Words by Marisa Brickman
Photos by Maria Elisa Gomez
Barcelona is the perfect backdrop for just about anything. It’s a city, but it’s also a beach, it’s tourist friendly but it’s easy to get away from the tourists. The food. Gaudi. Its always warm and the Spanish are some of the best hosts ever. For that reason, Primavera Sound Festival may have a bit of an edge over other European Festivals.
The site is about 10 minutes outside the city center of Barcelona proper. The beaches in Barcelona are all off the main road, with a park bordering the sea. Where Primavera is, there’s actually quite a bit of concrete, but also some grass, some hills and a view of the sea. Directly across the street you will find three nice hotels with pools on the rooftops. That’s right, it means if you forget your jacket or any other gear, you can just pop back to your hotel. If you can get yourself a VIP wristband, the VIP area has free Estrella Damn beer and Jaegermeister. Hello! The Jaegermeister goes quickly of course – especially once you get used to drinking it in a pint glass.
The six stages are spread out far enough so the music doesn’t clash and each have their own little vibe. The main Estrella Damn stage is massive and you have a perfect view from the VIP. The Pitchfork stage this year was a nice little tucked away stage right next to the beach, another had an indoor/outdoor venue type vibe, and the Rockdelux stage was a massive ampitheater with seats. Don’t think we quite made it to the Rayban / Vice or Auditori stages.
Musical highlights included: Neil Young. So what if he did “Rockin’ In The Free World” twice. It was just as good the second time. My Bloody Valentine of course. Bodies were shaking, minds were melting and the visuals were intense. However, we wished we would have scored some tickets to see them inside in the theater – those sounds are best bouncing off ceilings and walls. Jarvis – bless him. We never realized we actually liked him. He’s still got the moves. Sun O))) doing the Grimrobe Demos. The Wavves meltdown. Simian Mobile Disco with three times as many lights as originally planned. Gang Gang Dance melted some minds with their cosmic goodness. All in all dope. Not many stinkers to tell you the truth.
What more is there to say when pictures can speak for themselves. This is what happens when *Girlcore* goes to Primavera and Maria Elisa is there to capture the party times. The artists pictured include the Mae Shi, Ponytail, Dan Deacon, Crystal Stilts, Art Brut, Jay Reatard, Marnie Stern, Phoenix, Yo La Tengo, and of course all the bros and hos at the festival.
