‘Say hola to the luna,’ fired Damon Albarn, proving that musical genius does not go hand in hand with on-stage banter
Is it just us or does Alex James’s face look like it’s literally turning into curds and whey? Either way, he played with the Gallic demeanour of an old French madame in a Joanne Harris novel
Blur played a crowd-pleasing set that included ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Popscene’, ‘There’s No Other Way’, ‘Beetlebum’
‘Out Of Time’, ‘Coffee & TV’, ‘Tender’, ‘Country House’, ‘Parklife’, ‘End Of The Century’ and ‘This Is A Low’
Albarn boinged around – and off – the stage like a jumping bean. “Don’t do that,” he begged the women in the crowd trying to take off his pants. Thankfully a security guard had been put on official duty ‘Keep Damon’s Trousers Up’. Look at me now, Mum
Solange played a soulful set alongside collaborator Dev Hynes and a cracking band. Highlights were ‘Losing You’, obviously’, and her cover of Dirty Projectors ‘Stillness Is The Move’
Promoting their debut album, Savages played the festival on Friday night. Primavera Sound official desribed them thus: “Savages this London band with as totally eighties look have become then great white hope of British post-punk overnight [sic]”
Unfortunately Raekwon and Method Man couldn’t make it to Spain because of “flight negotiations” but Wu-Tang Clan still gave a pachow-heavy set. Led by RZA they rolled through a tribute to ODB and the skills of scratching and hyped up the crowd
Phoenix played their fifth album ‘Bankrupt!’ and many more much-loved tracks at their Thursday evening set
Following in the fingers of Matt Bellamy, Slash and Led Zeppelin, Harry “Harrison” Koisser’s got himself a multi-neck guitar. The Peace frontmen led a Friday evening set.
Nick Cave’s ‘Stagger Lee’ was one of the most ferociously terrifying and thrilling live performances this writer’s ever witnessed. Cave and The Bad Seeds played a short-ish set that focussed on new album ‘Push The Sky Away’ alongside oldies such as ‘Red Right Hand’ and ‘The Mercy Seat’
Bradford Cox, rockstar. Deerhunter played three shows at Primavera. One of the best moments was a song inspired by ‘Eurohouse’, which saw the band playing a repeated four-to-the-floor beat over which Cox squealed “do you like it? Do you like it??!” New album ‘Monomania’ sounded pretty great too
Mac Demarco pulls off triple-denim with ease. Probably something to do with his blisteringly good tunes and infectious live ‘jizz jazz’, as he puts it. The Montreal-based troubadour’s album ‘2’ suggests he’s one to keep an ear on
Barcelona was unusually freezing this year, which led to friendlier crowds, extra portions of tapas consumed and unwieldy, body-warming dance moves at inappropriate moments
Is it The Knife? Or isn’t it The Knife? Apparently it’s The Knife. Who is The Knife?
James Blake drew a massive crowd, thirsty for his bass-mew. We were more than slaked: Blake layered curlicues and whorls on top of the studio versions of his tracks and performed with calm brio
The dulcet vocals of London’s Queen of nu-soul Jessie Ware brought some relief from guitars and lads
Merchandise one of the buzz bands of the last year who most deserve the hype played a bunch of shows in Barcelona over the weekend. Dave’s Vassalotti virtuoso guitar playing stood out as a highlight of the festival, particularly on ‘Anxiety’s Door’
