Saturday
Sabrina’s weary subjects headed home for some much-needed rest, so that we could make the most of Saturday’s extended line-up, with the earlier slots offering a chance to enjoy upcoming artists like Dehd and Horsegirl. With the shade of Parc del Fòrum offering a welcome reprise from the blistering Barcelona sun, and the sea a twinkling backdrop to the Trainline stage, it was hard to argue with the festival’s location. Unlike UK festivals, where the sound across stages can become as muddied as the punters themselves, we heard everything loud and clear. We were bemused to see angsty Welsh rockers Los Campesinos! on the Schwarzkopf stage – were they booked because they’re Pitchfork cult darlings or simply because they sound Spanish? – but after one or two songs we didn’t hear enough to keep us hooked, and meandered towards the main stages to secure a spot for Fontaines D.C.
Glass Beams were on when we got there. Decked out in facemasks that looked like the beaded carseat covers you see across Asia, we learned from the programme notes that this was a musical project of Indian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer Rajan Silva. New as they were to us, the anonymous techno trio did an excellent job of driving the crowd towards the Dubliners. If they were our Uber driver, they’d get 5* unquestioningly.
It’s a brooding start for the post-punk outfit, who walk out to build ‘Romance’ one by one before rolling into ‘Jackie Down the Line’. Grian Chatten is kitted out in a fluorescent Adidas hockey jersey and shades, and, with his arms behind his back, preening into the microphone, looks like a prime but better-fed Liam Gallagher. Sticking with the hockey metaphor, their set was a game of three periods. As a frontman, Grian took time to warm up, often windmilling the crowd for plaudits he’d not yet warranted but the band had fairly earned. He didn’t talk until 20 minutes in, when he mumbled something and then “free Palestine”. From this point on he quietly offered “thank you”s between tracks, but there were no “how are you doing”s or “I love you Barcelona” platitudes, which felt both refreshing and disconnecting – was this the band using their platform to air their songs and, like IDLES did before them, spotlight their support for Palestine or just bad stagecraft?
Grian can really sing, and Conor Deegan on bass and backing vocals was an ever-present consigliere; Conor Curley on lead guitar and Tom Coll on drums became increasingly muscular with their riffs and rhythms as the brand grow older, but when anyone was asked to do more than their role, the quality dropped drastically: when the frontman stepped back to play rhythm guitar on ‘Sundowner’, the Conors between them couldn’t match Grian’s melodious drawl.
Given how Fontaines D.C. ranked in both of our live music wishlists this year, as with Charli and Troye, it felt like this was just another performance rather than the gig we were hoping for. In psychology, there’s a term for why we’ll likely look back on this set fondly despite the drag in the middle: the peak-end rule. It suggests we judge experiences not by how they felt overall, but by their best moment and how they ended. The first period saw Fontaines’ star player take time to find his feet, the middle period was dull and samey, with the occasional moment of interest when the roadies scuttled after Grian’s mic lead and monitor as he careened around the stage not-dancing and minimising eye contact like an overstimulated kid at a disco… but the final period was packed full of anthems including ‘Boys in the Better Land’, ‘Favourite’, ‘I Love You’ and closer ‘Starbuster’, reminding us why we supported the lads in the first place.
To our left, they had finished constructing Chappell Roan’s set, and it felt very Wizard of Oz meets Snow White. Roan seemed to have cast herself as the pantomime villain of the festival’s headlining female triad, and perhaps this was Kayleigh Amstutz ironically reclaiming the media’s recent representation of her. And yet there was definitely a witchy vibe with ‘After Midnight’ being performed in the glow of the full moon, and something spell-binding too about the softer ballads, ‘Casual’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’. While Sabrina topped the bill for her showbiz sparkle, Chappell came a close second with her catchy camp pop and country hits encouraging the crowd to sing along, even if it was their first time hearing a track. ‘Hot To Go’ was a notable standout, a lesbian clapback to the gay man’s ‘YMCA’. There were men on stage, but they were not in the band – the roadies were dressed like monks, and were very much background to an impressive female-fronted live performance. The band’s cover of Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ gave Amstutz a chance to show off her range as a singer while the rest of them shredded – Roan’s lead guitarist arguably gave the instrumental performance of the festival. As well as shredding, there was also shedding, with Chappell’s on-stage metamorphosis into a ‘Pink Pony Club’ dancer; the singer shed layers from from her jester-meets-Kefka Palazzo drag costume she wore for opener ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ until she emerged in a sequined bodysuit.
The role of pop princess isn’t beneath Chappell, who strutted her catwalk just like Charli and Carpenter the two evenings prior. But the framing here was clearly for the girls and the gays. The theme of being disappointed by men ran throughout the festival – see HAIM’s ‘Relationships’ segment, and Roan calling out men who “couldn’t get the job done” during ‘The Giver’. In a universe where men generally don’t listen to women complaining about men, it was refreshing to see so many female acts given prime-time slots, wherein they sang about their experiences of relationships in often fun and funny ways that ranged from mischievous to misandrist.
If you were insulted by what Chappell Roan had to say then you probably couldn’t wait for Central Cee to take the stage – there was a notable atmosphere shift as Roan’s crowd dissipated and Cee’s filled in, fairy wings swapped for football tops and chants of “Come on England!”. And then the dads waiting on the sidelines politely shuffled in for LCD Soundsystem – with the octet’s well-seasoned hands giving punters a chance to dance their weary (definitely not clean) feet off to hits including ‘Tribulations’ and ‘North American Scum’.
In many ways, Saturday into Sunday’s main stage range is what’s beautiful about festivals like this one. There was something for everyone at Primavera… but, as ‘All My Friends’ euphorically rounded off several dreamy days in the Spainish sun, the resounding feeling was wouldn’t it be buenísimo if we could all be seen and heard and get along this well all the time?
Words by Jack Mann and Beth Kirkbride
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.