bill bodkin and maxwell barna recap two more acts from The Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City: Reptar and Das Racist …
REPTAR
Bill: The Big Apple stage opened its day with the Athens, Ga.-based synth-pop group, Reptar. Unfortunately due to a scheduling snafu, Reptar and Outasight ended up going on at the same time, so we missed a good portion of their set. However, when we got to the other side of the festival grounds, we saw Reptar getting the early crowd going. Their upbeat tunes had a lot of heads bopping, and once again, we heard another band who actually sounds better live than on record.
Max: As Outasight left the stage, I could’ve sworn I heard sounds coming from the other stage across the grounds. Bill assured me that sets weren’t going to overlap, and we both just kind of shrugged it off — even contemplated grabbing another beer before heading over to the Big Apple Stage to check out Reptar. Unfortunately, those sounds I heard rang true, and due to the “snafu” mentioned above, Reptar went on while Outasight was halfway through his set. By the time Bill and I got over there, Reptar had performed most of their set. We heard two, possibly three songs at the most. Gauging Reptar strictly from that performance, the band sounded extremely tight. The only way to really describe them is funky. They use live instruments and supplement them with pre-recorded samples.
DAS RACIST
Bill: I was a bit confused by their set initially — as their set time kept ticking away all we saw was a lone DJ dropping some tunes. His selection was good, so this wasn’t a problem. However, I was still confused why the band had not emerged on set. You could tell the crowd was getting antsy, so that definitely explains the burst of energy that erupted from the masses when Das Racist hit the stage. DR really got people moving, they fed off the crowd’s insane energy and seemed to be performing like their lives depended on it — full-pedal-to-metal excitement.
Max: Das Racist is fueled by liquor, sarcasm and a deep-seeded hatred for consumerism, normalcy and general good health practices. Their set at the Governors Ball was no different. Kool A.D. walked onto the stage swinging a microphone stand like a Louisville Slugger while Hima, Dap, and some other guy intermittently showered the crowd with beer. Having said that, their set was awesome. It was high energy, goofy and off-beat. It was extremely enjoyable. I caught up with Kool A.D. after the set to ask him a couple questions.
I asked him how he felt about Das Racist’s performance and the crowd. He said:
“You already know what it is, you already know what it do. We in the buildin’, we makin’ moves, you know what I’m sayin’?”
The Governors Ball was hosted outside …
When I asked him where Das Racist was from, Kool A.D. said:
“You know, we just tryin’ to hustle. We just tryin’ to get our yaper (YAY-per) straight.”
When asked what Kool A.D. liked about the Governors Ball, he said: “You already know what it is. You know how da kid move, we just tryin’ to get our yaper up.”
Aside from turning me on to their music, Das Racist also inspired me to get my yaper up. Wait, what the hell is yaper? Whatever, their set ruled.
