A program of free concerts led by the Pet Shop Boys (with tickets reserved by application) this Wednesday acts as a colorful preamble to the 21st edition of Primavera Sound, which from Thursday to Saturday will display a program dotted with popular attractions at the Parc del Fòrum such as Rosalía, Blur, Depeche Mode, Kendrick Lamar or New Order. Start of the sample and unofficial Baptism Of The Festival Season, which places a powerful pole of activity around the city of Barcelona until well into the summer.
This is a Primavera Sound that recovers its usual duration of one (long) weekend, and not two, as happened in the exceptional 2022 edition, and that, therein lies the great novelty, next week will incorporate Madrid (Arganda del Rey) as co-headquarters. At the Forum, the capacity will be somewhat lower than last year to avoid certain crowds (from 80,000 to 70,000 attendees per day as a limit). The exhibition is part of the Primavera a la Ciutat plot, which began on Monday and offers concerts at Apolo, Razzmatazz and Paral·lel 62. This Wednesday, during the warm-up day at the Fòrum, there will also be rock with fabrics ‘noise’ by the Madrid group La Paloma, the author’s pop open to folk and country by the British Jake Bugg and the electropop by the Australian band Confidence Man.
headliners
Standing out in the poster as a whole, various high-flying claims. Thursday, Blur, recreating their Brit-pop milestones and warming up songs from their new album, ‘The ballad of Darren’ (which will see the light on July 21). On Friday, Depeche Mode, now as a duo and with a new work on the table, ‘Memento mori’. Without overlooking Kendrick Lamar, broad-minded rapper And the saturday, a certain Rosalía Vila Tobella, in the festival campaign of her ‘Motomami’ tour (which has as its final date, at least for now, the Lollapalooza in Paris, on July 22).
But, as is the tradition at Primavera, and part of its identity, It will be up to the public to study and analyze the fortnight of arranged scenarios and trace the route of their choice, tragically breaking the tie wherever there are painful coincidences. On billboards there will be proposals as diverse as the learned Mancunian pop of New Order and the shock metal rock of Ghost, the avant-garde with r’n’b echoes of Sudan Archives and the soul-rap of Anderson .Paak, the sonic extremism of Swans and the rock expressions with variable accents of Black Country, New Road, The War on Drugs or The Wedding Present.
Likewise, freethinking pop singularities such as Sparks, St. Vincent, and Caroline Polachek, and figures with the historical weight of John Cale and Laurie Anderson. Unfortunately, two other veterans have dropped out, Arthur Verocai and Eddie Palmieri. And in the native plot, figures such as Joe Crepúsculo, Núria Graham, John Talabot, Grupo de Expertos Solynieve or Los Ganglios. In contrast to the sudden ‘sold out’ of last year, in this edition there are still both subscriptions and tickets for a single day on sale.
after the record
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With its more than 200 artists, Primavera will try to maintain positions, although it will be left behind the record of the last edition, that of the two weekends, when it summoned 500,000 attendees. Which meant being in first place among the festivals held in Spain, followed by Madrid’s Mad Cool (310,000), Arena Sound, from Castelló (300,000), Viña Rock, from Albacete (211,000) and the Benicàssim International Festival (180,000). , as specified by the Live Music Yearbook. In 2022, the Barcelona and Sant Adrià de Besòs exhibition had a economic impact of 349 million euros, according to the organization.
He then highlighted the unprecedented quota of foreign public, 65%, with 139 nationalities present, led by British, French, Italian, German, American and Mexican. After the record, it will be time to gauge the establishment of the festival and the success of its twin venue in Madrid, a bet that inspires this year’s slogan, ‘I’ll be your mirror’, a tribute to the most influential alternative rock group, The Velvet Underground, and a nod, therefore, to the roots of the festival.