Governors Ball Lineup Takeaways: Lana Del Rey's NYC Return, Drake Is Festival King & Björk Is Back
One day after the Coachella 2015 lineup was released, another major U.S. fest, the Governors Ball Music Festival, unveiled its full lineup and stoked anticipation for the annual June jamboree. Drake, the Black Keys and deadmau5 will lead the way at Gov Ball, which touches down in New York's Randall's Island Park from June 5-7; the lineup follows a year in which Outkast, Jack White and Vampire Weekend headlined.
What are the biggest takeaways from the year's second major festival reveal? Allow us to present five hot takes from the 2015 Governors Ball lineup:
1. Lana Del Rey keeps rising on festival bills. The Ultraviolence star will potentially have new music to promote when she performs at Governors Ball in June, having revealed to Billboard that she's written nine songs for her third album, titled Honeymoon. Del Rey has a spring amphitheater tour on the books, and her Governors Ball appearance -- along with being her first New York show since 2012 -- is the first confirmed festival show in what could potentially be a busy June for the singer (she has open dates for part of Bonnaroo and all of Firefly). Lana's star has skyrocketed in the past year thanks to rave reviews for Ultraviolence, a No. 1 album debut and a powerhouse performance at Coachella last year; she's on the second line of the Governors Ball festival bill, and will be one of the most well-attended performances of the three-day festival.
Lana Del Rey Q&A: On 'Big Eyes' & Her Upcoming 'Honeymoon' Album
2. Expect to see a lot of Drake this summer. Coachella and Governors Ball having one headliner in common in 2015, and Drizzy -- who has brought his own OVO Fest to Toronto each year, but has yet to headline a U.S. festival of this size -- is in store for a massive 2015. With Drake's fourth studio album due out this year (maybe in the spring, based on these festival bookings) and a slew of hits from the past five years to choose from, how many major festivals could he top this year? Are Bonnaroo, Firefly, Lollapalooza and Made In America all up for grabs? Don't be surprised if Drake morphs into the Outkast of the new year.
3. Björk is back! The follow-up to Björk's 2011 opus Biophilia is in the works, and we know Arca and Haxan Cloak are both involved, but the Icelandic alt-pop icon's inclusion on the Governors Ball lineup is the best sign yet that she will definitely make some noise in 2015. Also worth noting: Hot Chip is included here, which means that new music might be coming from those lovable synth-pop Brits, and the inclusion of Tame Impala and Florence + The Machine on both the Coachella and Governors Ball bills means that new albums are likely around the corner for those groups, too.
Coachella Lineup Takeaways: Drake Gets His Shot, AC/DC's Back (In Black) & More
4. Where's the rap? After Drake, the Governors Ball lineup has… still looking… Logic as the second biggest hip-hop act on its bill! Throw in underground representatives Bishop Nehru and People Under The Stairs, and that's it for the Gov Ball rap lineup. They know that this festival takes place in New York, right? And that Coachella has a plethora of formidable hip-hop acts this year -- Azealia Banks, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, Run The Jewels, Tyler, The Creator and Vic Mensa included? Okay, just making sure…
5. 'Weird Al' has joined the festival circuit. Sir Yankovic performed at Bonnaroo in 2013, but his late-night set seemed more like a kitschy nostalgia booking that the 'Roo is prone to make. After last year's well-publicized comeback and the No. 1 debut of new album Mandatory Fun, however, "Weird Al" could be taking a victory lap and making the rounds as a must-see festival act in 2015. Hey, who wouldn't want to watch "Amish Paradise" or "White & Nerdy" on a sweltering evening? Governors Ball is daring to be stupid, and other festivals may follow suit.