The rain just made that last set the best so far says, Mark Ritchie. In a small trailer backstage, a wide screen shows a live feed from multiple cameras sweep the Gov Ball stage on the festival grounds and the audience. The set Ritchie is referring to was of Haim, an all-girl indie rock trio that just finished up after an intense, unexpected downpour broke 15 minutes into them playing. Saturday’s headliners, The Killers, are up next and the band still haven’t approved the live stream of their set. In a partnership with Live Nation, Ritchie directs a live stream of Governor’s Ball with the Amsterdam-based company, Corrino Films.
This is GovBall’s sixth year going at it and they’ve done an amazing job. Every year they do what many said couldn’t be done – they hold a well-attended, well-organized festival in New York City, a challenging environment for an event of this kind. For about 300 bucks (give or take, amenities withstanding) you get 3 days of music. That’s the schtick that festivals like Governor’s Ball (also known as GovBall) sell. You get headliners and a grocery list of bands you would love to see but are too lazy to keep up with. You get plenty of tents. Tents of merch, tents of glorious food and tents of overpriced beer. In the orchestrated chaos you get thousands of other people brought to together longing for an experience.
