Primavera Sound 2019

[JedTheHumanoid]

They also played a video prior to Pusha T with 'cut your hair' in the background, showing photos from all years and ending with Pavement 2020

[Fnmentaluk]

Seen someone play that recycling game at the entrance and they won s ticket for next year.

[Glenn Coco]

Age is catching up to me. I wasn’t prepared for how exhausting this festival is. I wanted to stay till 6am at least once.. I just couldn’t do it 

[RaphPH]

I had a brilliant time. I finished by seeing Roisin Murphy and then went straight to airport and got 7am flight back to London. Haven’t slept. 

[Tremousse]

Waiting for reviews

[Amy Lawn]

Any streams of Carly's set? I need to see it so bad ?

[bobhoward]

Been going for three years and this was my favorite so far. 

There overall crowd has definitely changed alot.. In line with how the headliners shifted more pop... But because of this I was able to mostly avoid the main stage area which made the fest so much more enjoyable. 

I went down in that area for CRJ and Robyn and while the crowds in the first few rows were fine, the further back you went the more it turned into an IG photo shoot and show off your festival outfit environment. I couldn't imagine seeing a quieter artist like James Blake down there.. Would have wanted to pull my hair out. 

Basically as long as you can avoid the talkers and the IG models.. This fest is still amazing. If they keep booking super pop headliners supported by an amazing undercard/mid tier artists at rayban/Primavera I'll still keep coming back. 

 

[Swanmob]

15 minutes ago, bobhoward said:

Been going for three years and this was my favorite so far. 

There overall crowd has definitely changed alot.. In line with how the headliners shifted more pop... But because of this I was able to mostly avoid the main stage area which made the fest so much more enjoyable. 

I went down in that area for CRJ and Robyn and while the crowds in the first few rows were fine, the further back you went the more it turned into an IG photo shoot and show off your festival outfit environment. I couldn't imagine seeing a quieter artist like James Blake down there.. Would have wanted to pull my hair out. 

Basically as long as you can avoid the talkers and the IG models.. This fest is still amazing. If they keep booking super pop headliners supported by an amazing undercard/mid tier artists at rayban/Primavera I'll still keep coming back. 

 

Agreed, I'm all for it. There was hardly anybody, relatively speaking, in the Adidas/pitchfork area for that run of drab majesty > nenah cherry > June of 44 > messthetics which meant not having to evade talkers too much. 

[n=Nowheretohide]

And before them there was she, Haru Nemuri, out of this world performance, personally my best experince this year!!!

[n=Nowheretohide]

Main stages were biggest disappoitment this year, beside interpol and tame impala there wasnt much to see there...but overall it was good festival it wasnt that much queer as I was afraid it was going to be and from initial setup of 2020 looks like they uave learned lesson and are comming to good old normal

[JedTheHumanoid]

Great experience for me. Didn't reach the hights of last year, but had a blast

My top 5:

FKA twigs (wow what a show! Sword dancing, pole dancing, simpley dancing, amazing costums and chorography, and when all gimiks where done she just stood there alone, singing Cellophane and literally makes you cry)

Janelle Monae

Sons of Kemet

Primal Scream

Jungle

 

On non-musical notes:

- felt less crowded than usual. Maybe it was the contiversial lineup, or maybe it was me skipping most of the headliners (though I did get a great spot for moth Janelle and Tame Impala even though i got there just a few minutes before), but something felt more cosy.

- The cups where a great idea! Didn't try to collect all, but it was fun to get the ones I wanted, and a nice souvenir to bring home. And it's also great to look at the floor at the end of a show and not see it full of million plastic cups (next up are the water bottles!)

- grass in the mordor, how cool is that? My shoes thank you

Can't wait for next year!

[puckno]

My top 5: Rosalia, Big Thief, Tame Impala, Fucked Up, Pond. Will come back, next year will be my 10th Primavera Sound, can't stop at 9.

[n=Nowheretohide]

1.Haru Nemuri !!!!

2.Suede

3.Fka Twigs

4.Cybotron

5.Jarv is / Stereolab

[Glenn Coco]

had VIP tickets.. yea I wouldn’t be disappointed if I get regular tickets next time.

Fast entry into the site didn’t really matter. Cheaper beer is cool, but I spent most of my time away from the main stages.. and travelling up to that vip area in front of the Primavera stage wasn’t worth it.

The atmosphere in the vip areas at the stages is kinda weird. Being at the front I’m used to being surrounded by hard core fans, the energy definitely wasn’t the same.

 

[Declan]

8 minutes ago, Glenn Coco said:

had VIP tickets.. yea I wouldn’t be disappointed if I get regular tickets next time.

Fast entry into the site didn’t really matter. Cheaper beer is cool, but I spent most of my time away from the main stages.. and travelling up to that vip area in front of the Primavera stage wasn’t worth it.

The atmosphere in the vip areas at the stages is kinda weird. Being at the front I’m used to being surrounded by hard core fans, the energy definitely wasn’t the same.

 

You did get those green bags.  They looked sturdy. 

[Glenn Coco]

8 minutes ago, Declan said:

You did get those green bags.  They looked sturdy. 

The quality of those bags are pretty great. If only they weren’t that ugly shade of green.

[n=Nowheretohide]

Well this last day in Apolo was worth every penny, Agost, The Beths and then Amyl and the sniffers all were amazing experience 

Menaged only to catch 15 minutes of Efrim Manuel and was heartbroken when had to leave for Amyl. 

The End

[hamiltonricard]

Wow! First ever primavera and absolutely loved it. Brilliant set after brilliant set. We loved Dream Wife, Tirzah, CRJ, Robyn, Solange, Loyle Carner, Viva Belgrano (playing Atd-I), 070 shake but standout was.....

Haru Nemuri on the Adidas originals stage. Sublime show.

Just gutted primavera 2020 ain’t in half term week again next year.

[ghostdancer1]

still amazed at how utterly dreadful, slow and unorganised the bars are.

[daveje]

Bars were awful, hard to imagine a system better designed to waste the bar staff's time.

[pipan]

Best of PS 2019

1. best concert - Janelle Monae. This is how I imagine a festival headliner. Great show, the band and the dancers were lovely and of course Janelle's performance was flawless. After the first song I realised that running away earlier to catch Suede is not an option.

2. second best concert / worst clash - Suede. At least there weren't many people moving from Janelle to Suede, so I was able to move there very quickly and enjoyed the brilliant 45 minutes of Suede.

3. best moment - when I realised (running from Sigrid and making my peace with missing the first few songs of Interpol) that Mordor is strangely quiet. Thanks god they were late. I was able to enjoy the entire Interpol show (and there was a lot to enjoy). 

4. discovery of PS 2019 - Dream Wife. Their show was full of energy and a lot of fun. Best new name that Primavera introduced me to this year.

5. biggest surprise - Yaeji. Not my favourite kind of music, I was just killing time before Maribou State, but what a surprise. I didn't know that a singalong at the house concert is a thing.  Lots of positive energy, she was really adorable and seemed like she was enjoying it a lot. Hidden gem of PS 2019 for me.

Other performances I have enjoyed a lot (chronologically):

Shonen Knife

Sigrid

Maribou State

Putochinomaricon

Birkins (I wouldn't mind if there was another Bowie's album somehow involved in next year's line-up)

Jungle

Carino

Built to Spill

The Beths (what a nice way to end a festival... and what a nice feeling to get into bed before 1 a.m.)

and lots of others...

I am the first one to admit that I wasn't particularly happy with this year's line-up after it was announced, but I was very wrong. My third Primavera Sound was the best one so far!

[badsandwich]

much much less stressful time for me this year. enjoyed it so much i've gone from "eh this'll probably be my last for a while" to "soooo who's in next year ?"

grass in mordor was a revelation. was able to dance to janelle monae in my socks

cup game was fun - i was in an apartment with 9 others so we managed to get all but 2009 and 2020 by saturday without effort. unfortunately one our lot did find a 2020 cup... but so late on saturday night/sunday morning it didn't matter in the end. ah well!

i'd counter with some posters that the friday night run at the main stages was one of the best prima have done in my 4 years there (different strokes tho). everyone having a great time, very gay friendly, i was expecting a bit of a car crash for miley cyrus too but she kinda killed it. and someone gave carly rae a sword ?

shout out to the chicken satay skewers from the se asian street food place. best festy food i've had in a long time

[Gnarler]

Okay, after a few days to recover it's great to look back at this weekend. Like a lot of people, 2017 was my first year after missing out on the incredible 2016 lineup that got the festival's name into the mouths of every Pitchfork reader and beyond.

I loved it in 2017 and 2018 but this year was like something I have never experienced before. A lot of media are focussing on the success of a 50/50 gender split and as much as some people may think this is simply being used as a way for publishers to show they're in favour of gender equality, it fucking worked.

There wasn't a second that there was nobody I wanted to see play and the calibre of these acts was just incredible.

Just going to breakdown a few parts that some people who aren't sure about going can use for next year:

1. GETTING WRISTBANDS: Super easy with no issues. I got mine from Apolo on the Tuesday before Homeshake and Cate Le Bon. Took maybe 3 minutes.

2. ENTRY: Longest I waited to enter the main site was about 2 minutes and I was entering at about 6:30PM every day.

3. LEAVING: I got the tram every night from Wednesday to Saturday and never had an issue leaving at 5AM. This was one of the many ways back to the centre but they come every half an hour and take you to Glories where you can easily move to the metro or walk to where you're staying.

4. LAYOUT: This was the first time I got to experience the auditorium and fuck me, it's beautiful. I saw Julien Baker on the Thursday and it was just the perfect start before the impending organised chaos. I also got to spend a small amount of time over the bridge and that change there was a great call. The cube stage was perfect for acts like Joy Orbison where you can place yourself anywhere in the field and have great sound. The new Lotus stage on the beach was my favourite this year. I only saw Lizzo and Tierra Whack there but that was probably the greatest festival experience I've had in a long time.

5. THE MAIN STAGES: Normally, I stay away from the main stages because of the dusty ground but I spent way more than half my time there this year. The new fake grass was excellent as it meant your feet didn't take such a beating and it just looked so much better. Additionally, a lot of the acts had great sound. In previous years I've had some issues and despite some being a little quiet for my taste (first half of Tame Impala was far too quiet) I found that acts like Carly Rae and Courtney Barnett absolutely blew me away. Janelle Monae was the best show of the weekend but after Tame Impala started using those laser beams during Elephant I think it took me hours to pick my jaw off the floor.

6. FOOD; As always, the selection was top notch and the prices were reasonable in most places. Queues weren't bad apart from before Rosalia and in other moments on the Saturday. The Impossible meatballs were incredible for anyone vegan/veggie so I hope they come back next year.

7. THE BARS: Yep, same as last year and as other people have said - such a terrible system. I have almost 20 plastic cups in my house now due to the new policy where you have to pay for a cup which you can then re-use. The issue is you can't then return the cup and get your euro back. I really hope they revise this for next year because rather than sorting out the plastic problem, they're just shifting the responsibility to the people who come to the festival. These cups aren't recyclable either so not sure what thought would happen.

8. TALKING: It was very much the same as always. Even at the smaller stages, unless you were near the front you were surrounded by people talking. The only time it was silent was during Rosalia and Nathy Peluso. I'm not sure what this says about the English and non-speaking fans and artists but it's just something you have to get used to

There's really so much more to say about this year but I am absolutely blown away. Probably the best weekend of my life and I'll definitely be back for my fourth time and their 20th anniversary in 2020.

TOP ACTS

1. Janelle Monae

2. Dream Wife

3. Jungle

4. Erykah Badu

5. Tame Impala

6. Tierra Whack

7. Courtney Barnett

8. Rosalia

9. Loyle Carner

10. Haru Nemuri (If this was a live band it would have been number 1)

[livenstu]

My 8th Primavera & after missing 2017 & 2018 I can say that this one is up there with the best.

Just for atmosphere alone it was something very special, my fear was it would be too crowded this year, but it was never difficult moving around, getting food & drink (i personally found the bars fine, just went to the stages with no music if too busy & kept hold of the cups we were given) & getting down the front even at the main stages.  I also didn't hear much talking, you could hear a pin drop at both Rosalia & Low, & stuff like Carly Rae Jepsen was just a full on party.  Also got right down the front for Solange & her set blew my mind.

It also helped that 2019 possibly had the most perfect weather of any edition yet.

But overall like mentioned above the 50/50 thing worked, it WASN'T a stunt, it made for the most diverse Primavera yet.  I mean in the space of the Friday I went from seeing Midori Takada to Snail Mail, Sons of Kemet to Carly Rae Jepsen, Chai, Low & Cybotron (on a beach!).  It's all over the shop in the greatest possible way.

I will say that the Aldous Harding set was so badly timed, was anyone down the front for that one?  She was getting drowned out & I wish she had played the auditori.

Highlights were The Comet is Coming (I liked that new Heineken stage but we were in there early & down the front, it was crowded & hot but that added to the intensity of their performance for me), Solange, everyone shutting up for Low (seriously, it was like they were playing indoors!), Chai, Haru Nemuri (so much fun), dancing in the sun to Sons of Kemet & their 4 drummers, & of course the return of Stereolab.

Bring on 2020!!

 

 

[Declan]

It was my 8th Primavera. Last year I did a lap of Forum on the Saturday because I thought I wouldn't be back. Then they announced Stereolab and Guided By Voices and I thought I would give it another go. I'm glad I did, this was best in years.

The New Normal gave a breadth to the music and genres. I see there's a facebook debate sparked by BBC article on 50/50 bills and people are worried that there wouldn't be enough female acts to merit a place. But the reality was the opposite in fact only Dream Wife seemed overpromoted and even then they just need another year's gigging.

The crowd seemed nicer this year, fewer people seemed to have made the trip because they like one or two bands and fancy the idea of a festival by the beach.  So that meant less discussions during bands and less of the endless shifting of groups of mildly interested people between stages.

Great to have three days at the Auditori again - Midori Takada, the Bulgarian Choir etc were fab.

The Wednesday, Day Pro, and Sunday felt downgraded this year. The days of LCD Soundsystem warm-up gig in BARTS or Fucked Up / Oh Sees in Apolo or Mudhoney at the museum are over I think.

Only ventured to Morder twice - half a set each of Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae. Both excellent, creative and bonkers.

Favourites were - Stereolab, Guided By Voices, SLF, Shonen Knife, Swervedriver, Sons of Kemet, The Beths, Liz Phair, Low, Suede, Aghost, Primal Scream. Listening to the Champions League commentary whilst Shellac played The End of Radio, which I like to think is what John Peel would have done.  

I could have done with more impossibly loud guitars at three am.

Saw a rapper singing a song called "I Can't Wait Until Morrisey Fucking Dies" whilst holding a baguette, what was that all about? Was it a beef baguette?

But the absolute best moment was sat on the steps of the RayBan, eating Ramen whilst Jarvis played and crying because Liverpool were Champions of Europe and I was about to see Stereolab.