The clouds parted and the sun beamed on oceanside concrete-topia Parc Del Forum, east Barcelona, as the fourteenth Primavera Sound Festival launched with a boom last night.
An eclectic line-up of artists – that ranged from old soul legends to hyped dance duos – got loose over eight stages until the sun came up on a straggler Jamie XX crowd giving it their last fist pump in the Ray Ban amphitheatre.
Here are some top moments.
Arcade Fire
Is there any better band to see at a festival? Orchestral outsider pop complete with digital mirror-ball dancing bears, anthemic accordions and exploding confetti. Not a dry eye in the house.
Queens of the Stone Age
“Drink with me, sing with me, dance with me,” asked Queens’ frontman Josh Homme. And then they dropped ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ and everyone lost their minds.
Future Islands
This ‘band to watch’ didn’t disappoint with their ambling Springsteen-esque electronic indie rock, which kind of felt like being at a ranch on acid or a cowboy in the Hacienda.
Disclosure
London represented hard with grimy dance duo Disclosure laying down banger after banger, with live bass and drum machine, and a floating Wizard of Oz-like digital face mouthing every song in the background.
Charles Bradley
This soul legend brought performance back to its showmanship roots with his moving gig where he changed costumes, spoke about love, busted out some splits, and climbed off stage to hug the crowd like the spirit guide of funk.
You can head to the Primavera website for more information.
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