Post Malone’s Headlining Set at Gov Ball Features Tons of Hits

Post Malone is coming off the two most-difficult and least commercially successful albums of his career the last of which is, 2023’s Austin, which failed to even generate a single top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit, marking a clear commercial low point for the pop-rap gold-spinner who was surpassed only by Drake in terms of consistent chart success for the second half of the 2010s.

But despite all this, the singer’s already had two No. 1 hits this year with co-stars (Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen, respectively) whose radio and streaming clout currently easily eclipse his own.

This was a lot to balance for Post Malone during his headlining set at day one of New York’s Governors Ball festival (now officially referred to as just “Gov Ball”) or at least, it seems like it should have been. But instead of trying to thread the needle between his successful past, his muddier present and his uncertain future, Post decided to simplify things with his Gov Ball setlist: He simply played the hits. And he’s got a lot of them: more than you may even remember, more than maybe seems possible for a guy who’s only been making ’em since 2015 and has been in a relatively fallow period for ’em since the decade turned. As far as streamlining strategies go, it was a pretty undeniable one.

More like a statement, was the choice of the encore’s final song: “Chemical,” which is the biggest song from Austin, whose No. 13 peak was still fairly underwhelming by his career standards. It was the only song performed from the 2023 album which he played four times as many from 2016 debut Stoney but it landed just like any of his bigger, longer-established hits, sounding much fuller live than on record, and making for a perfectly resounding closing number for the evening. The suggestion seemed to be that Post had never really stopped making big singles in the first place — and that regardless of whether on a given day he might be presenting more as a pop star, rap star, rock star or country star, what he truly is and always will be first and foremost is a hitmaker.

SETLIST

Better Now
Wow
Zack and Codeine
Psycho
Goodbyes
I Like You (A Happier Song)
Jonestown (Interlude)
Take What You Want
Over Now
Rockstar
Stay
I Fall Apart
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Circles
Too Young
White Iverson
Congratulations

Encore:

Sunflower
I Had Some Help
Chemical