REVIEW: Governors Ball 2025
Governors Ball Music Festival 2025
Flushing Meadows Corona Park - Queens, NY - June 6-8th, 2025
Words by Julia Finocchiaro (@jfino.photo)
For the past few years, music fans have flocked to Queens to kick off the summer at the Governors Ball Music Festival, and this year was no different. The festival was held June 6th through June 8th this year, continuing on with its early June slot. It was a similar setup to years past, with 2 bigger stages on one side of the park and another smaller one across the way, with lots of sponsors, activities, and food to fill the space between. New this year was the Kona Big Wave Stage, which featured acoustic performances from some of the artists on the main lineup including Wallows, The Beaches, and more. All three days drew a respectable crowd, as fans had names like Tyler, The Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, and Hozier to look forward to as their festival headliners.
Photo by Dusana Risovic
Day 1
Day 1 was toasty out in Flushing Meadows, but this didn’t stop crowds from gathering early. Isabel LaRosa played an incredible set on the main stage early on; I think everyone on the festival grounds could feel the bass from her songs as she sang her hits like “Favorite” and “i’m yours.” Right after her, the bass changed to screams as punk rock band Mannequin Pussy took to the Kiehl’s Stage. Next up we caught a few lighter songs from pop group Wasia Project over on The Grove Stage, which already had quite a crowd as fans were camped out for The Beaches and Role Model later in the day. We took a quick detour to some hip-hop and saw performances by Tyla and T-Pain (who always knows how to put on a great show). Benson Boone then closed out the Kiehl’s Stage with some signature backflips and powerful vocals, and Tyler, The Creator brought out all the stops for his Chromakopia show - bright green cargo containers included.
Day 2
Day 2 unfortunately saw lots of rain in NYC. The festival gates were delayed until around 4pm, and the GA line accumulated all day to eventually wrap all the way around back near the box office and train station. Some early sets by smaller artists like Lexa Gates and The Backfires were sadly cancelled, but a modified schedule would still allow fans to see many of the artists they came for. We spent most of Day 2 at the main stage with an incredible back to back lineup of MARINA (who had just released her new album the night before), Wallows (who managed to bring in an impressive downpour during the second half of their set), and Conan Gray (who definitely won coolest stage setup that day with his sailor theme and outfit).
After Gray’s set, we went over quickly to check out Colombian artist Feid, who would close out the Kiehl’s Stage. Gov Ball always tries to have a Latin or Spanish artist each year, and they made a great choice this year as Feid’s visuals and pyro were the perfect way to close out Saturday night. Saturday of course ended with what most fans were waiting for - a headlining set by pop star Olivia Rodrigo, who played hit after hit for nearly 2 hours, with songs like “good 4 u,” “drivers license,” “traitor,” and many more. Towards the end of the set, she performed a cover of “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads, bringing out David Byrne himself to sing with her on the song. Rodrigo started off the encore of her set by climbing up part of the stage with a megaphone, and ended it with a smashing performance of “get him back!” off of her latest album GUTS.
As a result of the rain delay, we were able to get in before the crowds and take a look at some of the sponsors and food at this year’s festival - and there were lots of fun options to choose from! We headed over to Smirnoff to spin the wheel and try out their claw machine for some prizes, got some free slushies at the 7-Eleven and Slurpee stand, and then used them for some awesome photo ops in front of the fun and colorful set they had. Returning sponsors like Dunkin’, Espolòn Tequila, and American Apparel also made themselves known with fun booths and free merch to give out to attendees.
Day 3
With two days down and one to go, Gov Ball certainly wasn’t letting up in the talent department for day three. Early on in the day we got to see a stellar set by r&b singer Raye. Her powerful voice could be heard all around the main stage area, and put festivalgoers in a great mood as the day went on. We then headed over to catch a few songs from Mark Ambor on The Grove Stage before going back again to the main stage area for a gorgeous set by The Japanese House, the stage name of singer Amber Bain. With songs like “Boyhood” and “Sunshine Baby,” Bain’s lyrics were sure to make everyone in the crowd emotional. We continued on to see Clairo and Mt. Joy, who even brought out Gigi Perez to sing with them on one of their new songs together.
Continuing with the indie theme, we headed over to the Kiehl’s Stage to see Glass Animals close out over there. They are incredible live performers, and this evening was no different as they performed lots of songs from their latest album as well as their hits like “Gooey” (with lead singer Dave Bayley walking through the crowd) and, of course, “Heat Waves,” with the line “late nights in the middle of June” resonating extra nicely on this June evening. A stellar performance by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier closed out the weekend. Known for his activism, Hozier even took a few minutes out of his set to acknowledge the current state of the world and call on us to use our voices on issues ranging from immigration, transphobia, Palestinians in Gaza, the loss of democracy, and more. He of course also performed a large selection of his hits, including “Cherry Wine,” “Too Sweet,” and “Take Me to Church” to close out the festival Sunday night, which had people singing along on the whole walk back to the train station.
Gov Ball’s third year at Flushing Meadows, despite some setbacks on Saturday, was overall a great success with lots of music and activities for everyone. We hope to see the fest back next year with even more talent, food, and fun!
