The Manhattan Beat: Governors Ball 2018 at Randall's Island Park, Day 1

Founders Entertainment gathered 65 music artists and tens of thousands of revelers to the eighth annual Governors Ball Music Festival (commonly known as Governors Ball or Gov Ball) on Randall's Island Park in New York City on June 1-3, 2018. The major draws this year included Jack White, Travis Scott, Eminem, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Halsey, Khalid, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert and Chvrches.

Once again, the festival was light on rock and top-heavy with pop, rap and EDM artists. The park featured four stages, with two usually active at any given moment. Timing was very strict, such that the moment one artist finished another artist was starting at a nearby stage. Rappers consistently drew the largest crowds, such that rock fans were able to get closer to their musicians because the rivaling pop artists drew bigger numbers. A string quartet and a brass band also circulated among the crowd away from the live stages.

Between stages, attendees purchased dozens of food and drink vendors and visited many corporate booths. New Yorkers love free, and so attendees took advantage of free caramel M&Ms, four flavors of Lays potato chips and various La Croix beverages, as well as free face painting, hair braiding, tote bags, and Governors Ball temporary tattoos. Love, Tito’s Festival Experience allowed attendees to record a time capsule video that the outfit will send to the participant in a year. Multiple murals allowed for photo opportunities and supersized Jenga, Count 4 and other games attracted competitors.

Day One Headlines:

Jack White reworked the White Stripes song "Icky Thump" into "Icky Trump" with new lyrics: "White Americans/Nothing better to do/Why don't you kick yourself out/You're an immigrant too! … That's for you, Trump!"
Shawn Mendes was billed as a "special performance" and was given a half hour slot, during which he sang a cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," which seemed to cold-stop the younger fans who were singing along to all his hits.
Mosh pits, normally the staple at punk and metal shows, were all the rage at rap performances starting with Post Malone.
Rapper Belly, a Canadian of Palestinian descent, wore a shirt with the printed word "immigrant," and brought out New York rapper the Lox for a couple of songs.