This year’s Gov Ball was nothing short of eventful, culminating in an emergency evacuation Sunday night thanks to indifferent mother nature. During the first two days of the music festival however, the sun shined, strings of colored balloons arched across the skies, festival goers donned their summer best—needless to say, everyone was brimming with excitement.
Friday's headliner, Tyler, the Creator reigned supreme on night one, knocking those in attendance away with material from his fifth studio album, Igor, which dropped on May 17. In between songs and spastically energetic dance fits, Tyler got intimate with the audience, saying, “This album has only been out a week and you guys already know all the words. That feels good, man.”
Other highlights included the sexy androgyny of The Internet, rap legend, Lil Wayne, Big Break artist Cautious Clay, and San Marcos, Texas natives, Brockhampton. The latter group put on a spectacular show, complete with matching silver jumpsuits, a giant gold airplane, and an airlift that allowed the band members to hover over high above the crowd. Describing themselves as “the greatest boyband in the mother f*cking world,” the five-piece has come a long way since playing their first festival in 2017 to a much smaller crowd.
On Saturday Florence and the Machine, the evening's main act, put on an ethereal performance—one that saw her captivatingly spinning and dancing across the stage in a flowing gown with fierce, emotional sincerity. As is customary, the six-time Grammy nominated performer pulled fans into the moment with her (and each other), asking everyone in the audience to put their phones away for one entire song to participate in a universal experience. It was as much catharsis as it was entertainment.
Leading up to her enchanting performance, the day was filled with spectacular talent like newest the always energetic, Denzel Curry, Spacey Kacey, aka Kacey Musgraves, and the newest Def Jam signee, Suzi Wu.
Wu took the time to meet with Bandsintown for a quick rooftop photoshoot after her 12:45pm set. The 21-year-old grime rhymer held herself with a confidence of someone who has been doing this a lot longer than three or four years. Currently on tour in the states, we’re looking forward to seeing where this rising star goes.
Between the music, the fun, the eventual flood, this was surely a memorable event festival goers won’t soon forget. Check out the photos below, and make sure to track the artists on Bandsintown!
All photos by Ryan Vestil