Words: George Gray, Images: Primavera Press
Day two of ASBO at Spain’s premier festival and we were hopping hurdles already. A jam-packed line-up of back to back talent and a misreading of what was allowed in to the festival led to two major problems. What and where to catch the best offering of a smorgasbord of talent and a 2 litre bottle of Aquarius blocking our way in. Drinks downed, sun-cream plastered on and stomachs in our arms we entered Parc Del Forum with giddy excitement.
First up was the sanguine indie of Beabadoobee. Smooth tones layered over electrifying guitar riffs was the perfect tonic to start our day, her distinct vocals echoing back from the Estrella Damm stage over the crowd. A sign of good things to come and the strength of the crowds we’d see, we set off to explore. No mean feat as we trekked across the harbour, leaving a trail of ASBO stickers in our wake.
Before long we returned to the main stage circus, flipping sides in the unique dual main stage format Primavera offers. Now under the Revolut banner it was time to witness some of the best alt-rock out there. With hair-raising vocals and foot-stomping guitar riffs, it could only be IDLES.
The band have been coming here for the last 15 years and it was plain to see why as the sun melted into the sky behind us, painting the horizon a fitting red. “Anti-fascist” songs” were then delivered with weaponry precision, tracks like Danny Nedelko, POP POP POP, and Gift Horse sending us into a frenzy. So resonant that as I write this the ominous opening of Gift Horse still firmly rings in my head, charging us around the festival site.
This charge of energy sent us flying around the festival, bouncing from the boundary-pushing work of FKA Twigs to the living and breathing music of DJ Koze, but as the clock neared midnight there was one man on our minds – Jamie XX. The man who’s seminal debut album, In Colour, turns 10 this year has a genre-spanning musical arsenal, underlined by an instinctive call to dance, and he did not dissapoint.
Ninety minutes of classics were blended into an invigorating mix that evolved with the ebb and flow of the crowd’s energy, his technical ability on the decks and in production equally on show. Tracks like Gosh and Life, known for their live transformations lived up to beyond expectation, before loud spaces hit the crowd right in their feelings as things came to a close.
The crowd felt busy, but things were about to kick up a notch as the first of the weekend’s headliners, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan prepared to emerge for their joint show: SWEAT. Things started with a bang as Troye emerged with the unapologetic energy that’s lifted him to such a stage, microphones between waists, risque poses and flawless dance routines getting the crowd grooving from the off.
Soon after the stage dipped into darkness, eyes fixated forward the BRAT army were raring to go. As the green banner unfurled from the heights of the stage, the crowd exploded. What has been one of the most impactful music marketing campaigns in history began to reap its rewards, as pop icon Charli delivered hit for hit from her latest album.
It was clear to see amongst the audience, this went beyond the usual realms of music, an internationally unifying brand for people to rebel from the modern life so often called rubbish with unrepenting energy. Things had gone dance at Primavera and there was no sign of slowing down.
We began to pinball from stage to stage, and as a result genre to genre. From the machine gun verses of Denzel Curry’s Ultimate to the dubstep mastery of Mia Koden amongst the mirrors of the Cupra Pulse, we were being treated to the darker side of a festival just hours before bathed in sunshine. The gears kept shifting upward as the clock clicked on and soon things began to appear ritualistic, we were firmly through the looking glass.
From the hard-techno drums of Brutalismus 3000 that echoed from the Amazon stage, to the experimental electro of DJRUM hidden within the subterranean Levi’s 501 club, we began to realise their was something special about the nights here in Barcelona. A special night capped off in a special way as we gravitated to the Cupra ampitheatre to see ceremonies capped off by a sunrise Arman Van Helden set – do things really get better.
To see if they do, stay tuned with more daily updates as long as you keep it locked ASBO.
