Recap: Governors Ball 2018 [Day 1]

Yet another Governors Ball is in the books. Naturally, rain threatened to dampen the weekend but the ever-shifting forecast kept changing and thankfully, aside from a few brief late-night showers, the weather held out.

Slaves

I began my entire weekend and Day 1 by catching the tail end of British punk rockers Slaves’ set, who finished off the set and hopped the railing and ran off well past their crowd to go grab a bottle of water at the nearest food stand, all which guitarist Laurie Vincent was bleeding after cutting his hand. That was quite a way to start off not only the day but the entire festival. I kept the good vibes going strong following their performance with a set from the always trippy psych-rock proggers Pond, who has only gotten better and more confident every time that I’ve seen them perform.

Alvvays

After a typically rocking set from Wolf Alice, I caught Alvvays who have proven them to be the rare band that is really built to soundtrack the vast hollow grounds of a giant festival. Then it was time to catch the still rising star that is Maggie Rogers who has already taken up headlining the main stage after playing Bowery Ballroom only just last April.

I then found myself in the presence of thousands of screaming young females that awaited a performance from huge pop star Shawn Mendes (when else will I find myself able to take photos of him?) before I caught some of the wizard-like guitar work and instrumentation of Australia’s Tash Sultana.

Finally, it was time for one of my most anticipated sets of the entire weekend: Yeah Yeah Yeahs (even if we did just see them last November). The trio of Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase were locked and loaded and delivered a festival-ready set that was one for the books. I hope we get some new material from the hometown trio soon enough but as long as they keep playing live shows, I have no problem with patiently waiting.

Find a full gallery of photos from Day 1 of the festival posted in the gallery be.ow.

Slaves: