Primavera Sound 2015 Day 2

One of the great things about this festival is that you have plenty of time to wake up slowly and have a nice day before diving in again. And although festival campings site can be fun, I can do without them. Being in a hotel is an absolute bliss and so after a refreshing shower we head to the beach to take it slow for a while. Totally rested we cycle back to the Parc del Fòrum and head for the first band.

Primavera Sound 2015 Day 2 May 29 2015



Disappears
It feels a bit awkward seeing a shoegaze garage rock band like Disappears on broad daylight in the sun. But Disappears have no trouble putting up an interesting show with good rock songs. Many songs have Krautrock influences with repeating elements. Singer Brian Case is totally into the music and loses his sunglasses halfway the show. It doesn't bother him for a bit and continues to sing passionately. I can only imagine this is even better in a dark club.



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Julian Casablancas + The Voidz
We decide to take a look at the new project The Strokes singer cooked up with his band The Voidz. Casablancas has dyed his hair red and yellow and looks like to have gained a few pounds. The album Tyranny where they teamed up sounded completely weird and proved too much for me. It has interesting elements though, with African rhythms combined with heavy metal and lots of noise. It is definitely not for the faint of heart and also live on stage it's not appealing to me. Maybe I'm just not ready for this kind of music. We have to leave anyway to see the next act.

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Tony Allen
Afrobeat master drummer Tony Allen is a bit of a weird one in the line-up. He is playing in the Auditori Rocklux, or Auditori Fòrum, which is the only inside stage. I don't want to miss a bit from this living legend, but we're not allowed in with some snacks in our backpack. We head to the cloak room to leave the bag and return to the venue where Allen is now halfway his show and everyone is sitting down. Fortunately a few minutes later everybody gets up from their seat to dance to the swinging irresistible afrobeat grooves. Allen can only smile to this and the band keeps firing up the crowd. It's the same band I saw a while ago at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam and once again it turns into an African party. In the end I'm really glad I took the effort to get in.

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Patti Smith
We hurry back to the festival ground to the farthest stage to see Patti Smith wrapping up playing the famous Horses album. What we see is pretty good and Smith looks more determined and full of fire than ever, fierce fully shouting out her political statements. She ends her set with a rough version of the notorious 'Rock N Roll Nigger' where she tears off the strings of her guitar. Although older, Patti Smith is no way ready for life in a rest home.



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The Church
Australian band The Church have been around since 1980 and I didn't even know they were still around. The band proves tonight they can still write interesting songs and play some songs off their new album Further/Deeper. Singer and bass player Steve Kilbey is a charismatic front man who uses theatrical poses throughout some songs. Although it looks like not everyone is staying until the end, it is a convincing show by experienced musicians. Of course 'Under The Milky Way' still is a monumental song that sounds just as good as it did almost thirty years ago.



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Ride
Another band that decided to come back together are britpoppers Ride. They did cause a bit of a stir with their shoegaze music in the early nineties but wasn't much heard of after their breakup. Bass player Andy Bell then joined a band called Oasis and Ride kind of was forgotten. Until last year when they announced a reunion and several festival appearances. I don't know them very well but it's pretty good what the band is showing tonight. It's a tight playing group with good songs that stood the test of time. The songs are well written and sometimes sound like a mix of The Stone Roses and Oasis. Maybe it's a good idea for the band to come up with new material?



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Today feels like a slow day where we didn't see that many bands play and were a bit unlucky that we saw some shows only partly. Nothing a few cervezas can't fix.

More Pictures

Primavera Sound Day 1
Primavera Sound Day 3


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New Sounds: Julian Casablancas + The Voidz's Tyranny

Singer Julian Casablancas, once was regarded as the saviour of rock 'n roll as singer of The Strokes. This has long passed and his first solo album was considered a failure. He's about to release his second one Tyranny where he's teaming up the band The Voidz who are signed to his label. Will this record get more love? Judge for yourself by listening below. Tyranny is out on September 23rd.



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The Strokes Are Back: New Video

We had to wait for five years but any one following the music buzz couldn't miss that The Strokes are back. A new album 'Angles' is coming up March 22 and they released their first single 'Under Cover of Darkness' last week. Today they also released a video for it. I think it's a good song. Catchy guitar lines tumbling over each other and the unique nasal vocals of Julian Casablancas. I personally can't wait for the album.

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Get Shorty: New Reviews

It's nice to see that so many good albums from my home country The Netherlands are being released. I guess there's a lot of talent in this small place and some bands sure sound promising: DeWolff, C-Mon & Kypski a.o. Catch these and Julian Casablancas, Weezer reviews and more in this times' short reviews!


C-Mon & Kypski - We Are Square (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The Dutch band are back with a record packed with cathy dancable tunes. Including guest appearences by some of the most swinging Dutch musicians like Kyteman and Benjamin Herman.



Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The young (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The last The Strokes member to put out a solo album is singer Casablancas. Strokes like songs covered with lots of 80s electronics make this an enjoyable album.



John Coffey - Vanity (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Another Dutch band but now with trashy rock songs that sound rough and dirty. Not all songs are equally strong but it has some good ones on it.



Hello=Fire - Hello=Fire (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Queens of the Stone Age guitarist/keyboar player Dean Fertita's solo album is a pop/rock album with a mix between Queens of the Stone age like grooves and Beck like songs. The vocals especially come close to Beck in some songs.



DeWolff - Strange Fruits And Undiscovered Plants (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Another band that relies heavily on 70s style rock and this time it's from the south of the Netherlands. They lean more towards psychedelic rock songs. Too bad the vocals aren't too great since it's a good album from a promising new band.



Weezer - Raditude (Ronald Says 5 out of 10)
The world hasn't changed a bit for Weezer since their first record. More of the same teenage pop/rock songs that you already have forgotten about by the time the record has finished.
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