Photo Credit: Chris Phelps
From June 7-9, Governors Ball Music Festival returned for its 2024 presentation, and New York showed out for the latest celebration from the beloved metropolitan institution. As the premiere NYC music festival, the affectionately termed Gov Ball reliably draws some of the biggest names in music from across a wide array of genres and styles, and this year’s event was no exception: the long-awaited summer kick-off shined with pop icons like The Killers, SZA, Peso Pluma, Post Malone, 21 Savage and many more. While eagerly anticipating the festival’s 2025 return, read up on each day of this year and see for yourself in the gallery below, courtesy of Gov Ball’s in-house photo coverage.
The festival went off with a bang on Friday as early acts like Alex Chapman, Arcy Drive, Underscores, FLO, Teezo Touchdown and Farruko. Excitement neared its peak as the festival moved into its evening program, bringing on sets from indie rock up-and-comer and Euphoria standout Dominic Fike, English R&B and electronic influencer Labrinth, Reggaeton star Rauw Alejandro and Alex G, who opened with the stroming House of Sugar standout “Gretel” and continued with classics like “Runner” “Sportstar,” “Sarah” and “Forgive.”
Post Malone assumed the spotlight for the evening’s final performance and favored the hot and heavy side of his catalog, complete with brutal, grungy guitars, maniacal acrobatics, towering pyrotechnics and a shirt removed; standout tracks included “Better Now,” “Take What You Want,” “White Iverson,” “Congratulations” and “Chemical.”
On Saturday, high profile early acts included Jessie Murph, Doechii, P1Harmony, Sabrina Carpenter, d4vd and Sexyy Red, who wrapped her set with the chart-topping “Pound Town” before an eye-popping inflatable “Make America Sexyy Again” hat. Highlights continued with spacey, hard-hitting alternative from Hippo-Campus, certified trap bangers like “X,” “Bank Account” and “10 Freaky Girls” from 21 Savage, infectiously sentimental indie-pop from TV Girl and a fireball set from pop superstar Carly Rae Jepsen, whose treatment of “Call Me Maybe” ellicited screams from the furthest corners of Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The Killers arrived last to headline day two with its trademark brand of arena-alt, complete with wailing guitar, pounding drums and knockout vocals from frontman Brendan Flowers. As the show doubled as a 20th anniversary for its landmark album Hot Fuss, the group exploded onto the stage with “Somebody Told Me” and closed with “Mr. Brightside,” dropping hits like “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” “All These Things That I’ve Done” and an anthemic cover of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps” along the way.
Sunday was the ticket in highest demand for this year’s festival, and for good reason at that. The third day’s bill was stacked from noon to night, glinting with sets from beloved artists like Husbands, Elyanna, Geese, Beach Fossils, Kevin Abstract and Chappell Roan, who emerged from an apple in Lady Liberty drag and entranced fans with a debut of the soul-stirring ballad “Subway.” As the sun crept down past the Unisphere, the festival entered full swing with sets from the meteorically rising Renee Rapp, dreamy retro pop crooner Stephen Sanchez and urbano corrido sensation Stephen Sanchez, who fractured his ankle onstage and heroically continued through the remainder of his performance.
True standout shows from the weekend were delivered by trap-soul star Don Toliver, whose elaborate biker-themed staging, chainsaw guitars, pounding bass and captivating stage presence hiked anticipation for the upcoming Hardstone Psycho to new heights, and the incomparable indie-folk songstress Faye Webster, who kept things light with a Minions intro and laundromat setdressing all while ripping at heartstrings with deeply moving tracks like “But Not Kiss,” “Right Side of My Neck,” “Lego Ring,” “Jonny” and “Kingston.” SZA delivered the weekend’s final headline performance, taking the stage in an oceanically-themed homage to the SOS album cover and issuing rapturous R&B triumphs like “Broken Clocks,” “Kiss Me More,” “Kill Bill,” “Saturn,” “F2F” and “Drew Barrymore”–fittingly arriving on the seventh anniversary of the immaculate Ctrl–all with candor, gratitude and undeniable magnetism.
