Jarvis Cocker, and Neil Young rock the popular Primavera

The one thing I think of when summer finally arrives isn't what factor sun cream to wear, or what my new summer wardrobe is going to consist of. No, it is the countdown to my next summer festival. The one thing that keeps me going through winter, through work, through long boring weekends of staying in and saving up, it's my festival.

This year I had looked at many different festivals, I even contemplated returning to ones I had visited previously as every one I have gone to has so many good things about it that you cant ever truly rule them out. However in the end I decided to go for both holiday and sightseeing reasons as well as good music choices. And so I found myself at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

With many low-cost airlines flying to Barcelona it wasn't as expensive to get there as I had feared. I flew in a couple of days before the festival so I could explore. This city is breathtaking and there is an abundance of things to see, so you will never be bored! Our second night there was the evening of the Champions League final and the city was pulsing with excitement, this carried on through to the following day when FC Barcelona toured the city in their open top bus. I knew standing there watching these scenes that these people know how to party and I couldn't wait to go to the festival, although after waiting to see the team parade I ended up arriving a little later than I had anticipated. All worth it though!

As you stroll up towards the festival site it becomes apparent that this isn't any ordinary site. Situated at the Forum, along the coast, its jutting structures and vast space makes this a unique venue. As we are met by the massive blow up Estrella Damm beer can, one main festival sponsor, I decide my first stop will be to the bar and to get my bearings. However for the first year they have introduced drink ticket machines, where you pre order what you want, pay and receive a ticket which you then take to the bar to collect. Now I don't know about anyone else but pre-determining what I may drink during the night isn't really in keeping with my festival experience. But it did mean less waiting at the actual bar and for lazy people like me, it meant I spent and drank far less as once I had finished my few beer tokens, I would wait until a lull in music before heading for another!

With the beer in hand I stood and took in the view. The vast expanse that this site covers is deceptive. From one point it looks massive, from another, every stage is conveniently located and a maximum walk of 5 minutes away. And with 5 stages along with a couple small intimate tent venues- MySpace and Ray Ban - you need it all to be accessible!

After exploring the site, and the food area, we headed to catch My Bloody Valentine on the main Estrella Damm stage. It was already after 12 and I couldn't believe just how long I had spent wandering about exploring and taking it all in, the sight itself, the views, the people, everything.

The sound quality during My Bloody Valentine wasn't as good as I had hoped and I wasn't sure if this was the effect they were going for or an unfortunate extra. We stuck it out though and I was pleased I managed to catch them on the big stage, although if I had missed it there was also the option to see them in the Auditori, an indoor venue next to the festival. Tickets for these shows could be purchased for 2 Euros on the day of the show – purchased from the same machines that provide your drink tickets no less.

We then headed to see Aphex Twin where my second wind had to arrive to keep me awake. Richard James played on the Rockdelux stage, which stands at the bottom of a slope, paving stones heading back from the stage to the bottom of the hill where there are steps, which double as a seating area, back to the top. Considering we had been up and about since 10am and it was now almost 2 in the morning I would normally have been wilting, but watching the performance put in by the man known as Aphex Twin kept me going.

Friday brought with it the arrival of Jarvis Cocker to Primavera Sound. I have never seen the man live and was intrigued to watch him. He is really quite funny. Had I missed this all these years?! Or is it that you have to forget something before you can see it properly again. I decided that rather than try to watch from the midst of the crowds at the front that I would stand at the very back, at the step next to the edge of the forum site, a view that took in both the sea and the whole of the site. From here we watched Jarvis run through his hits, and dance around the stage like, well, a maniac! His energy enthralled me and the crowd and although they may not have got as many of his jokes as we did, you could see they loved it too. We were even treated to Pulp hits as he stormed through his set.

Prior to our Pulp surprise we had spent a little time going between the Pitchfork stage watching Crystal Antlers and the Rockdelux watching Throwing Muses. It was tough trying to catch everything I wanted and still have enough energy left to last the night, but with our hotel just across from the festival we always had the option to go for a quick rest should the need occur.

I sat in the food area after Jarvis and took stock of all the options available whist drinking a nice cold beer. They certainly catered to every taste, from BBQs to hotdogs, from pizzas to fries. But it was the noodle stand that caught my eye and I tucked in to some of the best noodles I have had.

It was during these fantastic noodles I noticed a mass exodus towards the Pitchfork stage and realised everyone was rushing to see the Dan Deacon Ensemble. So being nosey and not wanting to be left out I followed suit to see what the fuss was about. It turned out to be the weirdest introduction I have heard. He issued instructions for the lights to his crew and then instructions to the crowd, do this movement, stand this way, point at anyone not doing these things. It was oddly entertaining. After a warm up of sorts the music started and he launched into first song 'Get Older'.

It was part way through his set when he tried to organise a dance contest and get everyone to make a huge circle. This fell flat and after a few attempts of this he eventually gave up, however so had a few of the crowd and I watched as the once bustling area had becoming quite sparse. I still found this whole show entertaining, the music may not have been exactly to my taste but it was funny to watch this. But my boyfriend looked longingly at those leaving and I soon caved and we left after big Dan threatened to quit the show as he moaned about crowd participation. But after we seen the beginning of the 'dance off' he had asked for. Amusing.

So Bloc Party were left with the job keeping us going and we moved back to Estrella to get a good spot, up at the back, and a beer! We waited and waited and finally they arrived. I first seen the boys in Belgium last year and I was blown away by their performance. Not something I often say at a festival. And this time was no different. There is nothing quite like listening to 'Hunting For Witches' or 'So Here We Are' to pump you up and get you going. I danced like I wouldn't have looked out of place on stage with Jarvis the night before. I sung along like a Pop Idol wannabe and didn't feel at all out of place as I did so. As when I looked around, most others were doing the same!

I was exhausted by the time they finished and even though they run free buses back into the centre for those staying in town, I was glad I was staying within walking distance to the site.

Saturday promised us Neil Young, Sonic Youth and Black Lips. I wanted to see as many things as I could and it was only tonight we managed to find the small MySpace tent that I had hunted for previously. To say that you can't see something for looking at it would probably suit this well.

Neil Young was on stage at what should have been 9.15, but who really expects him to stick to schedule, so I had time to run for a quick beer before he brought everyone to rock in the free world. No other act was performing as he took the stage and I looked out over the slopes and grassy areas, to the food stands and all the way to the Estrella Damm stage and the place was jammed. They stood, they sat, they lay gazing up at the night sky, but the whole festival had turned up to see him, and most stayed with him till the end. He never fails to impress me. If I am still rockin' at that age I will be happy!

After Neil we headed to the Ray-Ban Vice stage to catch some Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. What a nice surprise. I hadn't known what to expect when I got there but this ended up being one of my highlights of the fest and by the looks of some around I wasn't the only one.

We then strolled off happy to catch some Ghostface Killah round at the Pitchfork, which since it was beside the noodle stand and the bar gave us the perfect opportunity to have another of each. But the lure of Sonic Youth was too much and we made our way back to catch them in action. With a line-up so diverse everyone would find something they wanted to see. It was great. And we couldn't pass up the chance to see Sonic Youth play live. It seemed that most of the festival agreed as the Estrella stage was still rammed.

As this was the last night I wanted to cram in as much as I can, be that beers, a Jaeger or 2, noodles and bands! So we danced around to Simian Mobile Disco, loving the music and light show and hating the fact that the bars seemed to have sold out of beer and the only ones we could find were at the mobile sellers who charged a nice 5 Euros instead of the regular 4! But with the Disco ongoing who was really going to let it bother them.

I had to rush to then try see Black Lips but somehow missed them and caught Zombie-Zombie instead! To this day I still don’t know how we missed them but since there was a problem with where they printed them on the schedule for the MySpace show I thought perhaps I would blame that, rather than my stupidity!

The sun was rising as we had our last Jaeger and headed home for the evening. I was exhausted. This place sure works you hard. And if you want to keep working they also put on extra shows on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the actual festival starts and on Sunday the day after it finishes and with free shows to enjoy too, you see it isn't just about the main three days.

The organisation put in and the work to get a mixed, excellently diverse line up makes this one of the best festivals I have been to. Despite the pre-pay your beer/spirit introduction I found most things worked well. Even the toilets which were reasonably clean considering the size of this festival. When I first arrived I had no idea the popularity of this festival. But upon leaving I know why.

With a setting as beautiful as Barcelona and a line up as exciting as the one we had it wasn't hard to make this a brilliant summer get away. And if I have the money next year, I might just come back for more. The Catalan hospitality is great and if we could only get rid of the pesky pick pockets in the city centre, the whole place would be a dream. But thankfully there were no such nuisances at Primavera.

As the sun set on my final day I looked over to what had been the site of the festival itself. It is strange how it transforms once the stages are deconstructed. It becomes hard to imagine once jumping around in it. But that image will stay, and keep me saving till next time!

Latest Updates