The festival mobilized the public on its first day at the Interlagos Autodrome, led by artists such as The Killers, Pet Shop Boys, Marisa Monte, Slowdive and The Hives, and which included the appearance of the Catalan sonic explorer Marina Herlop
It’s already summer, or almost, in the tropics, and the Primavera Sound of Sao Paulo, like that of Barcelonaplays the role of portico of the seasonal bonanza, with temperatures of 32º degrees, this Saturday, accompanying the return of the festival to Brazil after its resounding premiere in 2022. Hullabaloo in the atmosphere, ‘trendy’ rags that had been waiting for their time for months and a lot of appetite to devour dozens of bands in one more day daytime that nocturnal, with shapes of gigantic ‘cool’ picnic.
The Spring thing in Sao Paulo It seems like it was a piece of cake, given the naturalness with which it has been incorporated into the local agenda. The figures confirm it, those 50,000 attendees over both Saturday and Sunday. In Sao Paulo, which is one of those beautiful sprawling cities (22 million inhabitants) where when you return to Barcelona it seems like you are in a small Swiss village, the global giant is present. Lollapalooza, in the same venue, the Interlagos Autodrome (although at another time of the year, in March). But the sample ‘Created in Barcelona’, which baptizes one of the stages with the name of the Catalan capital, lords it over as if it had been here all its life.
Last night on Earth
At the end of the day there were two heavyweights, The Killers and Pet Shop Boys. The former, who have not performed in Barcelona since 2009, got to the point from minute one with ‘Mr. Brighside’, delivering hits with his well-known ‘punch’. Last date of his 2023 tour, “as if it were the last night on planet Earth,” announced a fiery Brandon Flowers, championing his arena-rock with attitude (and the reinforcement of three backup singers). On December 8 they publish an anthology, ‘Rebel diamonds’.
Pet Shop Boys strengthened ties with an audience with whom they have connected since 1994 when they included Brazil in the reduced ‘Discovery tour’ (which did not go through Europe). Show similar to last May in Barcelona, with an elegant cybernetic aesthetic, from black and white to color. Boats and jumps on the plain at the stroke of ‘Suburbia‘, ‘Domino dancing‘ and ‘It’s a sin‘, until the melancholic fade with ‘Being boring‘.
Although the automotive story seems epic, the Autódromo turns out to be a welcoming place with comfortable circulation (with shorter internal distances than in the Fòrum). Young audience, but not so young, perhaps due to the veteran profile of this year’s headliners. The Z faction manifested itself on the ‘set’ of MC Bin Ladena badass rapper from São Paulo, choreographic and with a tribal punch, akin to the current known as ‘ostentaçao funk’.
silver diva
And a high mention for the native star, Marisa Monte, who appeared in a long silver dress, touched by a tiara, and gave a succulent concert throughout her work, with a band that included a brass section. Magnetic, splendor, she delighted the dazzled crowd with ‘Maria de Verdade’, ‘Infinito particular’, ‘Amor I love you’ & mldr; and a nod to Rita Lee with ‘Twelve vampires’, and the tip of ‘Já sei namorar’, from the Tribalistas club.
Other Brazilians, Tired of being sexy, They caused a certain stir by reviving with sympathy and motivation the ‘hits’ of their first era. In the more rock field, recordable ‘arty’ convulsions by Black Midi, the density of Slowdive and punk-rock still fighting The Hives. And in another league, or perhaps on another quantum plane, the Catalan Marina Herlop, Alone with her machines, her keyboards and her Princess Leia hairstyle, she was intrigued by the enigmas of ‘Nekkuja’, magical and primitive, seemingly connected to an ancestral force greater than her.