The last day of any festival is always bittersweet and with Sunday’s lineup being the most solid out of the three (in my humble opinon), it was a truly memorable day. It was also the nicest day of the weekend albeit a little hot to be running from stage to stage, but that’s what I did and caught some great performances along the way including The War On Drugs, Royal Blood and a set from Weird Al Yankovic, that blew everyone’s minds!
First up was Streets Of Laredo, who took over our Instagram account that day (and did a great job at it), and despite playing to a few hundred people on the big stage – rocked hard and left strong impressions all around.
I flew over to the Honda stage and caught the last three songs from the rocking duo, The Picturebooks, and oh-man they were freaking great. The drummer, sans any cymbals whatsoever – was an animal who dropped tribalistic beats over raging guitars.
Following, was Strand Of Oaks with their powerful and tight sound. Really enjoyed this set.
Next act was the Reggae group – Chronixx and Zincfence Redemption, who provided something a little different than we heard all weekend and was a nice change of pace.
For me and many others, Royal Blood was the highlight of the day. When these two dudes plug-in it’s a treat. There aren’t many true rock bands left in the scene but Royal Blood is continuing the legacy which bands like Led Zeppelin paved for them.
Since I had Seen Tame Impala a few weeks back at Boston Calling, I decided to get a burger from Marc Forgione’s place, and it was delicious! Next up was The War On Drugs and they didn’t disappoint with a solid hour of groaning guitars and beautiful melodies.
As soon as I got a few shots I jogged over to catch the amazing set that Weird Al Yankovic put on. He really was the ultimate showman and the buzz surrounding his performance many days later, proved he won Gov Ball!
When Noel Gallagher is singing you tend to pay attention and I did just that by catching a few Oasis songs that had the older crowd singing along.
Big Gigantic had the kids in a frenzy with a drum and saxophone combo.
Hot Chip followed and also had a huge younger crowd of devoted fans.
Finally it was time for The Black Keys, which ended the amazing three day festival on Randall’s Island. Although I’m not their biggest fan it’s not hard to love their simplified rock and roll music stylings and was a fitting way to wrap up a very successful Governors Ball.
To see day one of Gov Ball hit here.
To view day two of Gov Ball hit here.
Article: Shayne Hanley with additional photos by Jonathan Miller