Primavera Sound 2015 Day 3

Another glorious day begins with lots of sunshine and smoothies at the beach, followed by some wonderful tapas. There are no "must-see" acts to start off the day, so we can stroll around the festival site for a bit and just take a look at some of the bands kicking it off early.

Primavera Sound 2015 Day 3 May 30 2015

Opatov
The H&M Pro stage is the smallest of all stages and hosts promising new bands or at least bands that are not very well known. There are many Spanish bands lined up here and Opatov is one of them. The young band look a bit timid on the stage where most people are hanging around on the concrete stand and stairs. Their garage rock music is quite catchy though and the boys look like they are having lots of fun. And in the end that rubs off on the people watching so in the end everyone wins.

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Holy Paul
We decide to stick around at the small stage to see Holy Paul. This Spanish band has been around for a few years but the members look quite experienced and professional. Their rock music reminds of Miles Kane, but less "in your face" and with more old style rock 'n roll influences. It still can't persuade many people to leave their spot in the sun and do a little dance but it does get them a lot of applause.

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The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger
The couple Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl started this band in 2008 which resulted in a few singles and albums that didn't get a lot of exposure. Their last album Midnight Sun is more widely available and was mostly positively received. Of course with such a famous last name it will draw plenty of people and so they are playing the big Primavera stage. But even without this famous reference the band prove to be worthy of the stage. Their seventies style psychedelic songs are well performed and sound wonderful. Lennon's voice is clear and he has gathered a fine group of musicians around him. There's no way ignoring the big legacy he's carrying with him of course and maybe the late The Beatles more psychedelic period has influenced him. Absolutely nothing wrong with that and I would love to see more of them, preferably in a dark club like Paradiso.



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Einsturzende Neubauten
This experimental German band has been around for many years and nothing really compares to them. Crazy self made instruments like big pvc pipes as drums, drills and a large bin full of big iron pins emptying are used to create their dark soundscapes. Singer Lixa Bargeld's voice reminds of Nick Cave sometimes but that is as close any comparison can get. It is a very interesting and intriguing performance and the fact that the large crowd is not leaving, shows a lot of people can appreciate this remarkable German collective.



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Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Days before the festival I saw Ruban Nielson and his band play many new songs off his great new album Multi-Love. Tonight he's playing in the dark at the Adidas Originals stage and we find him in a good mood. He has all the reason to be in a good mood, since there's a big turn up for their show and the crowd is also very enthusiastic. They sing along to the songs they know and the band is in great shape. The new songs are well received here as well and it underlines the rising star of this band. In the end this is one of their best performances I have seen of them.



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The Strokes
It's time for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival. I'm not alone in this since a huge crowd has gathered in front of the Primavera stage. I love this band and of course their first albums are iconic. We get a greatest hits set that has all the songs you can wish for. There doesn't seem to be a lot of chemistry between the band members on stage, nor do I see a lot of eye contact between them. Then again they always had this kind of healthy British arrogant attitude.

Julian Casablancas doesn't always sound great and doesn't seem to be in great shape. Sometimes it sounds as if he's running out of breath and the newer songs simply can't compete with the monumental older hits like 'Last Nite' and a furious 'Juicebox'. However those hit songs are simply too good to play badly, even an out of shape Casablancas or The Strokes can't screw that up. When you see a show like this, it is remarkable how many hit songs they wrote. It's not disappointing at all, but it's just not the same band as they were a few years ago. I really hope they can return to that super form and come up with brilliant new songs again and kill on stage.



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Sun God Replica
We return to the small H&M stage where Aussie heavy rockers Sun God Replica are playing. Their 70s style heavy rock sounds powerful and it is a lot of fun watching them sweat and rock through their set. It's the right time for such a solid rock band, late at night when the cervezas are starting to get the best of you and it feels like you're in a bar watching a rock band.

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Thee Oh Sees
You can never go wrong with the very productive garage rocker John Dwyer and his Thee Oh Sees. Of course there's a new album Mutilator Defeated At Last which sounds great again. This time he brought two drummers, which in my opinion isn't much useful when they play exactly the same drum parts like tonight. But it looks great on stage and does add even more energy to the never boring Thee Oh Sees songs. The new songs are in line with all the early material and the crowd is going completely mental. I still miss Brigid Dawson on stage though, since she adds a bit of subtlety and a female touch to the testosterone bomb on stage.



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Hookworms
We head to the other side of the site to the Adidas stage again, where Hookworms are playing. I was impressed with their album The Hum, where you can hear a mix of punkrock and psychedelic rock. Together with the sometimes hysterical singing and screaming of singer MJ and the frequent use of drones, it makes for a very interesting show, that is right at its place in the dark late at night. I'm looking forward to seeing them again at the Best Kept Secret festival in a few weeks.



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And so we end this night and the festival on an absolute high. This was definitely the best day and we enjoyed every minute of this wonderful festival and city. Primavera Sound celebrated its 15th anniversary in style with lots of sunshine, an appealing line-up and great memories. The day after we have a little treat with Jambinai and more The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger in the Parc de la Ciutadella, some more tapas and wine, but then we really have to leave lovely Barcelona and head home.

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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.

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Primavera Sound 2015 Day 1

We heard many good things about the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona and decided to check it out for ourselves. Buying a plane ticket and reserving a hotel on top of festival tickets doesn't exactly make it a cheap experience but for that you get one of Europe's finest cities thrown in as well. And the line-up didn't look bad either so we hopped onto that plane and found ourselves eating tapas a few hours later on Wednesday night.

Primavera Sound 2015 Day 1 May 28 2015

Fortunately the weather forecast couldn't be better and after renting bikes we are cycling through the lovely Spanish city bathing in sun light. We got tickets to the free Interpol show at the Sala Apolo club as well so after picking up our wristbands at the festival site at Parc del Fòrum, eating paella at the beach (oh yes we did) we're on our way to the club in the city center.



Interpol @ Sala Apolo
The Apolo club is a medium sized club that can hold around 1200 visitors. After we head into the dark club and let our eyes get used to the dark we notice it doesn't really fill up. This is great since we can get a beer within seconds and find a great spot on the floor to watch the dark band from New York. After seeing them live last year just before the release of their latest album El Pintor I was anticipating a good show. They found their form again and the album is prove of that. Live they are in great shape as well as they prove today. In their usual somewhat detached manner they play many new songs with some fan favourites scattered through their set.

The somewhat gloomy lighting fits the music well with abstract visuals adding to the mysterious atmosphere. The band is playing focused and you can see they are used to playing larger stages, making large gestures. Guitar player Daniel Kessler is moving around a lot, sometimes turning around to see his band mates in the back who are now only a few meters away. Singer Paul Banks is lit up by bright spot lights occasionally where you can see him staring into the distance. It may be the intimate surroundings and the unique opportunity of seeing this band on a small stage up close, but it's probably one of the best Interpol shows I've scene. Great start of this festival.

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Cheatahs
When we arrive at the festival ground with its alienating concrete and futuristic look, we find our friends at the Cheetahs show who are halfway their set at the small but cosy Adidas stage. Their fuzzy shoegaze music sounds pretty good and they have some nice songs. But the band needs to work on their stage presence that looks quite uninspired and doesn't exactly get the crowd wild.

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Viet Cong
Things seem to go well for Viet Cong that besides some controversy on their name are gaining more and more fans with their music. Quite a big crowd has gathered to watch them play in the sun on the Pitchfork stage. Playing many shows is paying off since they sound more together and the show has more tempo keeping the momentum. And of course they end with another vicious version of that great song 'Death'.



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The Replacements
To be honest I don't know The Replacements too well, except I have heard of their "indie veterans" status. When bands like this come back together for a reunion I tend to be a bit sceptical but there's no need to. The band is playing their rock songs well and with a lot of enthusiasm, making them sound solid and convincing. Their energetic and lively stage presence results in a very entertaining show and quite a big crowd which is well deserved.



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Mikal Cronin
One of the gigs I'm really looking forward to is Mikal Cronin's. He just released his third album MCIII that is getting mixed reviews but I like it a lot. His fuzzy pop sound has deepened and sounds even better now. Live on stage he has grown even more. He looks more relaxed on stage and his music sounds very convincing today. The new songs blend in perfectly with the older ones. It all sounds very fresh and lively which is creating great vibes among the excited crowd. I'm really looking forward to his show in Amsterdam later this month.



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Spiritualized
We wander off from the Ray Ban stage and find ourselves at the ATP stage where Spiritualized are already playing. What starts out as something almost gospel-like turns into a psychedelic Southern soul, Americana and Krautrock show that sounds pretty nice. There's hardly any interaction with the crowd but singer and guitarist Jason Pierce is calmly playing the songs, backed up by two lovely singers adding the soul. In the end it is coming across like some kind of soulful mix of Lou Reed meets Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

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The Black Keys
Today's headliner The Black Keys no longer take the stage just the two of them, but are now a quartet when playing live. The complementing two members are a bit hidden to the back in the dark though, which I always find a bit unfair. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are putting down a solid show playing many of their hits. They simply have many good songs that are still sounding great although by now everyone knows exactly what they are going to get. So their are no surprises in this set that is running smoothly but also kind of on routine.



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Jungle
The Ray Ban stage is the perfect setting for last year's hype Jungle. They have brought their own lighting plan showing bright lit up letters spelling their name. The music of the seven person band is actually the brain child of Josh Lloyd-Warson and Tom McFarland, or J and T, who are at the front on the stage in the middle. There's a big turn up and everyone is in the mood for dancing, which is exactly what they are going to get. The danceable soul music is perfect for some good times on the dance floor while downing a few cervezas or vinos. It sounds great as well but like the album all songs sound very much alike. It makes you feel you are dancing to the same track all the time. But tonight that is fine and so we keep on shaking it to the tropical and smooth music.



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Since the festival's program starts late in the afternoon it keeps on going until early in the morning. However since we're not too keen on all the DJs and dance acts we decide to call it a day and cycle back home in the cool Spanish sea breeze for a good night's sleep.

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