GOV BALL 2024
By Isabella Galan
I think I can speak for a lot of people that the only thing that is consuming my brain right now is The Governors Ball 2024! From the incredible set list to the sheer amount of people that came out to watch their favorite artists, this year’s festival was definitely one for the books. Over the three day festival, approximately 120,000 people flocked to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, and here is what happened.
Firstly, let’s start with the Day One headliners. The first night of the festival started off with incredible performances from Post Malone and Rauw Alejandro. Alejandro kicked off most of his set by himself on stage without anyone accompanying hit. However, when her performed his hit “Todo de Ti,” numerous background dancers as well as a mock subway train appeared. Post Malone also left a remarkable impression on the fans by singing many of his hit songs and also inviting some fans to even join him on stage! During his acoustic ballad “Stay,” he invited a pair of fans on stage to help him with both guitar and vocals. The guitarist shared with the audience that it was his third time being invited by Post Malone to join him on stage! This very sweet moment definitely topped off a great first day of the festival.
On Day Two, history was made. Even though she was not a headliner, Sabrina Carpenter definitely brought the most attention. She performed her brand new single “Please Please Please” for the first time, and she absolutely delivered. She dropped the song only one day before she performed at Gov Ball, but despite only being out for a short time, the audience knew every word! The song has gained so much attraction due to the music video where she casted her real life boyfriend Barry Keoghan as the romantic lead, and her live performance lived up to the hype.
The headliners of the day included The Killers and 21 Savage. Closing out Day Two, The Killers took to the main stage performing their biggest hits like “Mr. Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me” before inviting a fan up to the stage. The fan held a sign asking if he could play the drums with them for their song “For Reasons Unknown” to celebrate his grandmother’s 73rd birthday. The fan blew everyone away and nailed his performance- a great way to celebrate his grandmother and close out the second day of the festival.
And finally, Day Three. Day Three was definitely the biggest day out of the three day festival with headliners SZA and Peso Pluma. While both of them had incredible moments, such as SZA’s iconic jump into a split, the talk of the day was all on the new pop sensation Chappell Roan. She entered the stage in a huge apple prop dressed as The Statue of Liberty- painted from head to toe in green. Camera footage of the crowd that showed up for her set was shared to social media and displayed thousands and thousands of fans packed together performing her “HOT- TO- GO” dance in perfect unison. Truly a spectacle to say the least. Not only did she have one of the largest crowds of the whole festival, but she also performed her brand new song “Subway” for the first time.
If there is one way that I can describe The Governors Ball 2024, I would say “Pop is back!” While all of the artists were incredible and gave fantastic performances, the “pop princesses” like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan seem to be the artists of the summer. Some may even say that the pop stars, along with others like Tate McRae, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo are running the music industry. However, we still have plenty more festivals to go and plenty more music to listen to!