Big festivals like Primavera Sound ought to feel more like going to the opera: We could wear elbow-length gloves like Amaarae, who styled them with a striped jersey as she did a Spanish guitar version of “Reckless & Sweet.” Or we could carry binoculars, like the Troye Sivan fan with the neon green hair and the personal singalong microphone. Embrace the majesty!
Quickly, back to Sivan, who is a bona fide pop star now, cone bra and assless chaps included. At one point, he knelt to sing into a microphone positioned at the crotch of one of his incredible dance team—my second-biggest gasp of this year’s festival, following the moment during Beth Gibbons’ set (lit in deep blue, with a seven-piece band and sounding amazing) that the Trump felony conviction notification hit. Lol, lmao, 2024!
Arca was in diva mode, too, singing throughout her set and blasting a smoke cannon held close enough to the mic that the air hiss joined choppy waves of synth flooding across the concrete. Another favorite dance move: Jarvis Cocker windmilling his way through the “Common People” outro with no guitar in sight. Justice drew the bigger crowd on Thursday night, but the French duo’s light show might’ve been doing most of the work—probably why they can’t take off the sunglasses.
Still, the true diva award must go to Lana Del Rey, who started her Friday night set almost 25 minutes late (good by her standards!), played all-timers “Video Games” and “Ride,” and wound up closing with abbreviated versions of “Jimmy” (aka the “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop”–referencing second half of “A&W”) and “Young and Beautiful.” Funny to think about how much more cultural traction “Young and Beautiful” has compared to the film for which it was recorded, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. And, speaking of the East Coast upper crust, how is it that Ezra Koenig appears to have aged about two weeks since Vampire Weekend played Pitchfork Music Festival in 2012? And, you know what else hasn’t changed in a decade? The absolute fervor for “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.”
Saturday headliner SZA was feeling her music with her whole body: She hit the splits, did a knife dance routine to “Kill Bill,” and even came back for an encore (“20 Something”). It was a much-needed pick-me-up after light rain became a thunderstorm mid-Saturday evening, bringing appropriately moody and dramatic flair to sets by PJ Harvey, Mitski, Bikini Kill, and American Football. Harvey also dedicated an emotional performance of “The Desperate Kingdom of Love” to her late collaborator Steve Albini, now a patron saint of Prima.
Did you see the lightning, by the way? Or hear Erika de Casier debut a new club track about falling in love at the beach? Or Charli XCX debut a new Brat track also about falling in love at the beach? Barcelona will put a girl in that kind of mood! Maybe you were lucky enough to catch Charli’s surprise early afternoon DJ set down at the west end of the city beach—I was still passed out, having stayed up till 4 a.m. to see Detroit’s HiTech play the Albini memorial stage, a show so energetic and so fittingly loud that they managed to overpower the entire Boiler Room operation at range. By the way, how do I get a gig dancing on the desk at the Boiler Room stage? I’m game if they’ll let me cut that massive line to get in—but the final 15 minutes of Chicago DJ and producer Heavee’s set were great all the same.
Finally, a special recognition for the Rosalía fan who reacted to the Naki-branded mobile charging booth with, “Naki, Naki, chicken teriyaki.” That’s a wrap on Primavera Sound Barcelona—until next year.
