Catalonia in the spring of 2011 is an exciting place to be. On the one hand, Barcelona is home to peaceful protests in the city centre due to the political and economic situation in Spain. On the other hand, football is behind much of the excitement because Barcelona is to play Manchester United in the Champions’ League final – and, God knows, Catalonia is mad about “futbol”.
However, we are here neither for politics nor for football; we are here for one of the best music festivals in Europe, with more than 270 bands and 140,000 attendees, and we are happy to dive deep into 5 days of live music.
The first day is held at the Poble Espanyol, with just five bands being enough to break the ice and acclimatise to the fact that we are not in UK anymore – the thermometer reads just below 30 degrees C. In the end I had to leave before Caribou came on, who was apparently really good, because I got damned sunstroke. But I was there in front of the stage for the Echo & The Bunnymen, a great live performance by Britain’s Ian McCulloch and his band who returned to the San Miguel Primavera Sound six years after their last time in the Parc del Fòrum.
We hit the Parc del Fòrum on the second day, on the Barcelona coastline, where the queue at the main entrance is enough to show that the festival starts today in earnest. It is about 8 o’clock when we manage to get in and we feel a bit lost because the Parc del Fòrum is massive, more than 160,000m2, so we need a map to move around the park – or maybe a shuttle.
We are going straight to the main stage, where Of Montreal is on stage, a pop band from the US state of Georgia, well known for their theatrics and costumes. They give a spectacular performance, ending with A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger. What a show, and a good way to start the festival – but now we need something stronger, something more rock and roll.
My map has unavoidably become a timetable now. It tells me it’s time to move on if I want to see PIL at the Llevant Stage. We’re curious to see how Johnny Lydon (ex of the Sex Pistols) and his band are holding up on stage these days, and I am glad to say that he and his post-punk band still sound on the ball. It’s a great performance from Public Image Ltd and his unchained guitarist Lu Edmonds, who is also a composer and producer. And Johnny Lydon hasn’t lost his arrogance, saying: “Fuck’s sake, man, we are P.I.L. We’re the only friends you have in the music industry.”
Time to go – Grinderman with Nick Cave are already on stage and we really don’t want to miss them. They’re on the main stage and Nick Cave sticks to tracks from the two albums recorded with Grinderman. Unfortunately we arrive too late to get very close to the stage, but Grinderman live is very good.
We leave before the end, and try to decide whether to go to see Interpol or Suicide. We want to survive for at least the end of the festival so we head for the Llevant stage. Interpol are going to play there so we just have time for a sandwich and a few drinks. The distances from one stage to the other can be pretty big and sometimes going from one to the other takes a little while, but it‘s good to stretch your legs and it gives you a feel for how big the festival is. Interpol are on stage at a quarter to1, and we are really excited to see them. But the New York band that exploded onto the scene in 2002 with “Turn on the Bright Lights” doesn’t seem to be the same band it used to be. We are in a good spot, right at the front, but live the band doesn’t impress me at all. Concluding with Obstacle 1, we agree we expected more from a band usually mentioned in the same breath as Joy Division, The Cure or The Smiths.
By the time we get to the “San Miguel” main stage the place is already packed, the amount of people waiting for the Flaming Lips is huge and it’s going to be impossible to get a good spot. We decide to see the show from a quiet area, but in the end are too tired even for that and although the show looks great, we decided to leave; tomorrow is another day, and we’d better get some sleep.
Having left ‘early’ the day before, we decide to catch sunset at the festival and head straight to the Ray-Ban stage where Pere Ubu is playing. It hasn’t been easy to decide as The National are playing at the same time but the Pere lead singer, Davis Tomas, is an amazing performer, and indeed, sipping his drink, he comments on each of the songs performed to the appreciative audience.
We leave just before the end to make sure of a good spot to see Belle and Sebastian at the San Miguel stage. The concert was good; they played really well and included a lot of old tracks. I enjoyed it but couldn’t help thinking: maybe they aren’t the right band for a festival, they were too quiet on stage and don’t have the energy for a festival performance. We left a bit disappointed, and went straight down to the ATP stage where Shellac are on show. “Everybody at this festival is extremely sexy”, says Steve Albini when Shellac jumped on stage, which might explain why the band from Chicago keeps coming back to Primavera. Their energy on stage is extraordinary, an intense set of noisy rock that provides the audience with one of the festival’s best moments – featuring one of the best drummers in the world, Todd Trainer. The high point of the gig is The End Of Radio, an amazing performance that lasts over 10 minutes. We stay until the end and are sorry to leave a band that should have been one of the headliners. Rock and roll.
We don’t want to miss Pulp’s reunion at the San Miguel stage – the first gig of their come-back tour, after 9 years away. There are 140,000 people at the Parc del Forum today, most in front of the main stage just for the British band which will come on stage at 1.45 in the morning. It isn’t easy to get near the stage and we struggle to get a good spot. There is a great atmosphere, Jarvis Cocker is a superb showman and he knows how to win the crowd when he dedicates “Common People” to the peaceful demonstration in Plaça de Catalunya. It’s hard to describe how it feels to be in the middle of thousands of people during that moment.
We want to start Day Four in the best possible way, so arrive at the festival around 7.30pm in time to see the pop-folk of Fleet Foxes, the US band which is currently talk of the town. Most Spanish people are at the Llevant stage where Barcelona-Man United is on the big screen, so the Foxes’ audience is mostly American or from other countries. Live, the band from Seattle sound different from how they do on CD, and are much more spectacular. Robin Pecknold and the band kick off with a song from the latest album. I must admit I am very happy, and with me the crowds, when they move on to tracks from the previous albums that we know and love.
Next up, some food – we want to be on top form when P.J. Harvey comes on stage, and because she’ll be on the main stage we want to get a good spot. Polly Jean is on at half past 10, and I’m curious to see how she’s going to be on stage. She starts off with tracks from her latest album “Let England Shake” which I personally think is great, and her voice sounds the same as before. Maybe P.J. is not the angry nonconformist that she used to be but the way she plays is the same and the music that is coming from the stage is just perfect. She deserves her spot on the main stage, she’s still the queen.
What better place than the Ray-Ban stage to meet a good friend who’s coming to enjoy the festival’s last moments with us. Swans are on at 00.15 and the American band, headed up by Micheal Gira, sounds really healthy on stage. It is been hard to choose between Mogwai, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Swans but at the end we are sure that we made the right choice because we have seen another amazing concert at this incredible festival. We are delighted with how this well-organised festival is going, and don’t even feel the tiredness anymore so head straight back the main stage where Animal Collective are closing today. They deliver an outstanding performance, completed by trippy visuals and awesome sound quality. The American band left the stage without saying a word; respect to them, we are here for the music not for the words. Great performance.
We wake on the fifth day very tired but happy, today is going to be the last day at the Poble Espanyol. I feel very tired and I have cramp now and again in my legs, but I cannot miss Mercury Rev closing out the festival. Vocalist Jonathan Donahue and guitarist Grasshopper played songs from what I think is their best album, “Deserter’s Songs”. The sound is perfect, as is Donahue’s performance. The New York band is worthy of closing Primavera Sound 2011.
See you next year.
Published on 07 September 2011 by TomBowker
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