I’ve been keeping a close eye on festival lineups as they’re announced for the 2016 festival season, and I gotta be honest—not very impressive. When Coachella announced its lineup last week, I wasn’t bowled over. IN FACT I was downright disappointed! The headliners—LCD Soundsystem, Guns N’Roses and Calvin Harris)…big, fat MEH. Not only that but some of the bigger-font artists (i.e. Calvin Harris, Disclosure, CHVRCHES, The 1975, Ellie Goulding, etc.) played Coachella the first/last time I attended 2 years ago! That being said, there was some preemptive #FOMO over the little-font acts (i.e. – BØRNS, Carla Morrison, Frances, Gallant, Låpsley, Grimes, ZHU, AlunaGeorge, Shamir, Alessia Cara, etc.) it’s not enough for me to drop bags of cash on tickets + flight + hotel—ESPECIALLY if I can just WALK to New York City’s Governors Ball, STOP at my neighborhood taco truck on the way home and SLEEP in my own bed at night. BUT…what if #GovBall’s lineup was equally “MEH”? Well folks, in this humble music blogger’s opinion—Governors Ball 2016 is anything BUT “MEH,” in fact it’s pretty fucking exciting! Check it out below (if you’re blind like me and struggling to read the poster):
- Kanye West*
- The Strokes*
- The Killers*
- Beck
- Robyn
- Death Cab For Cutie
- M83
- Haim
- Of Monsters And Men
- Chet Faker
- Chvrches
- Two Door Cinema Club
- Miike Snow
- Father John Misty
- Jamie XX
- Bloc Party
- Gary Clark Jr.
- Miguel
- Big Grams (Big Boi + Phantogram)
- Matt & Kim
- Lord Huron
- Action Bronson
- Purity Ring
- Mac Miller
- Courtney Barnett
- Joey Bada$$
- Thomas Jack
- Eagles of Death Metal
- Galantis
- Duke Dumont
- De La Soul
- Cold War Kids
- Years & Years
- Vince Staples
- Catfish And The Bottlemen
- Misterwives
- Against Me!
- Christine And The Queens
- Vic Mensa
- Albert Hammond Jr.
- Betty Who
- Bat For Lashes
- Jon Bellion
- Fidlar
- Marian Hill
- Bob Moses
- Elle King
- Thundercat
- The Knocks
- Torres
- Bully
- Boogie
- Circa Waves
- Meg Mac
- Black Pistol Fire
- Blank Range
- London Souls
- Louis The Child
- Public Access T.V.
- Day Wave
- Nothing
- Holly Miranda
- Whilk & Misky
- Eliot Sumner
- Tor Miller
- Transviolet
* Headliners
In all honesty, I was planning on going to Governors Ball this year regardless because of how much fun I had last year but when the lineup was announced this past Friday—that pretty much sealed the deal. First of all—Robyn?! YES PLEASE! The Killers?! The fresh-outta-college me is ALL for some Brandon Flowers action (hoping he squeezes in some of The Desired Effect)! Chet Faker? Always wanted to see him live! Miguel? Big Grams? HAIM? CHVRCHES? Mike Snow? Gallant? Duke Dumont? Years & Years? Misterwives? Betty Who? Marian Hill? Marian Hill? Elle King? Louis The Child? Tor Miller? Transviolet? YES GOVERNORS BALL! I’m so down for this lineup. We don’t even have the by-day breakdown yet and I’m already stressing about conflicts!
Presented by NYC-based Founders Entertainment—it’s all set to go down on Randall’s Island starting Friday, June 3rd through Sunday, June 5th. This EPIC 2016 incarnation will be the “scrappily independent” homegrown festival’s sixth. Following last year‘s sold-out dates, Rolling Stone praised GB as “the East Coast’s only true great summer festival,” and this year’s promises to be even better. Playing host to 65+ artists spanning a whole variety of genres, both 3-day GA and VIP tickets are available now and currently start at $290 (for GA) and $650 (for VIP). A limited number of single-day passes will be available closer to Governors Ball weekend. Payment plans are also available, which I highly recommend if you want to do VIP. To snag tickets, check out GovBall.Eventbrite.com.
According to the press release, “Governors Ball generated $49 million in economic benefits for New York City in 2015, a 29% increase over the previous summer, creating 353 local jobs and $23 million in wages in the process.” In the coming weeks, look out for a list of food/drink vendors, specially curated by The Infatuation. The festival has a well documented history of offering tasty snacks from some of NYC’s best gourmet food trucks and eating establishments so you can count on these guys to best themselves once again in 2016. This year, in addition to offering shuttle service from Brooklyn, ferry service from Manhattan and foot/bike access from Queens, attendees will have access to the South Bronx Greenway’s “newly opened Randall’s Island Connector—a pedestrian and bicycle friendly pathway between the Bronx and Randall’s Island.” I for one will be walking over from Astoria, but I love all of these options! With winter barely in full-swing here in NYC, I’m already looking forward to June!