Primavera Sound 2017

[sgtpepper100]

3 minutes ago, Dontask said:

Finally feeling like a human again... that was my first Primavera.  Had an absolute blast.  

Found this: https://www.youtube.com/user/RedBullMusic/videos there's not a huge amount in here, but enough to keep everyone going. 

Highlights for me:

Run the Jewels - I heard some people at the festival complain about the sound quality/levels.  I either had a good spot or was the right amount of drunk to not care too much.  Was bouncing about with what seemed like a group of about 20 people who were all loving it, made it even better. 

Arcade Fire (Thursday night) - The stage set up and back drop made it pretty special.  Thought Creature Comfort was a stand out track in that set, oh and Spraw II was pretty perfect.

John Talabot (Disco Set) - Seeing Arcade fire on the thursday night (and for about the 8th time) i decided to go to see John Talabot.  Best sounding stage of the festival and we didn't stop dancing for the 2 hours.

Talaboman - What a set.  If anyone finds it, please share it.  

For those who haven't been before, i can't stress the importance of keeping your belongings safe.  Two people in our group had stuff stolen.  My wallet which had my entry card in it was one of the items, luckily the good folks at the festival were very understanding and gave me a new one.  I was worried my festival was over!

Lastly, the food, i had an outstanding Kebab between on the bit down behind the Rayban stage, best thing i ate all weekend.  Everything else was average, but i didn't spend time looking really.  It was just to fill a hole! 

Oh gosh good point, heard about SO many people having their phones nicked - very sad.  In fact, as I walked out the festival I had a bloke accusing me of nicking his earlier in the day.. was quite intense... "yeah so - I'm going to need that back right now". (!)

Could take or leave John Talabot before the festival, but I'm a big fan now.  My buddy met him twice during the festival - once at his label's record store, then he managed to wander backstage - bastard! 

I've seen RTJ 3 times now, and I actually wonder whether the sound issues are actually down to them - the sub bass drowns everything out.  However, the Primavera set sound was much better than their own gigs I've seen.

[Memory Man]

1 hour ago, brayshizzle said:

I must have lucked out then. VIP £7 for free pour spirit and mixers. Beers were like 2.50 and I had a really nice kebab two nights in a row .

ah well VIP thats a bit different!

I think I had a kebab from behind mango stage that was pretty nice actually. but only went down to Mordor once during the whole festival

I was gutted to miss the Talabot disco set!

Edited June 6, 2017 by Memory Man

[TiZuff]

5 hours ago, Dontask said:

 

Talaboman - What a set.  If anyone finds it, please share it.  

 

This was an incredible set. This type of music isnt really my scene but what would you recommend thats similar at glastonbury this year?? I want to see more of this stuff!

[melanie isabel]

Hope you enjoyed the rest of the festival!! 

 Mel x

[xxialac]

What a joyous, brilliant, wonderful edition of Primavera.

The only downside of any note was the incessant talking at the two main stages. It has reached unbearable levels, not improved by having a greater number of Brits who - although friendly - are also sometimes louty.

Highlights: everything else. The incredibly intimate Backstage sets (almost like watching a great band in your living room), programming, absurdly strong undercard (was there ever a moment when there wasn't someone interesting to see?), Arcade Fire surprise show, Backstage sets (second mention for them), warm friendly people, brilliant weather...I could go on all day.

I've done a lot of festivals and Primavera is still streets ahead of the competition.

[Memory Man]

having that weather just topped the whole thing off. The Sunday and monday were cloudy and raining, so we got very lucky! being able to be out in shorts and T shirt all night is simply bliss.

if there were to be another poor weather year it would change things a lot as there is next to no cover on the entire site aside from the main food court. 

you do sometimes forget how exceptionally well organised it is. You hardly ever que for the toilets or the bar, sound is in the main excellent. It is easy to get to the front of any stage apart from Mordor, and even then if you turn up early enough you can do.

If it was a british festival they would be looking to constantly up the capacity and ram the stages to breaking point rather than declare the festival sold out. it is easily the most spacious sold out festival I have ever been to. OK the Friday was quieter due to frank but the other 2 days were busy but still easy to navigate.

my only minor points would be if you could take drinks on the bridge and if they had hidden stage reservations online rather than having to que up in person at what is otherwise downtime / rest time for most people.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Memory Man

[portobelloroad]

Great reading everyone's reviews, thanks for posting and everyone who helped with suggestions, we had a blast too!

I agree with Memory Man - we were giddy on the first night just wandering around and marvelling at how easy it all was!! - organisation was spot on so you could just enjoy it instead of getting stressed in toilet/bar queues or undertaking an epic trudge through mud between stages.

I loved chit chatting to Italians, Spanish etc. there were fair few Brits there too - it was nice to not be in a crowd full of them, irony I know!

Some stuff we liked..

Location - we stayed Sagrada area perfect for beach/site/city thanks whoever suggested it months ago!

Vibe - loved how relaxed people were even just chiling having beers outside, in no rush to get in

Variety - we didn't see half the stages but so much on offer

Crowd - friendly, fun, just one tool trying to stop us dancing to xx because we were bumping him slightly, just hugged and said come on Man it's the xx, no problem!

Bands...

We loved Teenage Fanclub crowd were well up for it, Arcade Fire, XX were great, Joel Surnaka unexpected fun times, Sampha (we shouldn't have left to catch end of Growlers), Mac De Marco, Sleaford Mods (thought would be rubbish but loved it, can't wait to see them support Roses).

My Mrs had always wanted to go and it really delivered.

We are 30s/40s so a bit older (!) but there seemed good mix of ages.  We loved being able to explore the city, go for drinks in town first etc.

Anyone reading who is curious definitely go, would we go again?  I think so but someone mentioned BBK which intrigues me too.  Not sure I'd ever want to do Glastonbury, Reading or V again after this though it was a significantly better experience.  I shudder thinking about that trudge back to Castle Cary in knee deep mud!

[chemica]

My love for this festival is overpowering. This being my first year I was not sure what to expect but it was simply excellent. Fantastic use of space in staging, never a queue for the bar or toilets! Incredible diversity of line up which I knew beforehand, but further realised as I stumbled across new bands too!

 

a bit of chatter, especially at the main stage, when trying to listen to a band was my only annoyance - but you get that at every festival! 

 

I would return to Primavera Sound 100%. 

[LeFreak]

First time at the festival and thought it was absolutely brilliant. 

Thursday for me looked like this:
Jackmaster - this made for an unbelievable first impression of Primavera. Scorching heat and disco thumping out over the speakers while drinking pints of desperados, set the tone for the weekend really.
Alexis Taylor - Another very enjoyable set, had to sprint back from the bar/toilets on more than one occasion.
Moscoman - Thought he was okay, played a lot of cool electronic music with middle eastern vocals.
Youandewan - Disappointing for me and thought he would be a lot better.
Glass Animals - Good tunes and good crowd but thought the sound could have been better (although this is the 2nd time I've seen them and thought that).
Bon Iver - Class. Was not high up my list but was very impressed at how good he sounded. Will have to dig deeper into his music now.
SURVIVE - I enjoyed them but most others I was with didn't, set never really went up or down, disappointed they played no Stranger Things tracks.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Not into them but sounded okay, flaked out up on the hill overlooking the stage.

 

Friday:
Autarkic - Thought he was similar to Moscoman the day before, sitting down dance music.
Lord of the Isles - Played some really nice tunes and got me more in the mood for the day ahead.
Sampha - Better than expected, such a good voice and played to a packed Ray Ban crowd.
Mac Demarco - Possible highlight. Sounded great live and the man is a top class performer. Loved his antics on stage (burning his arse hairs, stripping down to his jocks and going crowd surfing).
The XX - Good but expected more from them, maybe they played too much off the new album but felt they weren't quite a flake out and relax band nor were they upbeat enough to keep the crowd moving.
Run the Jewels - Not a fan at all but they are good performers. Fairly whacked at this point mind you.
Jamie XX - Played enjoyable tunes and had fun dancing but the stage was too big for just a DJ set. Loved when he played Daphni.
Flying Lotus - Again not my kind of music but he was visually impressive, Ray Ban stage was rammed at this point.
Talaboman - Listened from a distance and sounded okay but left about half way through.

Saturday (started much later than previous two days):
Metronomy - Really liked their music and would go and see them again, felt the crowd was a bit flat though.
Grace Jones - Really enjoyable, saw her before and wasn't impressed but she sounded and looked great.
Arcade Fire - From here for the remaining hours were a big highlight for me, heard most of the songs I wanted to hear and they sounded very good I thought, felt sound was better from Mango stage than Heineken? Left about 15 mins before the end.
John Talabot Disco Set - Memory is blurry at this point but I remember dancing and smiling a lot. Hearing Everybody Dance & Spacer was unreal and really felt like this set was a good finish to the weekend.
Khidja & DJ Dustin - If I said I could remember anything I would be lying. Talked a lot of shite to a lot of people, danced and smiled before the music ending to the sun just about rising. 

Amazing festival and I will be back again.
 

[Orens]

4 hours ago, LeFreak said:

Autarkic - Thought he was similar to Moscoman the day before, sitting down dance music.

FWIW, both are Israeli acts, releasing records within the same label (called Disco Halal - Space Disco in Hebrew).

If you liked it, you should definitely check out Red Axes (Primavera veterans who also had a DJ set at the Backstage). 

[tjrant]

My highlight were the stages in town. Great setting and music; Playback Maracas (honestly had to check that they were not Daft Punk), Muñeco, About Leaving and Muñeco were fantastic.

 

 

Also - conspiracy theory - Frank Oceans name is missing from the merch I bought as is Jamie xx. It could be that they were printed the day or two between the announcements, but as it was only a week before the festival does that seem strange?

[sgreen7643]

King Gizz, Run the Jewels, Flying Lotus and Chk Chk Chk were probably the most fun acts but I'm not sure my weekend ever recovered from the double bill of Arcade Fire and Solange on Thursday. 

[chemica]

There's a bitter taste seeing Frank Ocean play the festival following Primavera Sound...  

[duckula]

Just now, chemica said:

There's a bitter taste seeing Frank Ocean play the festival following Primavera Sound...  

You're not kidding, what an absolute dick.

 

[Orens]

7 hours ago, duckula said:

You're not kidding, what an absolute dick.

 

F him.

[sgreen7643]

Don't quite get what the production delays were? From watching videos it seems like a pretty simple set up... idk though, I guess that can mean anything. 

[Orens]

On 10.6.2017 at 2:46 PM, sgreen7643 said:

Don't quite get what the production delays were? From watching videos it seems like a pretty simple set up... idk though, I guess that can mean anything. 

FO might have dropped the big setup for some reason. Multiple sources mentioned big-time production, and Gabi said he changed it on a daily basis.

I really hate him for what he did to the festivals and especially his fans, nothing could justify this outcome IMO.

[Orens]

And on a different note, is there anyone who bought a VIP ticket and does not plan on buying one on the pre-sale? I'm trying to help my friends, who already had a VIP ticket for 2017 but decided to fly over to Glastonbury for the first time once they got the tickets.