PHOTOS: Philly’s War on Drugs, Strand of Oaks, Districts Head to Randall’s Island for Governors Ball 2015

They were joined by The Black Keys, Death From Above 1979, Björk, in primordial, intergalactic butterfly getup, and more.

By Christian Sarkis Graham· 6/8/2015, 4:34 p.m.

New York has long proven a precarious, star-crossed market for festival promoters due to restrictions over noise and congestion, competition with the city’s cultural calendar and the increased cost of labor and equipment.

But the three-day Governors Ball looks to have succeeded where other outfits, like All Points West, Vineland, Field Day, Across the Narrows and Bonnaroo N.E., fell short.

My brother, Bryan Armen Graham, and I were there to catch photos of Philly acts War on Drugs, Strand of Oaks and The Districts, and other bands who gave performances worth mentioning.

Early on Friday, Philly’s own The Districts kicked off this year’s festivities with an energetic set that showcased their Strokes and Walkmen influences.

The Districts

When you’re a heavy blues-rock duo with the word “black” in your band name, you might feel a little discouragingly overshadowed seeing Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney at the top of your festival’s bill. Though not necessarily if you’re Black Pistol Fire, who followed up the Districts’ celebrated set with a blistering assault that could give even the Keys a run for their money.

Black Pistol Fire

Montreal electro-funk two-piece Chromeo had some fun with the Friday crowd in teasing the riff from Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” … then bringing out Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig to play a short rendition of that song before segueing into “Bonafied Lovin”.

Toronto rock throttlers Death From Above 1979 fired up the stage with their driving drum-and-bass brand of punk, powering through set hiccups without batting an eye.

In truth, Death From Above’s background projection defaulting to a Mac screensaver halfway through the set might’ve been the most understatedly punk-rock moment of the weekend.

Portland’s The Decemberists brought their air-tight swashbuckling indie folk to a Friday evening audience that couldn’t help but match the dignifiedly idiosyncratic energy.

The Decembrists.

The singular voice of Florence Welch held a vast main-stage audience in her thrall throughout an hour-long set that drew on Florence + The Machine’s two releases.

Regularly throwing arms to the clouds in a kind of meditatively focused bliss, she broke her set and zen state to attend to an important duty only for a moment: after spotting a crowd surfer with a sign pleading “Hug Me!” How can a flower child do anything but abide?

While fireworks erupted from Drake’s camp across the field, Friday’s rock headliner My Morning Jacket was busy drenching their crowd in walls of color and sound.

Favoring tracks from their recently released The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket made time to play to longtime fan favorites as well, closing out with It Still Moves’ rousing “One Big Holiday.”

My Morning Jacket

It might’ve been tough to catch a smile under the Quaker hat of brooding Bright Eyes expat Conor Oberst. But the same can’t be said for his crowd, determinedly hanging to his every melancholic murmur throughout the Saturday evening set.

Conor Oberst

Santiago Felipe

Björk lived up to every bit of her long-held daring reputation.

Santiago Felipe

Garbed as a kind of primordial, intergalactic butterfly, the eclectic Icelandic icon strutted before a full orchestra and striking pyrotechnics, which elevated her ambient sonic explorations to even greater heights.

Santiago Felipe

Abstruse, post-modern video installations of birthing insects and splitting organs failed to shake the crowd from howling along to every chorus of her finale, Post’s anthemic “Hyperballad."

Santiago Felipe

Björk

Santiago Felipe

Björk

On a warm Sunday afternoon, Strand of Oaks – the project of Philadelphia’s indie-rock hyphenate Timothy Showalter – showcased his fusion of rock and synth-pop for the early-arriving audience.

Showalter’s typically grandiose, heavy rock deity charisma was complemented poignantly by some quieter moments of banter, when reflecting on how the band debuted most of their set’s songs just last year in New York, likely to a similar crowd.

Strand of Oaks

Aussie psych-rock upstarts Tame Impala drew a massive crowd for their Sunday afternoon set on the festival’s main stage, including a standout performance of the druggy breakout hit "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards."

Tame Impala

The hazy playing dovetailed perfectly into Philly veterans The War on Drugs, who made their first New York City appearance in a year on the secondary Big Apple Stage, with Adam Granduciel channeling Dylan on vocals amid soaring guitars and atmospheric horns.

War on Drugs

Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds drew heavily from their new LP Chasing Yesterday, though the former Oasis frontman didn’t fail to deliver a few favorites from his former life, including “Champagne Supernova” and a rousing “Don’t Look Back In Anger” set closer.

Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds

The Black Keys were left to do the heavy lifting with a visceral retro-rock set on Sunday night as co-headliner Lana Dey Rey battled sound issues on the Honda Stage, prompting a steady exodus by the overflow crowd that had gathered.