Primavera Sound. 10 years of the best indie scene

Barcelona has been enjoying the very best on the indie scene for ten years now, with wide-ranging genres including rock, pop and even electronica. In fact, Primavera Sound has gained a reputation for avoiding labels and for hosting all and sundry artists, from the very new to the most established.

The 10th Primavera Sound festival will be held on 27, 28 and 29 May at the Parc del Fòrum but throughout the week there will be fringe concerts at the city’s clubs and other places like the metro and the parks.

With over a hundred groups playing at the festival, there will be a huge range of acts. One of this year’s main themes will be 1990s pop, with groups like The Charlatans, Bis, Pavement and Pixies.

The Athens group is one of those returning to Primavera, along with Wire, The Fall, Low, Shellac and Wilco. The latter, along with the Pet Shop Boys and Orbital, will be topping the bill at a festival where small print is very important.

For example, you need to bear in mind groups like The XX, Beach House, Wild Beasts and No Age, who are coming with some of the year’s most interesting ideas.

All that, not to mention cult figures like Gary Numan, the pioneer of electronica, Marc Almond, a real pop icon, and Hope Sandoval, who will be accompanied by The Warm Inventions.

Lo-Fi is another feature of Primavera with The Bundles, a new group made up by Kimya Dawson, a former member of The Moldy Peaches, and the singer-songwriter and comic artist Jeffrey Lewis.

More inf@: Primavera Sound website

Primavera Club Festival switches on Barcelona

A characteristic feature of this festival, which came about as the winter version of Primavera Sound, has been to invite back bands who were a success at the May festival.

They’ve always said that the natural environment of any musician is a concert hall. Maybe that’s the reason why this year’s Primavera Club, the fourth, has opted to spread itself round the city’s main concert venues.

Apolo, Apolo [2], Bikini, Sidecar, Jamboree, Monasterio and La Nau are also Primavera Club venues where, between 9 and 13 December, about sixty groups will be appearing. You needn’t worry about its stages being spread out like this as lots of bands will be playing several times at different venues, so you won’t miss the ones you are interested in.

So, this year, there will be a chance to see again The Pastels, The Ladybug Transistor and Sr. Chinarro, among others. Jeffrey Lewis is just one of the artists on the bill who’ll be going down well right from the start. This comic illustrator, along with a band who have disappeared from the map, Moldy Peaches, is one of the most faithful representatives of the New York anti-folk scene.

The list of groups we can recommend is long: Port O’Brien, The Black Heart Procession, Cass McCombs, etc. But, above all, don’t miss the groups from over here.

Of course, besides neofolk guru Banhart, we can meet some old acquaintances at Primavera Club with new music projects. Such is the case with Alan Sparhawk, one half of the Low duo, who is playing here with the Retribution Gospel Choir, who have more guitars and make more noise than Low.

Another well-established musician is Kid Congo Powers, who has belonged to bands like The Gun Club, The Cramps, The Bad Seeds and Die Haut. He is coming to Primavera Club with a new band, The Pink Monkey Birds.

Primavera Club website | NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Neil Young at Primavera Sound.

As usual, it will fall to Primavera Sound to take charge of bursting the city’s music thermometer, when it takes place from 28 to 30 May at the Parc del Fòrum. The event, a must for lovers of the all-time best in indie pop rock, covers a rich and diverse musical spectrum.

Shining in their own light, international classics like the fathers of shoegaze, My Bloody Valentine; Sonic Youth, the icon of ’90s’ noise; the composer Michael Nyman; Jarvis Cocker, former lead-singer of Pulp; and, in particular, the veteran, Neil Young. Young, a living legend in American folk, will be presenting songs from his new album: Fork In The Road, on Saturday 30 May at the main stage. He promises to perform for over two hours.

The poster also includes many up-and-coming groups from Barcelona’s alternative scene. That’s the case with Extraperlo and their contagious, tropical pop, the psychedelics Cuzo and QA’A, and the garage rock of Mujeres. In fact the last two groups here will be performing for free on 25 May, along with Centella and Gúdar, in several of Barcelona’s metro stations.

More inf@: www.primaverasound.com

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