Words: George Gray, Images: ASBO
For the last months here at ASBO we’ve been hotly anticipating Primavera Sound, Spain’s premier music festival. With it’s eye-watering buffet of artists spanning genres and styles, we knew it would be a weekend to remember. As we arrived at the sun-soaked Parc Del Forum, home to the festival, we realised another thing – this wasn’t your ordinary festival.
Perched on the Mediterranean sea lay a sprawling city of music in itself, stretching across sea-front. With vistas of the iconic city behind and sea breeze to our faces we set out to explore. With a total of over 10 stages across the weekend we had our work cut out; fortunately Primavera begins with a ‘soft launch’ style in the form of a free day – one of many community driven initiatives at the heart of the festival.
Don’t be fooled though, the line-up was purely a microcosm for the weekend’s wider offering. The line-up featured Spanish indie rockers Hinds, Barcelona electro-pop group La Casa Azul, and headlining the day – indie-electronica legend Caribou.
All the day’s action took place on one stage, with the rest of the metropolis being slowly prepared in anticipation of the full kick-off on Thursday evening, making it nice and easy for us to catch all the action without giving the whole game away.
Hinds set was distinctively full of energy. The band exploded on to stage with a heady mix of joy and vigour, clearly excited to be returning to Primavera for the first time in nearly a decade. The band driven by undeniable friendship are having somewhat of a renaissance (*cue Viva Hinds chants across the crowd) after what was unmistakeably a hard period for the band during and post covid. Jokes about ex-boyfriends, foot-stomping guitar-riffs and a medley of warming vocals, the perfect recipe for the indie rockers to get the crowd cooking ahead of the evening.
Shortly after were La Casa Azul, beyond a local favourite, as fans flocked to the stage. All of a sudden we realised just how busy it’d got. Surrounded by a sea of Spaniards and fellow-dancers from across the world we were treated to just over an hour of Europe’s finest electro-pop from a group that’s synonymous with joy. From beats that could’ve fit right into new-wave experimental tracks all the way to some of the best modern EDM rhythms, the Catalan super-group had it all.
At this point there was only one thing on our minds, something we just couldn’t do without – Caribou. The Canadian composer, producer and all around revolutionary when it comes to transforming electronic music into a live experience came out to resounding applause. Hit after hit was clinically delivered, jaws on the floor and limbs gliding in groove. Caribou rarely misses and this was no exception.
Sun was a particular favourite of ours delivered with a building tenacity, cutting in and out to eek every inch out of the track, but it was the finale that hit the nail on the head. I Can’t Do Without You rose from the sound-system under the summer night sky with an indescribable energy, lovers, friends and ASBO mates in arms we sunk into an ecstatic trance.
As we funnelled our way out, and tracked our route home we realised – “there’s four more days….” and we can’t wait to see what they hold……
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