We've found the live music scene in Barcelona to be a little disappointing, mainly for the price and somewhat the variety (mostly big headliners). So our strategy has adapted: blow our hard-earned cash on the glorious marathon of shows that is the Primavera Sound Festival.
On the first day of the main event, our old friends Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand didn't disappoint. Solid performances for huge audiences... and you can always trust Franz Ferdinand to get the indie kids dancin'. Unfortunately, the newer bands did not live up to my expectations. The xx had a pretty elaborate stage set up, including a giant plexiglass X that slipped its hook so a roadie had to be hoisted like a cheerleader to fix it. With all the smoke machines and lasers, the band seemed to be more interested in style than substance. Or maybe I'm just not emo enough. Japandroids's lo-fi appeal was lost in a wall of noise, and not in an awesome Mogwai-kind of way. To be fair, the giant solar panel structure overhanging the gig might have been working against the acoustics. Far and away one of my favorite performances of the whole festival, Beirut was incredible in its three-horned glory (trumpet, flugelhorn, and trombone). It might be a cheap thrill, but really, can anything else tug on your heartstrings more than a little mournful brass? What more can you expect from a guy with French horn tattoos on his wrists? A little funereal, a little mariachi, a little gypsy, apparently. Hats off to the Jimi Hendrix-like wizardry of the accordion player, too!
The third day had a lot of ups and downs. Tall Firs doodled around on a couple of guitars, but their low key set really suffered without a drum kit. The more upbeat Milagres show was a welcome relief, but Beach House's dream pop with the lead singer obscured in the smoke and synth brought us back down again. Chromatics were a better option, but to really liven up the festival, who'd have thought to look to Kings of Convenience as saviors? That's right. The Norwegian duo, whose music harkens back to Simon and Garfunkel, and who have an album called "Quiet is the New Loud," rocked the joint! I was surprised to see them on the main stage, but judging from the masses, we weren't the only ones looking forward to the show. The first half's easy breezy harmonizing with acoustic guitars and relaxed banter was well-suited to the sunny seafront. Then they brought on a rhythm section and the most happy-go-lucky electric guitarist to go all out disco dance party. I knew Erlend Oye moonlights mixing electronica and hanging out with folks like Royksopp, but it's still quite another thing to see the shift in person - from earnest bookishness in big glasses and a baggy cardigan to gangly, swaggering funk frontman. They were having a grand old time (even taking pictures with their own camera on stage), and the crowd were, too. Hands down, the best show of the festival!
The bulk of the action takes place for three days at the sprawling seaside complex of Parc Forum. However, there are various venues around and about the city hosting sporadic shows on the bookend days as well as in the preceding weeks. I was bummed to miss The Walkmen, who were playing 5 minutes from our apartment. But the scheduling is not very amenable to us working folk. Shows can start as early as two o'clock in the afternoon and often run until 5 a.m. It requires a variety of energy conservation techniques (e.g. cat naps at home or propped up against a sea wall) and caffeine management.
On the first day of the main event, our old friends Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand didn't disappoint. Solid performances for huge audiences... and you can always trust Franz Ferdinand to get the indie kids dancin'. Unfortunately, the newer bands did not live up to my expectations. The xx had a pretty elaborate stage set up, including a giant plexiglass X that slipped its hook so a roadie had to be hoisted like a cheerleader to fix it. With all the smoke machines and lasers, the band seemed to be more interested in style than substance. Or maybe I'm just not emo enough. Japandroids's lo-fi appeal was lost in a wall of noise, and not in an awesome Mogwai-kind of way. To be fair, the giant solar panel structure overhanging the gig might have been working against the acoustics. Far and away one of my favorite performances of the whole festival, Beirut was incredible in its three-horned glory (trumpet, flugelhorn, and trombone). It might be a cheap thrill, but really, can anything else tug on your heartstrings more than a little mournful brass? What more can you expect from a guy with French horn tattoos on his wrists? A little funereal, a little mariachi, a little gypsy, apparently. Hats off to the Jimi Hendrix-like wizardry of the accordion player, too!
On the second day, I Break Horses put on a good show even if the synthy atmospheric stuff felt a tad misplaced on a sunny afternoon. The War on Drugs rocked the Pitchfork stage. They were less Arcade Fire than I expected, but that was fine by me. We stayed to the very last song, which meant arriving late to The Cure extravaganza on the main stage. Clearly, everyone came to Primavera Sound for this show. Even the VIP section on the hill was absolutely packed. Robert Smith still looks like Elizabeth Taylor after a night of heavy drinking, but the band sounded even better than when we saw them in their own Curiosa Festival in the States. It was mostly a hit parade, but hey, if I'm singing along to "Just Like Heaven," too, I'm not gonna complain. Given the distance to the stage, we bowed out early, gambling on checking out the newer band Wavves. It was a mistake. Yes, we got very close to the stage. But their bouncy punk efforts, which might have been plucky and amusing in 16 year olds, just seemed kind of pathetic when they're mid-30's trying to recapture lost youth... and we found out The Cure ended up playing a 4 hour set :( For surf rock done right, better to turn to The Drums, whose "Obama/Oh mama? I wanna go surfing" song popped with energy. All of their songs were very tight, and the lead singer's gumby-like dancing and strutting really drummed up the crowd's enthusiasm. With the funky fun of The Rapture, a dance party is practically a requirement. I was a little disappointed that the keyboardist didn't ride his keyboards like the last time we saw them (strangely enough, also at the Curiosa Festival), but you've got to give him credit for still being the most enthusiastic cowbell player you'll ever see!
The third day had a lot of ups and downs. Tall Firs doodled around on a couple of guitars, but their low key set really suffered without a drum kit. The more upbeat Milagres show was a welcome relief, but Beach House's dream pop with the lead singer obscured in the smoke and synth brought us back down again. Chromatics were a better option, but to really liven up the festival, who'd have thought to look to Kings of Convenience as saviors? That's right. The Norwegian duo, whose music harkens back to Simon and Garfunkel, and who have an album called "Quiet is the New Loud," rocked the joint! I was surprised to see them on the main stage, but judging from the masses, we weren't the only ones looking forward to the show. The first half's easy breezy harmonizing with acoustic guitars and relaxed banter was well-suited to the sunny seafront. Then they brought on a rhythm section and the most happy-go-lucky electric guitarist to go all out disco dance party. I knew Erlend Oye moonlights mixing electronica and hanging out with folks like Royksopp, but it's still quite another thing to see the shift in person - from earnest bookishness in big glasses and a baggy cardigan to gangly, swaggering funk frontman. They were having a grand old time (even taking pictures with their own camera on stage), and the crowd were, too. Hands down, the best show of the festival!
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