancers incorporated movement into the entire set, abstractly contorting their bodies to the rhythms of the music without feeling distracting.
From a production level, Lorde’s headliner status made use of every available trick in the book. From fog piercing lasers to flashing lights in every direction, there was always something going on stage except for the moments in which Lorde was speaking. One of the cooler details in the production came in the form of the camera work, with both mobile and static cameras placed all over the stage, including one underneath the platform Lorde would frequently stand on. In addition, there were electrical flashes at the end of Melodrama cut “Hard Feelings” which made the sonic crashes feel even more explosive then they already were.
However, at the end of the day, all of the production and movement can only get you so far if you don't have strong songs for an audience to be captivated by in the first place. There were many personal and crowd favorites throughout the set, but the golden run happened towards the end of the night starting with a rendition of Lorde’s remix of Charli XCX's “Girl, so confusing” moving into the ever cathartic anthem “Green Light.” From there, Lorde entered the audience and delivered a spellbinding rendition of her newest hit, “David” and finished with a timeless cut, “Ribs.” Even though I was much closer to the back of the crowd during Lorde’s set, there was never a moment where the people around me weren’t at the least enjoying the music, if not fully screaming along.
It takes a special kind of headliner to pull off an intricate show that fully feels like them and not manufactured. Luckily, that artist happens to be one who has inspired generations of people to live with the music and the moments, intersecting perfectly with Governor’s Ball’s mantra. With Lorde’s exit, the festivities were complete for the day, and the excitement surrounding day two began to feel more real than ever.
