Future Islands blew up last year partially because they had one of the songs of the year in “Seasons (Waiting On You),” but also, crucially, because of their live performance. It was their viral network TV debut from Letterman that really ignited their 2014, and that performance went viral because of the idiosyncratic presence of frontman Samuel T. Herring. I saw these guys three times last year — it’s almost always been pretty much the same set since Singles came out, which means each time you can rest assured you’re going to see something that will show you why Future Islands rapidly garnered such a live reputation. Yesterday at Gov Ball was no different. Stuffed into the Gotham Tent — like last year, the festival has a tendency to put people on this stage who are far too big for it, resulting in a packed crowd sprawling out from underneath the tent — Future Islands ran through an hour long set primarily comprised of the best tracks from Singles. This stuff feels custom-built for the kind of propulsion you need by the second afternoon of a festival. “Spirit,” “Sun In The Morning,” and “A Dream Of You And Me” were all dutifully present and anchoring the set; and, of course, there was “Seasons (Waiting On You),” though for some reason they seem to refuse to close with this, and they should really close with this at a festival because it’d be a huge moment. No matter: even though I was outside the tent, the charisma Herring brings was palpable, and I’ll take any chance to see these guys do their thing. –Ryan