Day one of the fifth annual Governors Ball had an eclectic set of acts spread across four stages, but as with any festival, the music is just a part of the story. The kickoff of GB5 had its share of good, bad and ugly.
The Good: Friday might have been the best day of programing the event has ever produced. Benjamin Booker was an early highlight, fusing Delta blues with a bit of a street punk edge. Chromeo not only got their audience moving with their electric drum beats and Vocoder-synth hooks but put on a hell of a show while they did it. Death From Above 1979 was a duo with a filled out sound you could confuse for a quartet and bassist Jesse Keeler head banged like a vintage thrash-metal maniac as he grinded against his amp to create sonic feedback. Ratatat was the second electronica act in a row to pack the Gotham tent, but Evan Mast and Mike Stroud put on a performance that was heavy on cock-rock showmanship supported by dance-friendly beats that worked their crowd into frenzy. While Drake drew the lions share of attendees at the main stage, My Morning Jacket played a considerably lengthier set across the grounds for an older, more experienced concert-going demographic. A set list that was heavy on material off their recently released The Waterfall, in addition to older tracks like “Gideon,” “Mahgeetah” and “Victory Dance” helped defend their title as The Greatest American Rock Band of the 21st Century.
The Bad: Charli XCX was as animated a performer as they come, but to quote the Deflategate Wells Report, it was “more probable than not” that she was lip synching. Live mixes just don’t sound that mastered. The website/smartphone app for the festival listed a 730pm start time for Florence + The Machine, yet the printed schedules handed out on site led attendees to believe she would take the stage at 7. The confusion annoyed a lot of fans who’d camped out all day in front of the stage, thinking she was a half hour late. That said, for a gal nursing a broken foot, Florence Welch was as mobile as she’s ever been. While MMJ may have put on the best show of the day, they struggled with a mix that was way too heavy on the low end which detracted from their epic “One Big Holiday” encore. In years past the Honda Stage has always struggled with sound issues more than the other three on-site venues and while it didn’t ruin the barn-burner of a performance, it was hard to ignore when you can’t really hear two guitarists over one bassist.
The Ugly: The previous four incarnations of Governors Ball saw a continuous improvement in the on-site logistics, effectively improving the experience of ticket holders with every passing year. Port-o-Potty lines were longer than ever, and judging by the fact that they were literally overflowing by days end, they either weren’t serviced enough or there simply weren’t enough of them. As gross as that may be, the major cause of concern are the safety implications of having too many people in too small a space. Florence + The Machine’s crowd was packed so tight people literally could not get out of the crowd when they needed to. Given the mainstream popularity of Drake, there is a strong likelihood that a sold out event that usually spreads attendees around the site created a logjam at the main stage that started hours earlier. Hopefully with Toronto’s native son out of the picture, the crowd will be thinner, sanitation will improve and camping out to see your favorite act won’t be as scary.
Photos by Andrew Bruss
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