Queens, New York – The Governors Ball music festival has returned to Queens for another epic year, with KATSEYE, Baby Keem, and Lorde kicking off the 2026 weekend in style.
Friday welcomed plenty of music powerhouses to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, with Del Water Gap, Audrey Hobert, The Beths, The Dare, Mariah the Scientist, and more taking the stage in the early slots.
By 6 PM, KATSEYE fans were swarming the GovBallNYC stage to catch the global girl group’s show-stopping set.
The band, which was formed on Netflix’s Dream Academy, had the crowd immediately hooked with an opening performance of Pinky Up.
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The audience skewed adorably young, with girls propped up on their parents’ shoulders and others holding up signs decorated in crayon.
KATSEYE kept things electric with performances of hits like Gabriela – complete with an instantly-viral dance break – and Internet Girl. They wrapped things up with Gnarly, which had everyone on their feet and singing along.
Over on the Snapchat stage, rapper Baby Keem treated fans to more than 20 songs during his set, primarily pulling from the 25-year-old’s latest album, Ca$ino.
By nightfall, it was time for Lorde to close things out with an electric set featuring songs from across her discography.
Lorde closes Friday out with electric headlining set
Tapping into her “ultrasound” aesthetic from her latest album and accompanying tour, Lorde sported EKG electrodes, while a heart rate monitor was displayed on the screen at several points of the show.
She opened the set with perhaps her most iconic hit, Royals, before diving into What Was That.
Lorde revisited her 2017 album Melodrama with performances like Green Light and Perfect Places.
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The 29-year-old told the crowd that she was promoting Melodrama the last time she played Gov Ball, revealing that it was the festival where she felt most “understood.”
Before singing Liability she admitted, “Our world feels increasingly unjust, and it feels harder and harder to arrive at your own definitions of beauty and the truth, and what is real.”
“But I really feel that this is real – all of us in this field, this is a real experience that we’re having,” she continued.
Lorde imparted some of her wisdom as she told fans that the solution she’s found to combat the “f**ked up forces of the world” was to “show yourself,” fully and completely.
“If we show ourselves, in all the broken bits, all the jagged edges, all the filth, I really believe we will start f**king going somewhere,” she added.
After some more visually and sonically stunning performances of hits like Supercut and Team, Lorde shocked fans by popping up onto a small stage in the midst of the crowd for a final performance of Ribs.
The festival continues on Saturday and Sunday with headliners Stray Kids, Jennie, and A$AP Rocky taking the stage.
