Primavera Sound kicks off this Thursday in the traditional venue of the Parc del Fòrum the first of its three main festival days, offering more than a hundred shows in an edition that will be remembered for the mirror festival that will be held next week, from 8 to June 10, in the City of Rock in Madrid. But that will be in the face of history, a very distant date still today, when the doors are opened to a remodeled space that includes fifteen stages of all sizes and reduces its capacity to a maximum of 70,000 people, with the challenge of preventing the repetition of the crowds experienced during the first day of the previous edition.
It will not be possible, therefore, to repeat the record of half a million attendees reached, something that will matter little if the musical expectations aroused by a varied and powerful line-up with top-level artists such as Blur, who return a decade later about to launch his first album in 8 years, The ballad of Darren, whose songs could be played on a stage well known by Damon Albarn, who performed last year with the Gorillaz.
Another expected return is that of the also British New Order, who already performed in the 2005 edition, the first held at the Fòrum. Its presence is even more important since, along with performances by the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode, it means the reunion of three of the most important electronic pop bands in history. The Essex trio, turned into a duo after the death of Andy Fletcher last year, will perform on Friday night presenting their latest work, Memento Mori.
Along with these names with a long history, the upper part of the lineup offers young proposals (although also veterans) such as the pop of the American Halsey, the rapper Kendrick Lamar or the dj Calvin Harris. Although here the name par excellence is that of RosalÃa, who returns to the stage for the third time, this time as the main attraction, a performance reserved for Saturday at two in the morning in which the artist from Sant Esteve Sesrovires will give an account of his album Motomami , enlivened by the songs released after the fact, including perhaps Yours , recently announced.
The female presence is another of the coordinates of Primavera, which this year has almost 40% women on the bill, among them the abstract pop of Caroline Polachek, who presents a new album, the rythym
Indie and rock, of course, also have their space at the festival with proposals such as The War on drugs, in its second appearance in these parts; Expert group Solynieve with the “planetary” Jota, the veteran and vibrant Sparks, the rock sound of Wednesday, the Shellac trio, standard-bearers of minimalist rock or “math rock”, as they define themselves, or experimental rock with jazz overtones from the English Black Country New Road. And of course the visit of John Cale, founder of the Velvet Underground, who at 81 will perform at the Santander Auditorium to present his recently released Mercy. Those who opt for more showy and heavy proposals have the striking spectacle to which the Swedish Ghost are accustomed; like the Maneskin and the guitar playing with which they won the Eurovision Song Contest and are now looking for their space in the festival scene. Or the hardcore sound of the Turnstiles.
Some proposals that are difficult to encompass that include the flamenco of Israel Fernández and Diego del Morao, the electronic jazz of The Comet is Coming or the techno of Brutalismus 3000, one of the many formations that will help you dance until late on the Pull stage.
