Primavera Sound 2011 – excellent edition this year

One of the most important events of Barcelona, the San Miguel Primavera Sound festival took place last week, in a context of public’s discontent and political demonstrations on “the main square” - the Plaza Catalunya - as Jarvis Cocker, leader of the Sheffield band Pulp would put it. He dedicated the last song of this successful comeback concert “Common People” to the ‘indignados’.

Needless to say that the crowd went mad when the band played some of their eternal hit-songs "Underwear", "Disco 2000" and "Do You Remember the First Time", words which were initially projected thanks to a green laser on a sexy purple curtain, before the show started. It reminded me of the art background / involvement of Jarvis. 

More arty sight-and-sound effects were displayed on giant screens, including the blue and purple neon PULP sign, first used in their “Common People” video.

"This evening is not about ancient history, we are going to make history," said the nervous dandy Jarvis who also raised a glass to the band "Suicide", explaining they were one of the best. But he needed not to stress as the band really delivered…

He actually talked a lot during the set, often cracking typical British jokes, unlike another big headline of the festival - which included great performances by Grinderman, Suicide, Fleet Foxes, Belle & Sebastian, the Flaming Lips and Animal Collective and many, many, many more – the one and only, PJ Harvey.

She remained quiet during the whole set, only thanking the crowd for “listening”...

All dressed in white with feathers in the hair, perhaps inspired by Björk’s outfits, – the Icelandic artist who she has collaborated with in the past – PJ Harvey meticulously sang and played 20 songs, mainly from her latest album “Let England Shake”. The atmosphere was dark and tidy which made it beautiful. I loved it. 

This year, it is reported that 140,000 people attended the festival which is really impressive, a true international crowd. Primavera has been praised by the organizers of the Coachella Festival in the past.

I was kindly invited by the organizers and I can't say I have been disappointed. I particularly enjoyed a young grunge band called No Joy.

It is rumoured that the festival will export itself, and it should, it’s excellent! If you don’t know the festival, have a look at Paco and Manolo’s documented book. It features portraits of some of the artists who have played at Primavera in the last ten years, including some of my favourites: Antony Hegarty and Cat Power etc.

More info on: http://www.primaverasound.com/