Saturday
Frazzled, forlorn but not completely fucked, the last day of the festival came around pretty quickly and it was a case of getting straight back on the wagon for Real Estate. The unassuming New York surf-pop four piece provided a genteel start to the evening, followed by a disappointing No Age who fell as flat as a fart on the Pitchfork Stage.
Post-punk obscurities Liquid Liquid were next on the ATP stage. Made up of no less than three drum kits and several bongos, their set built into a dub-based groove explosion, almost prompting a mini flood of tears over the fact they never quite made it big time.
Pet Shop Boys headlined the San Miguel stage. It might be due to the fact they looked like a couple of ridiculous Dads at a wedding, lit by some stupid lights, or the fact that people were ‘ironically’ dancing to ‘It’s A Sin’, but I’m forced to conclude that they were rubbish. Apart from ‘West End Girls’. They were an odd, but uplifting close, spoilt by Orbital, who then mellowed us out to catatonic levels, playing a spooky, ethereal set on the epic Ray Ban stage.
Sunday
Acting as a musical Berocca, kindly easing us back into the ‘real world’ (shudder) after a weekend of indie wet dreaming, Primavera kindly put on a closing party at the Apollo theatre in central Barcelona. Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyards provided jangling, intelligent freak folk, intersprinkled with short films about The Fall and covers of Pavement.
Black Lips were the festival’s grimy, sexually deviant, sweaty climax, joined on stage by the charismatic King Khan and about two dozen Spanish youths stage-diving to various degrees of success.
Everyone should have the Primavera experience at least once. It’s like Disneyland, or trying a battered Mars Bar. It is seamlessly organised in an amazing location, the stages being within yards of each other, but the sound being as clear as crystal. A million festival fables were created under the Spanish sun, soundtracked by the breathtaking rock legends and a generous smattering of undoubtedly the best new breed of indie greatness.
Words by Natalie Hardwick
http://www.sanmiguelprimaverasound.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8LUHeJRH78 Pavement
http://www.last.fm/music/Condo+Fucks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b85d-sxyck Les Savy Fav
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKdEO8n4T8 Pixies
MAJOR LAZER onwards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0ubWm1ZD9M Liquid Liquid
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