NYC’s 2024 Governors Ball Day One: All the Highs (and a Couple Lows)

The first day of the 2024 Governors Ball in New York City has officially wrapped up, and Music Times was there for every minute. Check out a few of the highlights (and lowlights) from yesterday's performances and on-grounds activities!

Underscores Lights Up IHG Stage

Underscores, a 24-year-old from California, lit up the IHG Hotels & Resorts stage with a rockstar's energy. As she flitted in and out of hyperpop and electro-pop-rock, underscores maneuver about the stage with the expertise of someone twice her age. With roughly a decade of music under her belt, she's no stranger to performing-and her commanding presence shows it.

Supergoop! Samples

There are three enemies for those attending a summer music festival: dehydration, hunger and sunburns. At a charming bright yellow stand, Supergoop!, perhaps best known for its Unscreen Sunscreen product, doled out free samples of sunscreen all day long to help attendees avoid the latter. Petite packets of Supergoop! Play 50 SPF, which does not have the white cast of a typical sunscreen, were passed out to festival goers, all eager to avoid unnecessary redness. As someone with only one bottle of sunscreen on my person, the extra protection was warmly welcomed.

Teezo Touchdown Performs with a Mic-Bouquet

Despite a delayed start to his set, Teezo Touchdown brought his all to the IHG stage. He told the audience that he was going to share "his life story" with them before joking about the heat in Texas compared to New York City. Throughout his show, he paused to commend and applaud the backstage crew, thanking them for making his performance possible. What struck this reporter's attention was not a particular Teezo song, but the flowers he carried around the stage. His microphone was kept hidden within a massive bouquet, which he threw to the audience after the performance concluded. This tiny detail put a spin on the aesthetic of a boring, old microphone, showing that Teezo Touchdown isn't your average artist.

Farruko's 'Pepas' Rocks the Crowd

No song appeared to shake the GoPuff stage quite like Farruko's explosive hit "Pepas." With over one billion streams, the song is a bonafide club classic that I've heard in every corner of Manhattan. It was enthralling to see a massive crowd sing and dance along to the explosive shout of "Pepa y agua pa' la seca/To' el mundo en pastilla' en la discoteca (desacata'o)" over whining, flashy instrumentation.

House of Dunkin'

Dunkin' Donuts is here to shut down the "Starbucks vs. Dunkin'" conversation with the House of Dunkin' at Gov Ball. Coffee drinkers could get their hands on free samples of iced coffees, munchkins, warm lattes and more. Airbrush tattoos, a photo and a "glam" center were also available for those looking to cool down and snap some fun flicks in the shade. Best of all, there were Munchkins galore.

Post Malone Brings Fans on Stage to Perform 'Stay'

Mid-way through his fantastic main stage performance, Post Malone noticed a fan with a sign, who asked if he could play guitar alongside the "Circles" singer. Post agreed to it, bringing the young man on stage to strum the acoustic guitar for his song "Stay." Another fan made her way to the stage and joined Post to sing along, having scored the invite via her sign reading "Can I sing 'Stay' with you?"

Music Times was able to speak to the second fan, Mahagony Tiara, after the set about her once-in-a-lifetime moment performing with the star. "The experience was amazing. And Posty is a total sweetheart and very respectful. Waiting for over 10 hours was very worth it," she enthused.

Post Malone, meanwhile, appeared to love every second of it himself, grooving along with both of the fans before giving out hugs and selfies.

IHG Stage Suffers Major Delays

I spent the majority of my day camped out at the IHG stage, far from the GovBall and GoPuff stages. Being slightly "out of the way" allowed for better viewing during sets as fewer patrons trekked their way over. However, the IHG stage began to suffer when Teezo Touchdown suffered technical malfunctions and couldn't begin his set until 20 minutes after his intended start time.

Teezo's delay then led to a 30-minute wait for Alex G to perform. The indie star graced the stage for a full one-hour set, but this delayed a performance from Labrinth. The Euphoria hitmaker was set to take the stage at 7:30 pm., but Alex G was still rocking out. As 8:30 p.m. crept closer, fans (and the Music Times) began to depart from IHG and head towards the main stage to catch Post Malone's headlining set. Per a fan on X, his set began around 8:15 p.m., but I could not hear his wonderful synth-y work as I made my way back to the main stage.

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Governors Ball Music Festival