Review: Primavera Sound in Los Angeles

Sep 22

☆ BY DYLAN VANESSA ☆

SEPTEMBER SAW THE LONGSTANDING PRIMAVERA SOUND MAKE ITS WAY ACROSS THE POND - from Barcelona to Los Angeles. This American debut did not disappoint, maintaining a star-studded cast of headliners, such as Lorde, Nine Inch Nails, and Arctic Monkeys, as well as a more than impressive collection of artists such as Faye Webster, Cigarettes After Sex, Drain Gang, Mitski, and more.

Friday began with a line stretching the block of LA’s historic park for excited attendees to pick up their festival wristbands from will call at the front of the venue. Stepping into the park, Divino Niño got us ready for the day at the Tecate Alta stage with their poppy sound and cool looks. The crowd gathered and danced before heading over to the main stage to catch some more of Little Jesus’ pleasant vibes. Jehnny Beth blessed the park with raw emotion and a dominant stage presence, captivating the audience and holding them for the entire set. Shygirl slayed the main stage, making the entire crowd jump to her will, and even performed some new and unreleased songs! Indie pop princesses Pink Patherness and Clairo gathered substantial crowds, nearly overflowing the 21+ barricade.

Stereolab, though slightly out of place in the festival’s lineup, provided a nice getaway for the older generation to chill out while the youngsters still screamed for more Clairo. Back at the Barcelona stage in wonderful evening weather, Mustafa gave a gorgeous raw performance, allowing the crowd to experience catharsis with the artist. With songs that speak of the female experience issuing forth from the genius minds of Mitski and Lorde, Friday night ended with screaming fans and packed crowds as the two acts performed sets full of both nostalgia and novelty.

Unlike Friday's melodic openers, Saturday began with Special Interest on the Tecate Alta stage, who immediately set the tone for the rest of the day, hyping up the crowd, and delivering a raw, yet sophisticated energy to the crowd. This energy was soon enhanced by Machine Girl, seeing vocalist and creator Matt Stephenson dive into the crowd during the second song, an act that was only surpassed by their wandering off the stage, through the pit, and over the hill to surprise onlookers with a horde of people jumping, screaming,and moshing outside the stage fence as they performed. Paloma Mami and her backup dancers offered more of a fun, poppy vibe as the act entertained the audience with coordinated outfits and spunky choreography. Kim Gordon, of Sonic Youth fame, graced the front stage in sparkling pants and nostalgia while Mayhem’s performance at the barcelona stage saw the second mosh pit of the day, and delivered a transcendent performance of raw vocal and instrumental talent.

Tierra Whack, though she gave a fair performance with lots of color and whimsy, left her crowd mildly underwhelmed, leading some to wander towards Fontains D.C. and Drain Gang; the latter of which managed to, somewhat ironically, fill up the field facing their stage. Surf Curse drew in an even larger crowd, who jammed to old and new songs alike, as lead singer Nick Rattigan offered words of humor and thanks. Warpaint performed spectacularly, with their trademark hypnotic vocals, allowing festival-goers a brief reprieve before the last act of the day. Nine Inch Nails took the stage in a fashion unique to those titans of music, allowing the tension and crowd to grow to enormous proportions before channeling this energy into a performance that served to topple all contenders.

The energy of Sunday was noticeably lower than the previous two festival days, as everyone was physically exhausted and pushing through to see some of their favorite acts. Marina Herlop embraced this feeling in a beautiful way, providing haunting vocals in a fantastical red stage outfit. At the same time, Gustaf would take the opposite approach, energizing the crowd with funky dance moves, exaggerated vocals, and an upbeat energy.

At the Primavera stage, Buscabulla got the crowd dancing while simultaneously bringing awareness to the gentrification of their home, Puerto Rico, showing a recognition of their platform and using it for good. Squid had a late start, with technical difficulties that saw a group thumbs up taking the stage for the first 15 minutes. After these difficulties, however, Squid had no issue rocking the pit.

At the Barcelona stage, Chai, dressed in their large matching pink outfits, gave a proper performance to a large crowd surrounding the stage, upping the ante by performing a short cover of the Spice Girls’ ”Wannabe”. Fans tightly cozied up next to each other at the main stage for Faye Webster in the afternoon, benefited by Primavera’s decision to shrink the 21+ beer garden to allow more room for minors to witness their faves. Amyl and the Sniffers pushed the crowd to let out more energy, providing a shining example of lively Australian Punk. King Krule, though not feeling well, troopered through the evening to put on an easily lovable set for fans both new and old. Boy Harsher gave us some funky gothic vibes, full of synth, sensuality and a sound most sublime, before Arca dazzled the same stage with her ethereal performance.

The ever iconic Arctic Monkeys was at the top of their game, their cool heads bringing an enormous crowd - a fitting end to a fantastic festival of equally tremendous proportions.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫