In just over one week, the Governors Ball Music Festival will bring world-renowned and up-and-coming artists and 40,000 music lovers daily to Randall’s Island in New York City for their 4th annual event. Just two weeks after Electric Daisy Carnival New York and Mysteryland USA, both occurring outside of the city, NYC itself will be feeling the bass, beats, and good vibes for its first festival of the season. Unlike the previous two festivals, Governors Ball is known if its eclectic mix of talented artists from all over the genre spectrum and charts, and it always shows NYC artists a lot of love. So if you’re an electronic music fan or not, here are some of the acts you should squeeze into that Governors Ball schedule of yours – we’ve got a list of 8 for you!
1. Skrillex
If you’ve never seen Skrillex, this headliner should be a must see just for that reason alone. And even if you’ve caught Skrillex before, he’s proven to be an increasingly evolving artist, collaborating with many over the years, growing in his own right, and still ever as passionate as he began. Lastly, with his new album Recess that dropped this spring, and Jack U’s set being one of if not the best set of Ultra, Skrillex’ closing set promises to be a loud and unabashedly awesome dance party that will leave you head banging off of Randall’s Island.
When & Where: Friday June 6, 9:30pm at the Honda Stage.
2. RJD2
Ramble John Khron, otherwise known as RJD2, is a producer and musician that’s been in the game since 1993 when he got his first turn tables. Two decades later, RJD2 is light years into musical beauty and madness. If you’re tired of big-room house tracks, RJD2 will lead you into new territories of the electronic genre you won’t often find on the Beatport lists. His music is a generous mix (as Wikipedia lists it) hip hop, trip hop, electronic, and nu jazz – which basically blankets everything and means he is a master of mixing and that his music is psychedelic, genre-blending good ‘ish. Oh, you’ve actually probably heard his music before, too; his track “A Beautiful Mine” has been the opening theme to Mad Men since the show’s creation.
When & Where: Saturday June 7, 1:30 pm at the Honda Stage
3. Axwell & Ingrosso
Whenever one of the remaining legends from Swedish House Mafia is at any festival, they surely shouldn’t be missed, never mind two together. Axwell & Ingrosso are sure to put on what will probably be a classic SHM performance (read: awesome), and hopefully this will be the night where Axwell and Ingrosso drop some original music for the first time ever since they announced this collaboration. You won’t want to miss this chance to see what the duo has up their post Swedish-House sleeves.
When & Where: Sunday June 8, 9:30pm at the Honda Stage
4. Disclosure
This will be the third time I’m seeing Disclosure in the past year, and the truth is that I don’t feel like that’s been enough. If you haven’t seen these Brits yet, you need to take this beautiful chance you are given, and carpe diem it. This duo from the U.K. will bring the deep house to Randall’s Island like it’s never been brought (to be fair, I’m not exactly familiar with how much deep house has been brought but regardless, I’ll stand by my statement). As if their 2014 Grammy win even needs to be mentioned to convince any of you to see them, simply put, they’re mixture of live music and mixing, airy vocals, and production will keep you dancing and feeling groovy.
When & Where: Saturday June 7, 4:45 at the Honda Stage
5. The Glitch Mob
The Glitch Mob are going to be loud and in your face – would you want it any other way? This industrial, glitchy electronic trio released their newest album Love Death Immortality a few months back, and this set is sure make your face melt. Gritty as NYC used to be, this music is wonderfully heart-pounding. If we have any luck, maybe Jack White will make an appearance or vice versa for their hit remix of “Seven Nation Army.” We can dream, can’t we?
When & Where: Saturday June 7, 5:45pm at the Gotham Tent
6. AlunaGeorge
Oh Aluna and George, how we (kaleidoscope) love you guys! This duo from London (and friends of Disclosure) is soulful, poppy, and just the right amount of R&B-meets-electronic that they are certainly not to be missed. Hopefully they’ll show up to perform White Noise with their aforementioned buddies, but they have a plethora of their own tracks that need to be heard. Catch them this weekend before they head back across the pond to tour Europe!
When & Where: Sunday June 8, 3:45pm at the Gotham Tent
7. Grimes
Another artist that you should absolutely add to your schedule is Grimes. Coming to Governors Ball from Canada, Grimes is a powerhouse talent as a singer-songwriter, producer, and musician. Most of her tunes are serene, fairy-like, looping-and layering tracks with definite influences of pop, R&B, industrial, and most interestingly medieval elements which she is so often highlighted for (my understanding of medieval music is pretty limited, but I’m sure it’s there). Don’t miss her performance if you’re looking for something unique and totally atypical main stage DJ set. Also, it should be noted she cites Outkast as one of her many influences, so maybe you’ll find her dancing along side of you at their set.
When & Where: Friday June 6, 8:15pm at the Gotham Tent
8. Lucius
Lucius a five piece indie synth pop band from Brooklyn, and you best believe they’ll be representing their city beautifully. Featuring both female and male vocalists and live instruments, their music reminds me of classic rock and pop bands (think the Mamas and the Papas) with a distinctively new and unique flare. Praised by the New York Times and Rolling Stone you know that this band must have something going on.
When & Where: Saturday June 7, 3pm at the GovBallNYC Stage
[Photo Credit:Featured Image (via GovernorsBallMusicFestival.com), Skrillex (via Spininngsounds.net), RJD2 (via Wall Street Journal Online), Axwell & Ingrosso (via TheSun.Co.Uk), Disclosure (via Mixmag.net), The Glitch Mob (via TheLast.fm), AlunaGeorge (via TheGuardian.uk), Grimes (via TheGuardian.uk), Lucius (via RadioMilwaukee.org)]
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