Primavera Sound Festival: Introduction

The Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain is off to a great start, with multiple bands performing simultaneously on six different stages. The turnout exceeds all expectations, and each act has been heavily populated. I imagined that the festival would be spread out, but the stages are very close to each other, and it’s been possible to jump from show to show quickly.

So far, I’ve seen Marnie Stern at the Ray-Ban Vice stage, Lightning Bolt at the ATP arena and Yo La Tengo at the Estrella Damm stage. At the same time, La Bien Querida, Magik Markers, The Vaselines and The Bats have made their appearances on other stages. If you’re looking to rock out while also fitting in a good dose of dancing to electronica, then Primavera Sound has you covered. Check out the video coverage for day one, day two and day three.

Coincidently, upon arrival in Barcelona, I was pleased and surprised to discover that the city was already in chaos, celebrating wildly in the streets their soccer team’s victory in the European Champions League Final. So the festive spirit commenced as soon as I got to the center of Barcelona.

The festival is situated next to the sea, not too far from the city center, near the El Meresme Forum. Navigating to the first show was easy, given the closeness of the concerts and unconfusing indications. I was somewhat disappointed to see that Marnie Stern wasn’t being supported by legendary drummer Zach Hill, but her act was definitely amusing, with a few “penises” and “vaginas” thrown into her mid-song conversations. The music is quite unconventional, but the public was ready for it.

Lightning Bolt have their own special type of showmanship, with drummer Brian Chippendale donning a weird clown mask, and grunting into a microphone inside while manipulating his voice with a number of effect pedals. His kick drum was also being distorted by effects. Brian Gibson, on the bass, also contributed to the noise-rock, with equally aggressive approach to his instrument, also complemented by effect pedals.

Yo La Tengo started by pointing out a fan with the band’s T-shirt, and posing specifically for him to take a picture. They actually asked everyone else to turn off their cameras. Lead singer Ira Kaplan touched on both piano and guitar, and the band played for almost two hours, which is impressive because Kaplan mentioned that the band had been on travelling for sixteen hours before their performance.

The amount of bands is insane, and I have decided on Andrew Bird, The Bug, Jay Reatard, Aphex Twin and Squarepusher for the rest of this first day of the festival. Oh, and someone is selling cabbage at one of the merchandise stands in the festival grounds. Awesome smell.

Stay tuned to Beatcrave for more coverage of the Primavera Sound Festival!