MagsFor people who like to stay up late and listen to all genres of music.
Primavera Sound is not just a festival, but an institution for people who simply love music. Every year it boasts an impressive line up, released in full in September, leaving 8 months of musical trepidation and hunger for the next season.
I’m bringing you along to one of my favourite festivals of the year. Pack your bags, we’re heading to the sunny beaches of Barcelona.
A La Cuitat
Primavera Sound does some things really well: introducing the city gigs.
Free gigs!
Yes you heard correctly. Gigs you can attend when you are a full Primaversa Sound festival ticket holder for only €15 deposit. You get this back once you scan the barcode at the venue.
Seems great!
It is.
Warm Up Days
Getting tickets for some of the gigs can be a bit tricky though. Usually there are four venue each evening that will have 4-5 artists each on over the course of the night dotted around the city. They have some wondeful venues like San Apollo and some not so wondeful ones like Razmaztazz. You can book multiple gigs in one evening should it suit.
Nothing piqued our interest on the Monday evening so on Tuesday we saw Billy Woods and Blood Orange. Billy Woods, a morose American rapper was good altough the show consisted of him standing over his laptop for a little too long. Blood Orange started his show with a dazzling cello cover of The Smith‘s “How Soon Is Now”. A nice show, but it felt a little long nearing an hour an a half.
Geese or Mogwai ?
After seeing some great gigs you are rewarded with a relaxing morning in the city of Barcelona where you are free to wander about and enjoy the culture. Tapas and Don Simon were consumed at a disproportionate ratio daily.
Wednesday evening was where our group (of about 18) had to split up. Maybe two weeks before the city gigs they annnounced that Geese would be playing an intimate show before the festival. Some of my friends were the chosen few to attend, myself on the other hand had to stick to my original line-up.
We trekked up to Razamatazz to go see Mogwai at 7pm. Geese being on at the same time was actually a blessing as it left the venue much more spacious than usual. Last year, for Beach House I vowed that I would never go back to Razmatazz as it felt like they had shoven every person in Barcelona into the venue. This left for a discernible uncomfortable and unenjoyable two hours (yes they played for two whole hours, it was way too much). Clearly I’m a horrible liar.
Who would have guessed that back again in Razmatazz with a much better crowd and set up would allow for a delightful gig? Scottish band Mogwai led a guitar forward mostly ambient set. Immersive and captivating, it felt like the audience were vibrating on the same frequency.
Thursday 4th June
No Water No Problem
Primavera Sound is not all sunshine and rainbows — it does fall short and somehow it is always (more often than not exclusively) on the Friday. One year, they even closed the bars after the main headliner and only had a handful of water stations. Another year they also ran out of water leaving people parched and scrambling in massive queues for an hour to get a drop of water. And yet another year, the crowd swarmed a large crate of water bottles that someone had left unattended at a help point. This resulted in my friends taking matters into their own hands and hopping behind the table and handing out the water in an orderly queue. The result? A reddit post of the “agua bandits” saving the day.
Water shortage at a festival becomes a very scary situation very quickly. I too myself felt the desparation heightened by the fact you’re in a big crowd in a hot country. Thankfully this year there was no water shortage, in fact you could say we had water excess…
100m Sprint
Primavera Sound starts on Thursday. I was excited to see Cameron Winter, Geese, TV Girl and Massive Attack. I threw on the comfiest pair of shoes, got some Don Simon and hopped on the metro at 2:30pm to sit outside the festival and queue for Cameron Winter. We walked up to the entrance, where the longest winding queue of at least 4,000 people stretched out, all waiting to see Cameron Winter at 5 p.m. I joined my friends and waited my turn for the gates to open at 4pm.
As soon as they started letting people through all etiqueette was dropped, bodies were mustered, momentum gained and the queue collapsed. People sprinted towards the entrance and shoved their way to the front to get in first.
If you can’t beat them join them right?
I ditched my friends (they slowed me down) and beelined for the entrance. Eventually I got in, turned right and headed in for a once in a lifetime performance. I realised very few of my friends decided to run because they worried the crowd would crush them. After twenty minutes I entered the Autidorium, found a seat and sat and waited for him to come on. It was worth the run.
The performance lasted an hour. It was simple; his voice and the piano. Expansive, emotional and moving, his deep unique voice has a mesmerising quality to it. Heavy Metal was one of the best albums out of 2024 and Cameron Winter is/will be a generational musician.
Too Much Water Too Much Problem
After raving to my friends about how great he was and insisting they should have been there, we made our way to the main stage, more widely known as Mordor, to see Blood Orange again. We didn’t stay for long as we headed back to see Men I Trust along the way to Geese.
Geese was an asbolute standout performance for me. Every time I see them it gets better and better. Rock infusion with a country psychedelic twist. Cameron’s voice layered on top makes them one of the best young rock bands of our time. The crowd were no excpetion, shouting and dancing to every song. Mosh pits were opening left right and centre just before the onslaught of rain rolled in. Thankfully the rain added to the ambience. I pulled on a flimsy poncho and shoved bodies aside as I belted out “Taxes” and “3D Country”.
This is where the bad weather really started to ramp up. With no more distarctions of great rock bands, people sheltered in the sparsely covered areas (namely the food court). My shoes and socks got wetter and wetter as we watched more of the screens at the stages turns to the blue warning. The dreaded words kept appearing “no more acts will play at this stage tonight”.
Showstoppers
Finally, the main headliner I was excited to see got cancelled: Massive Attack. I trudged back to get a pizza while winds picked up and rain was pulled across the sky. Artists like Doja Cat and Mac DeMarco also got pulled before our eyes. The only stage that remained somewhat active was Cupra. It had the advantage of facing away from the sea. There we camped out for over an hour and a half to see Father John Misty. Mainly because he was the only artist still scheduled to play. For an hour we stood in the spilled of rain, morale lessening with each drop of rain that pooled into my shoes. We got the unfortunate spot, just on the cusp of where the roof overhang stopped. This allowed for intemittent pools of rain to catch the wind and splash down our backs.
Briefly the blue screen of disappointment flashed up saying he would no longer perform. A unaminous groan echoed out. We held out hope as we watched the crew continue to soundcheck.
Our Saving Grace
At 10pm our saviour in the form of a tall thin bearded man appeared: Father John Misty. Gracing us with jazzy smooth vocals and a magnetic presence. As rain poured down we stood eagerly to hear each and every word. From songs like “Hollywood Forever Cemetry Sings “to my first time hearing the sweet “I Love You, Honeybear” people were entrance. I checked back over my shoulder and halfway noticed he ammassed most of the festival on the steps of Cupra steps.
When his set finished you could tell he knew that he had saved the evening, and that he did. A new notice flickered up on the screen, Massive Attack were back on in 30 minutes, hurray!
We made our way over to Mordor (nicknamed so due to a frustrating lack of phone signal) and parked out for the highly anticipated headliner. Texts messages rolled in very rarely when at the main stage. We waited for over an hour before we saw a mass exodus of people leaving the right hand side. The screen in front of us still bore than Massive Attack would be on at 12:30am. Eventually, one of us in the group got two seconds of internet and found out the organisers had cancelled the act.
Poor Planning
The lack of organisation from the festival was extremely poor on their part. Relying on spreading the message via online in an area where signal is few and far between is bad. We trudged back deflated and walked around some more stages to see who was left to play. After 45 minutes I took the executive decision to head home as my feet were too wet to endure 4 more hours of music and rain.
My friends stayed for some more great acts like Yousuke Yukimatsu, Overmono and Ben UFO. I unfortuantely had to call it a night. A quick nightime shower and I was back ready to go again on Friday
Friday 5th June
Brighter Days
Bright skies were ahead of us after the unprecendent and uncharactertic storms of Thursday. We headed in aorund 5pm to catch the first Irish act of the weekend, NewDad. Our Galway sweethearts were parked up on mainstage with a strong feeling that they earned their spot. Julie’s dreamy and etheral vocals contrasted with Sean’s rough and ready image. Belting out all the songs like “Sickly Sweet” and “Entertainer” they finished off with a cover of “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their microphones cut out towards the end but that didn’t stop the crowd from cheering the group on.
After a quick nap at Slovedive, the solution to my sleepiness was a burger in my belly and a beer in my hand. I was now ready for Addison Rae. I had mixed feeling towards her initially. Personality wise I thought she was very sweet and cute, talent wise she was not great singing live. It’s interesting seeing somebody come from dancing on Tiktok to be one of the most anticipated artists of the festival.
At 9pm she strutted on stage confidence wide with Britney-like aura. She delivered a stellar performance, back up dancers galore, crowd interaction and one songs where she just smoked a cigarette. Her best song being “Fame is a Gun”, the crowd were loving it. Not an artist I would pay to see, all the more reaons to see them at a festival.
The juxtisipation of the 60 year old Cure fans and 20 year old Addison fans was well throught out by scheduling. If you want to be front for The Cure, you have to sit through Addison.
This Cured Me
Friday was the big night for me. I got to see The Cure. Their set boasted two and a half hours, which everybody agreed was too long for a festival set. It turns out that it was too short. The Cure came on at around 10pm and it was the best two and a half hours of my life. A comfrotable breeze, a groovy crowd and Robert Smith were the ultimate trifecta. Long intertwining songs felt like they were written for moments specficially like this. A notable harmony was felt throughout the crowd during “The Forest”.
The sheer joy of everybody bopping along to the tune of “Lovecats”,“Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m in Love” was unrivaled. Seeing Robert Smith enjoying himself on stage and sounding just like the recording was extremely special. Everybody was there to have fun and it was mutually agreed they are a standout healdine act.
This performance has stuck in my head for months. that magical sense of seeing something extraordinary. I will no doubt, ensure I see The Cure again in my lifetime.
Evening Endings
Still in awe from The Cure, we headed back to Cupra to go see one of the biggest acts of the year, Pink Pantheress. Arriving twenty minutes before we secured a reasonable spot. For many people after us this proved difficult. Nobody is sure why they didn’t put her on main stage, she certainly had one of the biggest crowds. She later remarked on this during her set too.
Pop stars are well and truly back. With careful choreography and the perfect silhouette backdrop Pink Panthress earned her spot. Talented musically beyond compare and an improved looked, Pink Pantheress is still only getting bigger and bigger.
We ended the night with one of my favouite bands ever, Viagra Boys. I have seen them three times but I have never heard them sound this good before. The instruments were clear and cutting and the saxophone reverberted off all structre in the vicinity. Sebastian Murphy was on his absoute a-game. Dancing, delivering his sleazy manic, dude-rock peformance. Mosh pits were opening left and right, sonically, they have never sounded better. They only started at 3am but that didn’t stop their energy. Explosive, punk with angry man lyrics, a receipe for chaos.
Saturday 6th June
Slower Starts
Given we only got back at 6am we allowed outselves a longer rest and headed into the festival around 6pm. The queues were long and my feet hurt but saturday, in typical Primavera fashion, was jam packed.
First top was Big Thief at main stage. I can’t say much about them as I only caught the last two songs but they’re a band I have enjoyed throughout the years. We skipped over the the other side of the main stage (yes one big stage with two sections) to go see the wonderful Little Simz.
Little Simz was one of my favourite acts of the weekend. Her energy and rapping fluidity was unprecedented. She had this absolutely magnetic draw on the crowd where she can hold them in the palm of her hand. I noticed barely anybody had their phone up. Little Simz demands ultimate respect. Not only is she a master of her craft but she is one of the most naturally cool people I have ever seen. The crowd was jumping, hands in the air and having a great time the entire performance. Hats off.
Shoegaze Saturdays
Primed for our second 3Arena headliner of the night we headed to the left hand of the main stage for My Bloody Valentine. A band I wholeheartedly adore , and cherry on top, Irish too.
The crowd was split as the surprise act for the evening was announced to be Olivia Rodgrio. The scheduling for Primavera is always immaculate. Only Primavera could announce one of the biggest pop stars on the planet as its surprise act ahead of her album release. Many people were unfamiliar with MBV and they are an aquired taste to some so the clash felt justified.
Looping us back into the long winding distorted guitar riffs MBV took us on a jouney. Hazy visuals, sonic blasts and reverberating chords brought us magically through the ether. One of my favourite songs and riffs ever is “When You Sleep”, every time I hear it, it feelt like it was crafted in the Garden of Eden. Purple and Pinks flooded the screen. Those of my friends who didn’t listen to MBV much commented one how extraordinary this felt.
The Final Headliner
It’s crazy to say that the night didn’t end there. We had our final headliner to see Gorillaz. Before Gorillaz we dipped over to the beautiful Marina adorned in her glistening dress. We stayed for a few songs before anxiety kicked in about the Gorillaz crowd. Heading back to Mordor, grabbing food on the way we made our way to the meeting point.
This was my first time hearing The Mountain live. I’ll spare too many details as I have a full article on it. A cosmic feel was in the air of death, new beginnings and love. Fan favourites were belted out for the likes of “Dirty Harry” and “Feel Good Inc”. One of the best parts was Little Simz coming back out for “Garage Palace”. In typical Simz fashion, the crowd unwaveringly obeyed her every command jumping in unison. Damon Albarn seemed a bit drunk on stage in all honesty, which slightly tainted the experience. It was nonetheless an eye opening performance into the emotions felt from The Mountain.
We finished off the festival with one of the best albums of last year I Love My Computer. I’m not sure who throught it a good idea to put Ninajirachi on one of the smallest stages at that time. It was unfortunately one of the most uncomfrotable crowd I have ever been in. Agressive people shoving and kicking into people. I left to stand at the back where the sound was questionable. She is brilliant but every time I have been at her gig the crowd have been less than unfavourable.
We finished the festival with a glimpse of Peggy Gou at 5am before saying goodnight to Primavera Sound for this year.
