overview

Primavera was so intense this year I caught some kind of Mediterranean fever that’s left me bed ridden for the past week. Prior to that though, an international audience at Barcelona’s Port Forum complex witnessed performances from the likes of The White Stripes, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and Modest Mouse. For all the rock alternative bands, there were dance mainstays playing each night until six am, including Hot Chip, Battles, DJ Yoda and Justice.

The first day of Primavera was opened up by French come Swiss folk rock outfit Herman Dune, coming on stage at an early (by Spanish standards) 8pm. Playing to an audience perched on a man-made raked cliff edge, the idiosyncratic surroundings of the festival helped mould the uniqueness of experience as much as anything. Forget big fields and camping, Port Forum felt like a science park of the future with its modern, hard-edged architecture over-bearing in its presence.

To add to the strange atmosphere in this stage synthetic space, the bulk of timetabling worked in a way that would leave may of the six stages unoccupied most of the time. At some point there’d only be two bands performing at the same time, rather one performance would follow another, but on a different stage, meaning the vast majority of the festival’s population would migrate as a whole from one stage to another. A strange sight, but still enjoyable.

ATP’s ‘Don’t Look Back’ gigs played a large part of Thursday’s line up – although curiously, none of them took place on the ATP stage. Dirty Three performed their ‘Ocean Songs’ in full, as did Slint with their widely acclaimed classic ‘Spiderland’. Dirty Three regaled the afternoon crowd with eccentric tales of drugs and disorder between songs, while Slint where a far more mundane affair. Not being one to handle overly self-reverent bands, Slint standing completely still, saying nothing, performing their slow post-rock under a cloud of smoke made for a preeeeetty dull performance.

Comets On Fire also performed ‘Blue Cathedral’, but many people were disappointed at their last minute line-up shuffle which left them performing at the same time as The Smashing Pumpkins – one of the few clashes I fell victim to on this largely clash-free weekend.

Smashing Pumpkins themselves made a mighty fun job of their comeback show – only their second after a six year hiatus. They played for over two hours, which lagged a bit at more indulgent times, but this was a perfect chance to pop off for a beer or hot dog. When they hit their peaks though, they did so with the charm and majesty of returning kings (and one queen, in the form of new bassist Ginger Reyes). They hooked people early after opener “United States” – a long new prog epic - by unleashing a mesmerising, mass singalong version of Siamese Dream classic ‘Today’ that instantly confirmed their return as a worthy one. Later on in the set, the likes of ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’, ‘Zero’ and a particularly powerful ‘Tonight, Tonight’ helped keep a couple of thousand Pumpkins fans ecstatically happy with their back catalogue picking.

With their set over, the whole of the festival bar the drunks too intoxicated to remember where they’re going set off for the Rockdelux stage, pitched at the bottom of a kind of large amphitheatre, allowing for a couple of thousand people to watch the performance seated, as well as standing. When they got there, The White Stripes performed the second of the evening’s comeback shows, and they were absolutely incredible. I’ve seen Jack and Meg a fair few times in my short life on earth, sometimes good, sometimes bad. The last time – headlining Reading festival – felt like a White Stripes gig too far for me, but tonight any apprehension was set aside as they proved that despite such stringent self-limiting (hire a bassist?), they can still innovate, impress and, most importantly under these circumstances...entertain.

Opening up with ‘Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground’, Barcelona was treated to greatest hits, new material from their ace return-to-form ‘Icky Thump’ and live treats like their cover of ‘Jolene’ and ‘John The Revelator’ during their 2am set.

By the end of it, the atmosphere is that of a full swing fiesta, so current dance-darlings Justice over on the CD Drome stage go down an absolute treat. They play lots of electro and Klaxons-type stuff, and everyone has a great time. They’re followed by hip hop DJ Girl Talk, who dances shirtless for the crowd while songs play, before ending his set by performing an absurd electronic cover of Nirvana’s ‘Scentless Appreciation’. By around 5am it’s ready to get a bus back to the apartment (there’s no camping here)... then a long sleep until mid-afternoon the next day in preparation for Day 2.

Day 2 - Friday

The second day of Primavera sees strong winds blowing from the Mediterranean sea bellow through bodies attending the festival, making the whole night a unexpectedly chilly affair. Looking particularly wind-beaten are The Rakes, who open up the Estrella Damm stage. I remember seeing them open up the inaugural Wireless festival a few years ago, at that time their jerky, jeering snot-rock seemed fresh and interesting... and certainly acted as an antidote to that particular festival’s dullard surroundings. How times have changed – here they are on the coast of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, in unique festival surroundings... suddenly they don’t seem nearly as exotic. There’s the fact that their second album ‘Ten New Messages’ all but flopped, but it seems their spirit has died too. What a shame, I loved The Rakes.

Perhaps band of the weekend goes to The Fall, who – hands up – I’m not of age to truly comprehend. Still going strong, the 70’s Manchester post-punk outfit, lead by founding maniac-in-the-geriatric-ward front man Mark E Smith may only keep one of its original members, but still they perform with the fire of freshest young whippersnappers on the block. Who knows what the hell Mark E’s mumbling down that microphone, or how he’s managing to stand up on his own... people still love it and the music sounds amazing.

Maximo Park follow, but I’m over to the Rockdelux stage to catch Beirut instead, the Santa Fe folk-wonder outfit. A large live band incorporating everything from accordion to ukulele inspire soaring Balkan folk, beer-hall bawdy pop and moments of unabashed illustrious indie. It’s a varied and rich set, one of the highlights of the festival, and the massive crowd that turn out to see it seem thrilled.

There’s just enough time to hop over to the Vice stage to catch the end of Chromeo’s set, who play a whole lot better than the last time this writer saw them in native Nottingham. On a large festival stage, to a modest crowd, the NY duo mix in hot classics like ‘Needy Girl’ and ‘Woman Friend’ with a load of less than inspiring new waff of the second record flop-fest.

Come midnight it’s over to the ATP stage for Modest Mouse, who draw a tremendous crowd to this far corner of the festival site. Joined, as it currently the status quo, by The Smiths own Johnny Marr, they inspire the most devote response from the crowd, who sing along to every word. Lead singer Isaac Brock looks like he’s been punched in the face, and there’s a broody undertone to the whole affair. But songs like the bittersweet ‘Float On’ and ‘Dashboard’ cause mass singalong and dance, even if the sound isn’t completely amazing.

But the second night of Primavera really kicks off around 1am, when DJ Yoda mans the decks in the CD Drome stage, artfully mixing hiphop, pop and a million other references to popular culture (including a big band version of the Super Mario Brother’s theme tune). He’s followed by Brazilian one trick pony’s Bonde Do Role, who shout in Portuguese over a variety of stolen riffs (including The Darkness), remixed with a salsa beat. It’s great fun to dance to, and this writer is so drunk he nearly makes it to the stage to dance with them. Curse the security guards, who pull me back down – foiled at the last minute. Day two warps up around 4am for me, although those with skills stay out until sunrise, with Kid Koala and Diplo DJing.

Day 3 - Saturday

Phew, by the final day of Primavera the energy depletion from staying up all night is beginning to take its toll. Seeing as we’re near the city centre, we take time out from the festival to go check out Barcelona’s famous La Rambla, the busy main street leading down towards the sea. It’s a hell of a more enjoyable experience than you standard festival-surroundings wander, like the uninspiring Reading John Lewis branch or Chelmsford town at V festival. So hooked am I by the massive indoor markets and art galleries, I don’t even make it back in time for The Long Blondes, who open up the final day of the festival. I’m told they were very good and that Kate Jackson looked typically gorgeous.

I did make it in time for Architecture In Helsinki, though, and they certainly brought my out my end of festival sloth. They’re basically just a jam band and don’t have many hits to their name (bar the excellent ‘Do The Whirlwind’), but the Australian funk freaks have enough chirpy melodies popping up here and there to put a smile on your face. The sun is out, what more could you want?

There is some bad news though, Klaxons have pulled out of their 3.30 am slot, and Battles have been moved into it, completely messing up the line-up plans. In fact, I don’t end up seeing many more bands as a result of this, and one of my travelling partners getting hit by a bad case of food poisoning meaning we have to return to the apartment around midnight. However, before things are called short, I do catch a bit of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen, it all looks very good, but I’m too busy worrying about my mate to actually concentrate on whether it’s any good. I leave just as Sonic Youth take the stage to begin playing seminal album ‘Daydream Nation’ in full. It’d be totally gutted, if I wasn’t going to get the chance to see them again at another festival later this year.

Overall, Primavera was brilliant fun – completely different any other festival and therefore a worthy experience in itself. The line up wasn’t totally brimming with must-see acts (unless you’re a fan of ATP style alt-rock), but there was more than enough to keep you entertained across the weekend. The weather was largely good, which made things easy going, and the location is absolutely stunning. So if you are thinking about going abroad for a festival next year, I recommend you consider Primavera Sound.

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