Like every year at this time, and Despite spending much of the year complaining about overcrowding, ticket prices and saturation of the city, we faithfully returned to the Parc del Forum in Barcelona to continue the musical idyll (which is all that matters at the end of the day) with Primavera Sound festival.. In this edition of 2023, marked by big names such as Rosalia, Blur, Depeche Mode and Kendrick Lamar and also by the split a week later in Madrid, it was time to see how the festival and its organisation would “behave” after last year’s strange edition, doubled in two weekends and which will be remembered by some as “the one where it was impossible to even order water” on the Thursday of the first weekend.
Photo of Blur by Christian Bertrand courtesy of Primavera Sound 2023.
So, once again with the feeling of seeing the sun shining over the port of Sant Adrià del Besos while music is playing everywhere, we entered the venue with the impression that it was much less crowded than in previous years. Despite our best efforts to reach out Black Contry, New Road, TMB people were determined to cause a slight delay to all means of transport from Cornellà to the Parc del Forum, so we settled for one of our favourite national artists, Joe Crepúsculo.. As usual, it was a complete madness, with catchy choruses and dancing everywhere, including some Brits who were surprised by Sant Joan Despí’s proposal. As usual “Mi fábrica de baile” showed why it remains as one of the biggest hits of the Spanish music in the last decade, although it was also worth mentioning the performance of their new songFiesta de disfraces”, that, as his latest album Trovador Tecno (2022), could be part of any session of the 1990s Dance route.
Photo of Yard Act by Christian Bertrand courtesy of Primavera Sound 2023.
We would have to move less than 20 metres to see Yard Act. The Leeds-based band have emerged as one of the most recognisable names in the new British post-punk scene, although their music is closer to the pop of the Happy Mondays than the pretensions of the Idles or Fontaines D.C. Theirs was a discreet live performance, lacking in power both in the guitars and in the singer’s voice, which lost quite a lot of presence compared to what they showed on their album. In their defence, the new Ron Brugal stage, which was supposed to be one of the main attractions of the festival, sounded excessively weak every day…
Photo of Ghost taken from the band’s official Facebook page
Back on the Amazon stage, and in a stylistic 180º turn, it was time to see live the Swedish band Ghost, hard rock and heavy metal mainstays known worldwide for their aesthetics and incredible live shows. With more than a dozen members on stage, they were technically brilliant, with guitars and backing vocals as crisp as few others, but their setlist was somewhat flat and repetitive.Despite Tobias Forge’s best efforts to get the crowd into the concert, only the front rows full of fans did so, although to Pope Emeritus IV’s credit the timetable and excessive sunlight didn’t help the dark, fireworks-filled performance the band brought. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to put them on at midnight?
Turnstile photo by Christian Bertrand, courtesy of the Primavera Sound 2023 organisation.
After a 50 minute show it was time to rush to the main stages (Mordor for those of us who have been attending the festival for years) to see the band that had probably raised the most anticipation on this first day. The band from Baltimore Turnstile had already left us waiting for more in 2022 when they cancelled their gig at Primavera Sound with just a week to go, and after their huge media explosion over the past 12 months, the desire for live performances of their songs has grown exponentially. And boy did they deliver! Theirs was one of the great concerts of this edition, starting with the synthesiser lines “MYSTERY” to in just over 30 minutes almost finish their incredible third album Glow On (2021), with special mention to the concatenation of hits such as “UNDERWATER BOI”, “DON’T PLAY” and its pounding drums or “FLY AGAIN”. After an eternal drum solo, it was time for a brief dip into their two previous albums, enjoying the more punk side of tracks such as “Gravity” and “Drop”. With a powerful and surprisingly crisp sound, and thanks to the presence of its magnetic vocalist Brendan YatesThe concert ends almost imperceptibly with the slowed-down“ALIEN LOVE CALL”, although there would still be time for two more hardcore tracks like“HOLIDAY”and“BLACKOUT”, perfect end to a great concert.
Photo of Rema by Eric Pàmies, courtesy of the organisation of Primavera Sound 2023.
Taking advantage of the proximity and looking for a bit of a break, we moved to the side to see Anderson .Paak‘s new project, Nxworries. Their mix of r’n’b and soul with more modern rhythms failed to catch on with the general public, who remained impassive for a good part of the show. Something similar happened to us, and we decided to seize the moment and make one of those typical Primavera Sound visits to discover artists. Near the solar panel, we were treated to the spectacle of one of the new British sensations, PinkPantheress, whose concert was rather flat and lacking in any real power, as if it were a direct transmission from the artist herself, who moves across the stage in slow motion with incredible fluidity. In front of an audience full of compatriots, she performed some songs from her first album To hell with it (2021), with a slightly accelerated version of “Boy’s a liar” standing out. A few metres away, on the Amazon stage, the Nigerian Rema and his Afrobeat (impossible to forget it after the thousand times he repeated it on stage) managed to do the opposite, moving even some of the living corpses that were already swarming around the venue. Between calls for the “Sexy ladies” of a “Bad Boy” like him and projections that make “Die Hard” looks like drivel, his show was equal parts fun and grotesque…
Photo of Pinkpantheress by Sharon López, courtesy of the Primavera Sound 2023 organisation.
Once again we travel to Mordor to see New Order 10 years after their concert at FIB 2012. The years are unforgiving, and although New Order opted for a hit-filled concert, kicking off with ‘Regret‘, only Bernard Sumner seems to have the energy to make those hits credible live. With spectacular sound quality, and why not say it, with plenty of room to dance or decide if you want to get closer to the front rows, the Manchester band stumbled around until they reached the final part of their set, which was truly overwhelming with“True Faith”,“Blue Monday”,“Temptation”and “Love Will Tear Us Apart”chained.
Photo of New Order by Christian Bertrand courtesy of the organisers of Primavera Sound 2023.
Back to the side fence to regain strength for the Blur concert and to see Halsey 7 years after our first contact with her in the distant lowlands of 2016. After the back and forth in the form of criticism she receives daily on social networks for all aspects of her personal and professional life, the American singer showed strength and coherence in a concert full of guitars and rock. It’s true that her show seems to be aimed at those who are already her fans, and that at times there’s more shouting, posturing and paraphernalia than music, but isn’t it the same as Ghost hours earlier?
Photo of Blur by Christian Bertrand courtesy of Primavera Sound 2023.
The main course of the evening was approaching and the main stage was packed to the rafters to see London’s Blur, who will play just 15 shows this summer before the release of their eagerly awaited new album, The Ballad of Darren (2023). With the new song “St Charles Square” as a cover letter, an energetic Damon Albarn kicked off a first part in which we were able to enjoy hits like “There’s No Other Way” or “Beetlebum” on the other hand, or on the other hand, he gave us songs for the very fans like “Popscene”, “Tracy Jacks” the great and now distant “Villa Rosie”. With an unleashed Graham Coxon on vocals in “Coffee & TV“, it started a much livelier second half in which we surprisingly got to enjoy two live rarities such as “Luminous” (for the first time in concert since 1999) or “Country House“.
Photo of Blur by Christian Bertrand courtesy of Primavera Sound 2023.
Everything was ready for the collective madness unleashed by an accelerated “Parklife“, prelude to the massive karaoke of “Girls & Boys” and “Song 2“. Without pausing for breath, the band launched into the carnival jam session that is “Intermission”, in order to face the last part of the concert with the marvellous “This is a low” (in my opinion the best song of the concert), the Messianic “Tender”, the new song “The narcissist” and a great finish with the subtlety and emotion of “The universal”. To sum up, we all want to have fun and be happy. What are you waiting for if you want to see Blur live? A setlist like the one on this tour, with choruses sung at the top of your lungs in front of thousands of people, reminds you of when you were the weirdo of the class in the mid-90s, with your Adidas jacket and dishevelled bangs… To confirm the nostalgia, we will always have the phrase uttered by Damon Albarn himself towards the end of his show ” I’m so happy to be back with my old friends“ – how things change when thousands of weirdos get together!
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