Ironically, despite lending its name to the festival, Governors Island only hosted it for that first go-round. Enough people wanted to come back the next year that Gov Ball had to move to a different, larger island. The second edition took place on Randalls Island, a floating piece of terra firma between Upper Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx that’s three times the size of Governors. While there were still no overlapping sets, the festival expanded to two days and leveled up its booking. Grammy winners Beck, Fiona Apple, and Kid Cudi signed on, as did one of the buzzier names in indie pop, Passion Pit, whose debut album Manners had launched them onto everyone’s iPod three years before. When they took the stage for Gov Ball 2012, the two lead singles from their sophomore project Gossamer had just hit the streets. For lead singer Michael Angelakos, getting a headlining slot—one name behind Beck on the poster—remains a flashbulb moment of his career. “Governors Ball was a big deal. I was kind of flabbergasted,” Angelakos said. “New York City, headlining a festival like that, I couldn’t believe it.”
Even back then, Angelakos said, Gov Ball had a different feeling than many of its imitators.
“Everyone and their cousin was trying to start a festival somewhere, somehow. We played a lot of those,” he laughed. “Those were easy to headline because they were attracting new clientele and all that. [But] when you’re doing larger numbers, it really lends itself to a very large, participatory-type experience. Governors Ball was no let down in that capacity.” While, for fans, being able to pack a cramped room and see every pore on the bassist’s face breeds a real sense of connectivity, that can be extremely daunting for the people who actually have to put on a show. Angelakos says there’s a strange comfort in looking out over a sea of 30,000 compared to the smaller audiences in places he calls “C-markets.”
Just a few weeks after headlining Gov Ball, Angelakos suspended Passion Pit’s 2012 tour to treat his bipolar disorder. But amid that particularly turbulent time in his life, he still holds a special place in his heart for the Gov Ball set, which ended with back-to-back bangers: a rendition of “Sleepyhead” and an encore performance of “Little Secrets.” While he doesn’t remember all the minute details, all these years later, Angelakos maintains a wry sense of humor about that summer. In addition to his recollection of a younger cousin—who was usually brutal in their assessment of Passion Pit concerts—having a wonderful time, Angelakos enjoyed himself as well. “I was in hospitals and a lot of that other stuff. So, I think I was pretty stressed,” he said dryly. “But other than that, it was really nice!”
