The Meadows returned to Queens last weekend (September 15-17) for its second ever edition, taking over the parking lot of Citi Field, the stadium where baseball underdogs the New York Mets play their home games. Organised by the team behind one of NYC’s other premier festivals Governors Ball, the line-up saw some of the biggest names in hip-hop and alternative music descend on the event’s own concrete jungle, including Jay-Z, Gorillaz, Nas, Erykah Badu and a ton of special guests. Relive the weekend or find out what you missed below.
1Sky Ferreira
At only her second performance of the year – and her first festival in two years – Sky Ferreira struggled through stage fright to perform tracks from her debut album ‘Night Time, My Time’ and covers of classics by ‘Til Tuesday and Lionel Richie.
2Run The Jewels
Never short of positivity, Killer Mike and El-P spent their time on the main stage spreading the love for women, weed and the world.
3Blood Orange
Blood Orange, aka Dev Hynes, brought his soulful R&B to the Shea Stage after sunset, dropping a couple of new songs into his set along the way. Look out for ‘Charcoal Baby’ in particular – a slinky earworm that suggests his next move will be well worth waiting for.
4Jay-Z
Where some of his rap counterparts go for flashy stage productions, the giant Jeff Koons-like inflatable dog was about as decadent as Jay-Z’s stage show got as he headlined Friday night.
5Jay-Z
Running through a career-spanning set, Jay-Z proved he’s definitely still got it, relying on only his talent and swagger to put in one of the best performances of the entire festival.
6Public Access TV
Up bright and early on Saturday, New York’s very own Public Access TV took a break from working on their second album to kick off day two with their gleaming rock’n’roll gems.
7Big Boi
Big Boi brought a smile to The Meadows crowd’s faces with a setlist including ‘Ms Jackson’ and ‘Shutterbug’. There was some tenderness between the joviality, though, when the Outkast rapper revealed his cousin had recently passed away and dedicated his performance to him.
8Erykah Badu
Neo-soul icon Erykah Badu put in one of the most mesmerising performances of the weekend, managing to keep a straight face even when her gigantic hat blew off her head in the wind.
9De La Soul
There was no happier group at the festival than De La Soul, who brought their hip-hop classics to the American Eagle stage on Saturday.
10Future and Nicki Minaj
The Meadows wasn’t short of secret, special guests. Nicki Minaj was just one of many to make an unannounced appearance across the weekend, with the Queens native making a cameo during Future’s main stage set.
11Gorillaz
Even more special guests made it to the stage during Gorillaz’s headline appearance. Savages’ Jehnny Beth, Pusha T and D.R.A.M. were among those to help bring songs from ‘Humanz’ to life.
12Mos Def
The biggest surprise, however, came during the encore when Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) casually wandered out to lend his voice to ‘Stylo’.
13Broods
New Zealand synth-pop duo Broods shook the crowd awake on Sunday with a perky performance that included an impeccable rendition of the Lorde-penned ‘Heartlines’.
14Foster The People
Foster The People used their set to spread a message of unity and love, with frontman Mark Foster telling the crowd: “I wouldn’t change any one of you.”
15Nas
Icon Nas treated the Queens crowd to a performance of key tracks from his seminal album ‘Illmatic’, including ‘NY State Of Mind’ and ‘The World Is Yours’.
16Weezer
17Red Hot Chili Peppers
Closing out the entire festival, Red Hot Chili Peppers dug deep into their arsenal and came out with some of their biggest and best tunes.
18Red Hot Chili Peppers
Alongside mega hits like ‘Californication’, ‘Under The Bridge’ and ‘By The Way’, the rock foursome also found time to cover The Stooges, Funkadelic and Stevie Wonder before sending the crowd off into the night.