a rapturous reception to Pulp's long-awaited reunion at Primavera Sound

I was blessed with good company for the entire weekend, Paella in one of Barcelona's many excellent outdoor restaurants provided a great breakfast (at 4pm), before heading back to the site and negotiating one of the most difficult clashometer line-ups of my festival experiences over the years.

Another good Spanish female vocalist Ainara LeGardon (ex-Onion) eased us gently back into the festival mood. Avi Buffalo's happier indie-rock sounds and The Monochrome Set's post-punk upped the ante slowly. Male Bonding shattered any tranquillity with a blistering hardcore-punk set over on Pitchfork Stage, proving popular with the locals and moshers alike.

The Wolf People on ATP provided the first of many quality guitar sets on the night with their psychedelic/progressive/experimental sounds. Their style reminded me of late-60s/early-70s bands such as Cream or Jethro Tull, and the set included a first live performance of Banks of Sweet Dundee (Parts 1 and 2). Lots of melodic guitars anyway. The rest of the evening rather cruelly had us picking between the likes of Pulp, Belle & Sebastian, The National, Half Japanese, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Low, Shellac, Deerhunter, Explosions In The Sky, Twin Shadow, Pere Ubu, and Battles. Drawing lots sprang to mind.

Deciding to stay with ATP Stage (easily the best vibe of any stage there), we were treated to another blistering punk set by veterans/pros Half Japanese. Pere Ubu turned in another veteran/pro performance over on Ray Ban Stage. Great choices though would have liked to have seen Sufjan Stevens guest appearance with The National elsewhere (see YouTube).

Back-to-back performances by Low, Shellac on ATP proved to be Top 3 performances over the 3 days. Alan Sparhawk kicked off Low's set with "a song about the Spanish revolution" in the form of 'Nothing But Heart' popular with the locals. A trademark passionate performance followed. Shellac are both Primavera and ATP stalwarts, Todd Trainer's drumming and antics predictably stole the show, the usual audience Q&A session was drowned out by a frenzied crowd. Both performances packed the stage beyond capacity, despite the strong competition elsewhere.

The last time I saw Pulp was at the aforementioned dream line-up of Glastonbury '95. Following a failed attempt to get into the pit for photos (one of many), I found myself a distant observer of a rapturous audience reception to their long-awaited reunion. It was good to see a whole new generation enjoying the experience, the huge Spanish contingent singing along in good voice in fairly faultless English.

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