cover photo from Governors Ball Gallery 2017
Launched in 2011, Governors Ball has been bringing together a wide array of musical genres to New York City’s Randall’s Island for seven years now. This year over 65 acts are scheduled to play over the first weekend of June. Across four stages fans will get to enjoy some of their favorite artists under the New York summer sun. The three-day event is known for boasting both an impressive food lineup in addition to a stacked list of musical performances. Both attendees stomachs and ears will be satisfied from June 1st to the 3rd just outside the center of New York City.
The lineup features almost every kind of artists from pop to rap to rock to everything in between. Rappers like Eminem and Travis Scott headlining represent the growing emergence of this genre taking over the leading positions at festivals across the United States. This is just one of many lineup posters that we have seen Eminem’s name as he continues his comeback tour. Another artist that will be headlining a large number of festivals this year that will also be at Governors Ball is Jack White, who will close out the festival Friday night. Other major names on the bill include the long-awaited return of N.E.R.D. to NYC for the first time since 2010, The Gaslight Anthem performing their 2008 record ’59 Sound, and a special performance by Shawn Mendes.
The three-day festival will also host an impressive undercard of electronic, indie, rap, folk, and other musicians and bands. While there are many popular artists that are already on your list to see, here are 5 artists you should consider that you may not have heard of or are not major headlining acts.
LANY
Formed in 2014, LANY is an indie pop band from Los Angeles consisting of Paul Jason Klein, Charles Leslie “Les” Priest, and Jake Clifford Goss. Their name stands for “Los Angeles New York” because they wanted a simple 4 letter acronym but felt like TTYL was too juvenile. In just four short years they have gained in popularity by touring with major artists like Ellie Goulding and even recently played on the main stage at Coachella during the day this year.
Two Feet
A New York native, Zachary William “Bill” Dess, known on stage as Two Feet, will be taking the stage at the festival on Friday. He started by playing in jazz bands before officially launching his first official solo project. He gained notoriety when his single, Go F**k Yourself, went viral. Today it now has over 120 million views on Youtube. He has since then released two EPs.
DRAM
From Munich, Germany, Shelley Marshaun Massenburg-Smith is a rapper best known for his stage name DRAM. The musician, whose name stands for Does Real Ass Music, was born to a military family and moved from Germany to Virginia when he was younger. He is widely known for his 2016 breakout hit, Broccoli. Since then he has worked with major artists like Chance the Rapper and the Gorillaz.
SILK CITY
You may have heard of each of the artists that make up this duo separately, but you may not have heard of them as a pair. In early January of this year, mega music makers Diplo and Mark Ronson announced that they were teaming up for a special project titled, Silk City. So far the duo has yet to release any music but has alluded that their collaboration album would have a disco theme. Governors Ball will be their first (and possibly only) performance together.
Maggie Rogers
Maggie Rogers began falling in love with music at the age of seven when she first learned to play the harp. She got her big break when she played a song she wrote in about 15 minutes, Alaska, to Pharell Williams in a Master Class at New York University. A video of Williams listening to it, almost in tears, went viral in June of 2016. Since then she has released a full-length major label EP, Now That the Light Is Fading.