Primavera Sound 2019 (Day 3)

And we finally reached the last day of Primavera Sound. Don't know about you, but it always amazes me how fast these festival days usually go by!

So fast that we didn't even make it on time to see Daymé Arocena, the first artist I wanted to see on that day! Well, we kinda saw a little bit of the end of the show. Her Afro-Cuban jazz sounded quite nice but I'd have to see her again for real to be able to say anything else.

OK, so the last day of a festival is usually the one when you feel slightly more lazy, a bit less energetic... As it turns out, I took almost no photos on this day! Add to this that the headliners of the day didn't make me feel massively enthusiastic and it'll be easy to picture me laying on the grass in front of the Primavera Stage, distractedly listening to Built to Spill, who didn't sound bad but didn't either sound good enough to make me wanna fight my way to the first rows.

Contrary to Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes: these guys woke me up alright! I had seen them for the first time at Rock en Seine a couple of years ago and I had very much enjoyed their gig. Nothing to see with the one at Primavera Sound this year, though! My, what a show! Starting with Why a Butterfly Can't Love a Spider, from the somewhat quieter record "End of Suffering", it didn't take long for the red-haired singer to jump in the audience, climb on anonymous shoulders and perform the rest of the song from there: a real declaration of intentions, as the rest of the show proved to maintain high levels of energy and good vibes! As a matter of fact, Dean Richardson, the guitarist, only waited until the second song to also jump into the audience and keep playing the song on the shoulders of a happy (?!) guy. To be honest, at this stage, I think they already had won the audience! As for Frank Carter himself, he proved again how great a vocalist and performer he is. Smile on his face, rage in his shouts, empathy in his words when talking to the audience... Yep, sounds hard to combine but he does it! Special mention to the feminist message the singer shared, asking then for an exclusively female crowdsurfing moment, and to his rather emotional call to pay more serious attention to mental health... Of course, the concert concluded on the extremely cathartic I Hate You. Before leaving the stage, the singer took time to thank everybody, without forgetting the technicians, the volunteers at the bars and the security guys. Well, I guess that's what being inclusive means ;-) So in summary, a great, great concert, with tons of energy and much generosity... and definitely was over too soon!

After this first wow moment, we took a little break since there was nothing we were super interest in seeing at that time. Perfect moment to grab a beer and gather some strength!

At least, the necessary strength for our first incursion of the day to Mordor. Of course, the main headliner of that night was Catalan singer Rosalía, THE local prodigy who did gather a rather impressive crowd. At this stage, I feel the need to remind or inform the reader that I have quite an astonishing capacity to escape from anything that my brain feels is not going to interest my heart (these two have a complicated relationship, the Akward Yeti knows this better than anyone). For instance, I heard Lady Gaga for the first time a year or so after everybody had declared a revolution had happened to pop music, and I never listened to Pharrell Williams' Happy entirely. I suspect that my brain, although unconsciously, exerts some kind of first filter on reality. So, anyway, back to Rosalía: well, yes, I did know who she was and I had even heard a few songs from her first record (well... one or two, at least). And I have to say that all of this renewing flamenco thing was actually not to my distaste. What about the concert then? Honestly, I wouldn't even know what to say because I stayed ten minutes, during which what I heard sounded more like insipid mainstream urban music that could have been played by anyone, than to a truly innovative blend of styles. So I left pretty soon. Looked like she did put on a good show, though. But the music was really not my thing, as my heart finally confirmed my brain's first intuition. Keep working together, guys...

So out of Mordor we ran to fin shelter back to our dear Adidas Stage, where Drab Majesty was playing. I definitely felt more in my element there. Although the Los Angeles band did not exactly deliver a super dynamic show, I have to say. Not much was happening on stage. But the kind of dark wave music they play is enticing and efficient. Add to this the rather futuristic, dream-like atmosphere provided by the music, the lights at this time of night and the very look of the musicians, and you get the kind of mixture that works with me. To everyone their own tastes, I suppose!

Drab Majesty

Then I had a major dilemma... Overlaps are a festival goer's usual headaches. But in this case, I'm talking about three artists playing at the same time and that I wanted to see! Three artists with three different styles, of course: Jarvis Cocker and his new project JARV IS, Neneh Cherry and Solange. I may not be the biggest R&B fan ever but I have always felt quite curious to see Solange live. Unfortunately, she was playing in Mordor, which kinda cooled my curiosity down.

So we started with Neneh Cherry who, for me and probably many people of my generation, remains in our hearts and ears as the beautiful voice singing with Youssou N'Dour on the hit Seven Seconds and the unforgettable voice of Woman. I open a parenthesis: she did perform Seven Seconds at Primavera but without Youssou N'Dour, whom I had previously seen at Cruïlla festival anyway! End of parenthesis! As may be the case for others, aside from these beautiful memories, I knew almost nothing about what Neneh Cherry had done, well... these last two decades, more or less. So I wasn't sure what to expect from the concert... and it simply turned out to be my second wow moment of the day! Leaving aside the earlier hip hop to focus on a more soul and even trip hop sound, the singer clearly demonstrated that she owned the Pitchfork Stage. The stage design was simple and beautiful, the band amazing. The singer's voice, so warm, was both sinuous and sensual. I remained absolutely speechless during the hypnotizing version of Deep Vein Thrombosis... Still hard not to feel haunted by these "Oh life" chants...

I regretfully got out of my fascination to join the Ray-Ban Stage. The drastic change of style provided by JARV IS could have been very outputting... but that would have been forgetting a little too fast how charismatic Jarvis Cocker can be! OK, I'll be honest: I can't really say I found the new music absolutely fascinating. But that night at Primavera Sound, Jarvis Cocker was at his most... well... Jarvis-y! I see no other way to describe this mixture of weird, enigmatic rambling on existential issues! In his now famous corduroy suit, he looks like a club singer, something he obviously enjoys highlighting in his interactions with the audience. At some point, the singer reaches into his pockets for some sweets and, looking genuinely surprised, throws them into the crowd, asking us to please share as he hasn't got enough for everybody. Later on, Jarvis Cocker explains that he's afraid of "that dust that sticks to the floor", before adding "Now I want to know what YOU are afraid of" and jumping like a dart into the crowd. When the first woman to answer says "I'm afraid of getting old", the singer immediately replies: "Well, that's something we're all afraid of. I mean, look at me." And I think that sums up pretty well what the character still is: eccentric, baffling... and quite brilliant, I have to admit!

Five minutes after the end of the show, we were in front of the Primavera Stage, ready to welcome Primal Scream on stage. Bobby Gillespie showed up in a dashing pink suit and the band soon opened the gig with Movin' on Up. The gospel-like ballad clearly won the numerous crowd that had gathered to welcome the Scots. Soon followed by Jailbird, this opening doublet kinda set the tone for the rest of the concert, which clearly reflected the diversity of styles and influences Primal Scream have developed over three decades. With few pauses to communicate with the audience, the set went on, balanced and powerful, including more psychedelic rock moments, and others when the crowd seemed to jump and dance in perfect unison, Kowalski or Kill All Hippies being good examples. Of course, the band didn't forget to include Loaded in the setlist, which was brilliantly closed by the unavoidable Rocks as the final, exhilarating moment of a truly great concert. Gillespie might be an unusual frontman but Primal Scream proved they remain a major band, as well as tremendous performers for a festival act!

Then I was curious to see James Blake. Not that I know his music particularly well , to be fair. But so many people speak so highly of him I wanted to put an end to my ignorance. OK, so it was a bad idea. Total downer. Like I have repeatedly written on this blog, I do not have anything against depressing music, quite the opposite. But this was not depressing. It was simply and quite painfully boring. Then again, the festival factor and the timing probably didn't help...

Unfortunately, since the concert was scheduled around 2 in the morning, it slowly but steadily drained the energy and motivation out of us. We distractedly listened to Stereolab while walking back to the Primavera Stage. It didn't sound bad but didn't entirely convince us either. And Róisín Murphy, who was apparently the highlight of many people on that night, failed to re-motivate us... So back home was the next obvious move!

What conclusion to this 2019 edition of Primavera Sound? Well, I quite enjoyed this "New Normal" motto of theirs. Like I said before, mixing urban style or younger artists with more indie stuff is nothing I have a problem with. On the contrary, I have always enjoyed the diversity of this festival's line-up. So this will to attract new audiences, while keeping the older ones happy, is a tricky balance to reach but actually something that I feel Primavera Sound was successful at doing this year. The gender balance clearly was another of their great successes. Let's hope it will inspire many more festivals!

As for the music itself, no huge doubts for me: the highlights of the first day were definitely Christine and The Queens and Myrkur (speaking of diversity of styles...). Shonen Knife also were among my favourites. As for day 2, I will keep very fond memories of Liz Phair and Amyl and The Sniffers, who showed us how varied rock can be. But my highlights would still have to be Janelle Monáe and Kate Tempest (what were we saying about diversity?!). And as you have just read, on day 3 I very much enjoyed Primal Scream and Drab Majesty. And my highlights would of course go to Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes and Neneh Cherry.

Now the next festival for me will be Rock en Seine... and I guess I'll wait rather impatiently to see what Primavera Sound has in stock for next year. Til then!