Our Top Picks for Governors Ball After Dark

So you’ve already secured your three-day passes and finalized transportation plans for Governors Ball, right? Awesome. Now it’s time to add more fun to summer festival pile. If you were paying attention, you probably noticed that a whole slew of pre and after parties announced in conjunction with this year’s festival, which is set to return to Randall’s Island June 3-5. We’ll tell you now, you’ve got plenty of reasons to keep the turn up real.

English rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen will be kicking off this year’s “After Dark” series with a very intimate show at Webster Hall’s studios. A number of other Governors Ball artists will be playing late night shows across the city for the rest of the weekend, until Galantis finally closes it out on Sunday night in Webster Hall’s Grand Ballroom with their sparkly, electronic ballads and feel good anthems. Williamsburg-based venues like Output, Knitting Factory and Brooklyn Bowl will also hosting a range of artists from house DJ Duke Dumont to bass virtuoso Thundercat, among others.

Since myself and editor Josh Morrissey will be covering Governors Ball this year, we sat down and had a little chat about which After Dark selections have convinced us to keep the party going even after the last ferry full of inebriated festival goers sets sail. Here are our top picks for getting down After Dark.

Josh’s Picks:

The Knocks, Friday June 3rd, The Knitting Factory, GET TICKETS HERE

The Knocks first came onto the New York scene by performing their excellent remixes and mashups around the city while bolstered by live instruments. They have an ability to make catchy songs catchier than you ever thought they could be. Now in recent years they have taken those talents and created excellent original material like their recent banger Classic. It’s impossible to have a bad time watching The Knocks perform live. Dancing shoes are highly recommended.

Albert Hammond Jr. (w/ Public Access TV), Saturday, June 4th, Brooklyn Bowl, GET TICKETS HERE

Albert Hammond Jr is of course best known as a member of The Strokes, but he’s also been putting out albums as a solo artist for a decade now. You will recognize his distinctive guitar stylings while at the same time being impressed by how personal his solo songs feel. His songs range from tracks like Losing Touch that could easily fit in on a Strokes record to others like 101 that explore a sound so uniquely his own. His band is incredibly tight live and has really hit their stride with the release of their most recent album Momentary Masters. Go experience Albert Hammond Jr. live if you have the chance.

Megan’s Picks:

Bob Moses, Thursday, June 2nd, Output, GET TICKETS HERE

Bob Moses is not your typical DJ duo. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, bandmates Jimmy Vallance and Tom Howie create lush house sounds with the help of instrumental accompaniment. Though the two had performed under various solo stage names with little commercial success, a chance run-in in a Lowe’s car park was the beginning of their careers as international sensations. Their live performances have earned them coveted slots at numerous mega-festivals including as Mysteryland, TomorrowWorld, The BPM Festival, Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. This is your chance to see these two talented live performers play brand new tracks from their debut LP, Days Gone By, in Output’s intimate club space.

Thundercat & Friends, Friday, June 3rd, Brooklyn Bowl, GET TICKETS HERE

You may know Thundercat from his collaborations with Flying Lotus, the dark producer, who also happened to be one of Governors Ball 2015’s most compelling draws. However, the multi-talented bassist, vocalist and producer has three solo albums under his belt, not to mention a Grammy he scored for his work on the track These Walls which appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s highly praised 2016 release, To Pimp A Butterfly. While Thundercat is sure to put on a stellar show, perhaps it’s the “& Friends” tag that makes me so excited for this After Dark selection. With such an impressive list of past collaborators, it’s hard to say who will show up, but one thing is for certain, it’s going to be crashing and booming.

For a full list of Governors Ball After Dark shows, visit www.governorsball.com/afterdark.

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