Governors Ball 2024 - June 7-9

Fcukers are fun. They play what's essentially house music, but with some live instrumentation and vocals. They've got a lot of buzz going and I could see them being higher up on posters in the future if the trajectory continues.

I mean, that's a no-brainer for me, but I am a bit of a Carly stan, so...

If you could combine the morning/early afternoon of Sunday with the late afternoon/evening/night of Saturday, I could really put together an old-school, 12 PM - close festival day, here. As it is, I think I might be popping in for CRJ and The Killers on Saturday, then possibly returning for a Hails > Hotline TNT > Fcukers > Geese > Beach Fossils > home by dinner time sort of day on Sunday.

It doesn't help that the Chappell/Victoria/Renee/SZA run is going to be teen central - someone in the Coachella thread said they felt like a substitute teacher at the Chappell set there.

If you're willing to shell out, VIP might help ameliorate things - it's not age-restricted this year for some godforsaken reason, but it'll probably be better than GA. And I don't think the festival is currently in danger of selling out any ticket type, so you might be able to find a single-day VIP pass secondhand for under face value as the dates get closer. 

Victoria Monet out, Malcolm Todd in.



Sapphic Sunday takes a hit.

I do think the trio of Chappell Roan, Renee Rapp, and Sabrina Carpenter are legitimately moving a lot of tickets

Can't make it this year but definitely curious if both Sabrina Carpenter and CHappell Roan outdraw the headliners on their respective days.

My current bet is on Chappell Roan being the most-attended set of the entire festival. 

I think Sabrina Carpenter's crowd will be huge, but I see at least SZA out-drawing her. The Killers, I dunno. I tend to think of them as a bit tired, but apparently the crowd for them at BC was huge and enthusiastic. 

I have been thrown up on after Governor's Ball by an overly drunk teen. The shuttle ride back from the island and i'm standing on the bus when someone sitting in front of me proceeds to bend over forwrad and just let loose on the hard plastic floor. Splatter went everywhere. Including my bare legs.

Governor's Ball - where tons of kids with braces will ask you to sell them your 21+ Over wristband

Nah, it really picked up on that front in 2016, got really teens in 2018.

I went on Saturday. I had a fucking existential crisis from the moment I stepped on the 7 train platform at Queensboro Plaza all the way until I stepped through the entrance to the VIP area about how fucking old I am and how all my friends who used to come to festivals with me have aged out (even the ones younger than me) and how, no matter how hard I try to hang on to the magic of my younger years, culture and music and everything are going to leave me in the dust and that some things are gone that I’ll never get back, and maybe I should just accept my station as a boring old person who doesn’t get crazy any more.

Once I got into VIP, though, I felt different. First, I suddenly wasn’t the only old person I could see. Everything just felt easier and more relaxed. I was able to walk up to the main stage 10 minutes before Carly Rae Jepsen went on and get a good spot. The Killers were fun in the same way the Killers are every time you see them. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and being outside listening to fun music, I felt some of the old vibe, again - not full on, but enough of a hit to feel good. I am absolutely spoiled for the GA GovBall experience forever after this.


I dunno. It’s pretty obvious my days as a GovBall die-hard are well behind me unless they make a massive pivot in booking philosophy (and why would they given how well this year sold?) or what’s popular in music suddenly takes some crazy turn back to the kind of stuff I most enjoy, but I could see myself doing a single day in VIP here in the future if the headliner was somebody I really liked, like if they finally re-booked Tame Impala or if they brought Florence back.

Jorge- thanks for continuing to help the younguns on Reddit! (assuming they go to Reddit)

Your points about current Gov Ball years are good ones. One thing that I think also makes this fest a challenge for older fest goers is only having 3 stages. It's a lot easier for there to be a block of time where the music playing connects with a younger audience but not you when there's only 2-3 options. I know not every fest can have 10 stages like Coachella, but it was nice when Firefly had 6 stages.

Hope they book some artists you like for next year and that the VIP crowd has good vibes

I'm happy to see VIP is a way to enjoy current acts in a festival that caters to people more than half my age, but I feel conflicted about it. It sucks that a good time is essentially behind a substantial paywall.

I "retired" from Governors Ball a few years ago, plus I am in ADA more often than not these days for standing shows, but had to do The Killers personal 5 boro milestone so I sucked it up and also did VIP for Saturday. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't feel too old being mostly in VIP. And they did do it up nicely at Main Stage/GoPuff, the IHG area was less decked out but not bad either. So much seating! Which was why I did VIP. I saw no seating in the general areas of the fest, which I also wandered around a bit - besides no seating at all there I thought they laid stuff out quite nicely. Nice drink selection (this forum censors the word for mixed drinks?  Lol) but the food vendors kinda sucked in VIP but I didn't really have time to wander the food in the main areas although I did get a free mini grilled cheese soon after entering, lol.  I would suggest that they put up a few signs pointing the way to the various stages, even with the map it took me awhile to find the IHG stage.

I enjoyed everyone I saw - Carly Rae, Hippo Campus and The Killers, and I watched Sabrina Carpenter for a few minutes but then was actively listening - think I enjoyed her more listening but not actually watching her, if that makes sense! It was easy for me to swoop in after Carly Rae and get a great spot for The Killers, and fortunately my knees and feet were doing well on Saturday so I made it through the show fine.  Although I did check out their ADA and it was not in a great spot, especially compared to where it was at Randalls Island.  Lots of families with younger children in VIP!  Did encounter one very drunk young woman during the early part of the Killers set, was worried she might puke on me, but her boyfriend ushered her out pretty quickly.

Flushing Meadows as a site - I liked all the trees and everything, and probably less muddy with a rainfall, but oy, it is a hike from the subway, my smartwatch clocked it as 1.25 miles from main stage to the 7. And it takes awhile from downtown Brooklyn, the 7 is not my favorite even when it goes express. Probably didn't help that the G was not running where I needed this weekend so had to go through Manhattan. Also the city or whoever really needs to address that boardwalk connecting the park to the transit, it is falling apart and is a disaster waiting to happen if they don't do anything and still have these high traffic events.

One of my coworkers went yesterday. They said she even dropped a new song, and though it was crazy, the videos make it seem even more crowded than it was. Huge headliner energy though. That rocket took OFF this year.