The Meadows: A Comprehensive Review

As New York welcomed some of pop culture’s most renowned artists; music lovers, natives and foreigners alike, flocked to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park for a new music festival hosted by the organizers of the Governors Ball. As its parent festival, the Meadows boasted a stacked line-up ranging across all genres from Damian Marley’s bumping reggae, to Chance the Rapper’s soulful and catchy Hip-Hop, specifically, fielding Kanye West who was unable to perform at Governors Ball this Spring. Thus, as summer came to a close, the city of New York was given a warm welcome into the fall season.

Saturday’s lineup was clouded in the drama created by the Weeknd’s backout in favor of an SNL appearance. Although this was a huge blow to the Meadows’ lineup, the apparent outrage of fans and ticket holders was quelled in an even more dramatic fashion with the Weeknd’s replacement: J. Cole. Yet even without the only rapper to-go-platinum-without-features headliner, Saturday still carried its weight with equally significant artists: Empire of the Sun, Grimes, and Post Malone. The feel-good vibes of Empire’s upbeat electronic sound made sure there was music for everyone, while the recent blowup, Grimes, tapped into the psychedelic shoegaze genre, giving the lineup depth. Post Malone, another awaited headliner, kept up Saturday’s hype with his popular rap singles “White Iverson” and “Go Flex.” Falling well amongst the top ranks of modern hardcore rap, Post Malone was clearly an irreplaceable fan favorite. Then, to tie day one up, the substitute headliner proved to be worth more than a substitute by opening with fan favorite “A Tale of 2 Citiez” and songs from his most popular album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. He carried the anticipation from the Weeknd on his shoulders, and saw out Saturday with a majestic performance, one that the artist claimed would mark the beginning of a performing hiatus. J.Cole made Saturday the opening the Meadows needed. ne Saturday attendee described it as “a breathtaking experience, one of the best festivals I’ve been to in a while.” Although cut-off by Kanye’s abrupt disappearance,  Day two was heavy with big name hip-hop acts such as Pusha-T, Mac Miller, Bryson Tiller, and Chance the Rapper, as well as other rock names such as the 1975 and Cage the Elephant. While Saturday had a wider line up, with niche genres for the individual music lover, Sunday’s lineup had more consistent big names, and was tailored for all music lovers. To the average listener, Sunday was the better buy, as said by Malcolm Gibson ‘19, a Sunday attendee and GCS student, “yeah, all my friends bought only Sunday…when you have Chance, Bryson, and Kanye in the same day, it doesn’t matter what the other day is. You have to spend your money on that.” While, Sunday was more biased towards the rap fans, it only demonstrates how that is the dominating genre of modern music festivals and the millennial generation as a whole. “Right now, it’s what gets us going” says Malcolm ‘19. Chance the Rapper’s spellbinding set was opened with “Angels” and followed by other songs from his newest album Coloring Book. Tears streamed down the faces of avid fans during his performance of “Summer Friends,” and his chronology and development as an artist was tracked by his colorful stage characters in “Carlos the Lion.” His set was more a retrospective than an opening for Kanye. While he preceded the headliner, Chance’s wide discography, despite being still such a young artist, shows how he carries the torch into the future of rap music. After waiting nearly 45 minutes over start time, frustrated fans were greeted with Kanye’s voice in his opening song “Father Stretch My Hands” accompanied with a welcomed array of fireworks. Although he moved relatively quickly thrugh his set list, fans clearly appreciated the wide range of covered albums and was supporting and loving him all the way. His extensive catalogue older of tunes such as “All Day”, “Jesus Walks”, and “New Slaves” coincided well with songs from his newest album The Life of Pablo. However. fans’ hearts were truly broken when Kanye ironically cut his performance of “Heartless” short to announce an alleged “family emergency”.

In subsequent days it was discovered that this abrupt ending was due to a robbery of approximately 40 million USD of wife Kim Kardashian in Paris, France. While the festival ended on a rather dark note, we can’t ignore vivid celebration of 21st Century music in its prime. With the school year kicking into full effect, many needed the Meadows as a reminder that the best solace from the routine is music, and it went beyond fulfilling its duty.