And we arrive to the final chapter of our Primavera Sound chronicles, with the last day of concerts at Fòrum, plus the addition (and what an addition!) of a final gig seen yesterday at sala Barts.
The Good
Patti Smith: Not really a concert, but a celebration. The music legend was relaxed, friendly and willing to have fun with an audience eager to show their love, respect and appreciation. Even when the songs were so-so (the ones devoted to Amy Winehouse and her grandson) or when the covered tune (Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day') became a lovely piece of nonsense Patti's charisma and mythical presence did it all. And then came the brutal renditions of 'Because the Night' and 'Pissing in a River', one of the moments of the Festival for me. So when 'People Have the Power' (video below) appeared, with the audience leaving their seats to stay closer to the icon it all made sense. Patti has the power. DIIV: I love 'Oshin', and got really frustrated when the band cancelled their participation at last year's Primavera. But the group leaded by Zachary Cole Smith came to Barcelona with a sole purpose: enlightening Pitchfork stage. Terrific performance, with new tunes sounding as exciting as the glorious dreampop gems of 'Oshin'. Wow.
Dreamy diving pop. Photo: Bloodbuzzed
Interpol: Didn't have many expectations, as their last albums are far from their best moments... but that's exactly what they gave us at Heineken stage. A gig heavy on 'Turn on the Bright Lights' with seven tunes, all the hits from 'Antics', performed with energy and passion. And when electric system of the stage went down, the band yelled "if there's sound, we'll play" to finish their set in a splendid, unique way, with the audience providing the light with their mobile phones. Fantastic, powerful gig.
Paul Banks on screen. Photo: Bloodbuzzed
The Bad
The Strokes: From Interpol to Strokes, from pleasant surprise to utter disappointment. While one can say the musicians tried despite, as it happened with the Black Keys on Thursday, the sound was mediocre, Julian Casablancas simply wasn't there. Apathetic, disinterested, with the head miles away from Primavera stage (maybe still at Camp Nou?). Sad, very sad a headliner behaves that way.
The Queen
Torres: We reserved Mackenzie Scott's gig for Sunday at BARTS (she also played at Fòrum on Saturday but it clashed with some other options), and what great choice turned to be. Only six tunes, but we are 110% sure no one at the venue felt the gig was anything than mesmerizing. Wounded folk that mutes into unstoppable indie-rock, damaged lyrics and distorted, threatening guitar lines, a voice that breaks, whispers and screams, frightening and letting the audience speechless. What a superb concert to end our Primavera Sound Festival 2015.
Torres haunting BARTS. Photo: Bloodbuzzed
Here are the links of the previous chapters! Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
And we reach the end of the Primavera Sound Festival 2013, with it’s smallest (for us) day, Sunday 26th at BARTS, plus an overview of the whole Festival coming next.
The Good
The Orchids. Photo: Bloodbuzzed
BARTS- I already said that with the occasion of last Primavera Club, BARTS main stage is a fantastic venue for live music. A pretty, quite comfortable place, and with good sound. We didn’t went to the Apolo gigs, but the idea of combining this two venues (one in front of the other) is a much welcomed one. Besides, people was silent the majority of the time, there’s still hope! Jangle pop at Primavera Sound- It began last year with Veronica Falls, although someone could say that bands like Cults, Guards or Tennis also offer a mellower version of indiepop. Others could also argue that bands like Belle and Sebastian or Camera Obscura cover that style, even having main slots at the Festival. But to me, these bands are not jangle-pop or just “too big” to be considered representatives, so in my opinion jangle-pop is sort of a neglected style at Primavera. That’s why seeing Veronica Falls, Evans the Death and finally The Orchids at BARTS was gratifying. I’m very glad jangle pop can alsohas its space at the Festival. Dear organisers, why don’t you let Indietracks, Eardrums, Matinee or Fortuna Pop, to name a few, curate a stage next year (and forget about death/trash metal or rap/hip-hop by the way)?
Sr.Chinarro. Photo: Bloodbuzzed
As there wasn’t anything particularly bad or extraordinary to remark about Sunday gigs, (The Orchids, Julie Doiron, Sr.Chinarro and Come were all, ok but nothing special, at least for me) I’ll just go on with the general overview of the Festival you can find here.
