Barcelona’s premier music festival, PRIMAVERA SOUND, recently celebrated its 14th birthday. This year, the festival saw around 190,000 attendees visiting 9 different stages hosting close to 350 bands. Living up to its reputation, Barcelona’s PRIMAVERA SOUND hosted yet again an eclectic collection of bands right in the heart of the beautiful Parc del Fòrum right along the Mediterranean Sea.
NINE INCH NAILS
As PRIMAVERA grows each year, the organizers behind the festival have found ways to remain true to their promise of bringing people the most innovative and exciting acts in independent music. Of course PRIMAVERA wasn’t without some of the biggest names in noise, folk, hip-hop, alternative and rock, like NINE INCH NAILS, KENDRICK LAMAR, and ARCADE FIRE as well as smaller more intimate shows and national acts like EL ULTIMO VECINO.
While the majority of the main acts played on the HEINEKEN and SONY stages, some of the festival’s most memorable shows were found on the stages of ALL TOMORROWS PARTIES, VICE and PITCHFORK. The RAY BAN UNPLUGGED and HEINEKEN HIDDEN STAGE hosted a series of intimate shows, including a mixture of French pop and jazz from FOLAVRIL.
One of the most unique features of this year’s PRIMAVERA included the Bowers & Wilkins + Boiler Room stage, which made room for lovers of electronic music. Featured acts included Spain’s own JOHN TALABOT, GENIUS OF TIME and VATICAN SHADOW.
In a recent interview with NBHAP, Alfonso Lanza, PRIMAVERA‘s marketing and communications director and Abel González, who works in the booking department, spoke to us about the evolution of PRIMAVERA, and expressed the importance of always giving respect to the artists. They also emphasized the tremendous amount of thought put into each act booked for the festival. For us, this attention to detail was immediately apparent when stepping foot into the Parc del Fòrum on the first day.
With plenty of space to move around and explore, attendees roamed the beautifully industrial landscape while enjoying the seaside view and substantial crowds hovered around each stage. While PRIMAVERA always has music lovers in mind, it also creates space for those who might know very little about music, thus the veteran and the novice can have an equally good time.
In addition to musical acts, PRIMAVERA hosted numerous activities, conferences and talks, as well as smaller shows in venues spread throughout the city. The focus of this year’s meet-ups was the future of live music and festivals, as well as independent music and the role of technology in the music business. 85 speakers participated including a public interview with STROMAE and press conferences with bands such as MOGWAI and also the festival directors.
With more and more festivals are popping up by the minute, the organizers of PRIMAVERA< SOUND/a> do not seem to be worried about the competition. With a unique perspective on the music industry, and a stellar lineup that combines their own personal taste, mixed with unique acts relatively new on the scene, the Primavera team are confident that they will continue to offer festival goers a unique experience that will keep them coming back year after year. We would have to agree.
Highlights from this year’s 14th edition include an out of this world performance from NINE INCH NAILS, the return of 90s rockers SLOWDIVE and a 4am seaside dance party with the BLACK LIPS.
Check out out photo series of this year’s festival.