The British have a lot of weird old traditions, but perhaps the most peculiar one is their annual insistence on hanging out in the rain and mud to listen to music. Every year, thousands of otherwise normal-seeming Britons convene in the farms and parks of Reading and Leeds with the knowledge that they and their loved ones have a high chance of getting soaked. And the sick part is, they seem to enjoy it.
From what I could tell, the majority of people at the opening day of the Governors Ball Festival on New York City’s Randall’s Island were not British, and did not enjoy it. Yet amid a relentless battery of heavy rains and high winds courtesy of Tropical Storm Andrea, the festival did its best to keep calm on and carry on by sticking to their schedule of artists, which included Erykah Badu, Local Natives, Young the Giant, Best Coast, and more. At a certain point, though, you gotta know when to call it, and the Gov Ball organizers were forced to cancel the party before the night’s headliners, Kings of Leon and Pretty Lights, had a chance to take the stage. (To make up for it, Kings of Leon is now scheduled to play this evening.)
