Ceibe - Pour FMR - Primavera 2008

Me voici enfin à Barcelone pour mon premier festival à l’étranger. Pas forcément le plus tape à l’œil au niveau des têtes d’affiche, mais certainement le plus exigeant dans sa ligne directrice (Shellac, Dinosaur Jr Devo, Portishead) malgré son penchant modéré pour le rock boum boum. (Simian ou Go Team.)

En préambule au festival, j’ai assisté aux concerts gratuits organisés dans la Sala Apolo durant deux jours consécutifs avec plus ou moins de bonheur.
Le premier jour commença difficilement avec un des nombreux groupes espagnols présent sur le festival. Certainement dans un soucis de représentativité, un grand nombre de groupes locaux sont invités et seuls quelques uns ont un réel intérêt pour les étrangers. Celui-ci, était mauvais, ses reprises façon acidulées de hits rocks connus étaient méconnaissables. Heureusement, peu après, DM Stith est venu se révéler à nous (mon gros coup de cœur du festival) C’est un type qui ne ressemble à rien et qui venu jouer seul nous scotchant réellement avec des mélodies tantôt à la Buckley, tantôt lorgnant vers Thom York, mais sans jamais copier. Enfin la conclusion fut magnifiquement signée My Brightest Diamond que je vous recommande de ne pas rater si ils passent près de chez vous.

Le second jour fut entièrement décevant, Mi And L’Au pourtant signé sur Young Gods Records est un groupe chiant et sans inspiration. SJ Esau ou Matt Elliott ne nous ont guère impressionnés et The Clientele avait un gout de déjà vu.On partira avant la fin… Cette soirée se termina pour moi de manière tragique puisque j’ai brisé ivre mort, un de mes orteils contre une marche, me baladant pieds nus dans ma salle de bain. Mes déambulations et peut être même mes appréciations durant le festival furent un peu handicapés par cet évènement rageant.

Ce qui frappe immédiatement sur le site du Primavera, c’est la qualité d’organisation (on ne fait jamais la queue pour rien) et le peu de monde. Le site n’est jamais encombré et on ne lutte pratiquement jamais pour se glisser devant une scène. Je compterais au meilleur 12 à 15000 personnes par jours. La seule véritable grosse influence fut pour le concert de Portishead sur la scène Rockdelux.
Un site avec des allées tout en béton, avec quelques pelouses ou points d’ombres, mais jamais bien situés par rapport aux scènes. En revanche, les scènes sont pratiquement toutes à proximité d’une tribune permettant de jouir des concerts assis ou debout.

Disposition :
Deux grandes scènes, Rockdelux, une grande arène ouverte les 3 jours essentiellement rock. La Estrella Dam ouverte vendredi et samedi avec les plus grosses têtes d’affiche des ces deux jours.
Trois petites scènes, Vice planquée et éloignée au bord du port avec un son aléatoirement douteux. Sous un toit et donc avec un son assourdissant et sourd, la scène CD Drome qui devient un club après minuit. Et la scène ATP qui fonctionne pratiquement en autarcie, complètement à l’écart, de loin le meilleur son et des concerts absolument pas synchronisés avec les autres scènes.
Enfin notre billet donne accès à un auditorium ou certains artistes (Portishead, Throbbing Gristtle, Young Marble Giant) ont la chance de se produire dans des conditions optimales.


Jour 1 – Jeudi
Boitant mais courageux, j’arrive sur le site pour voir Tachenko qui me confirme tout le mal que je pense de la pop espagnole, aussitôt conforté par Estrella de David. Je laisse une dernière chance au post hardcore de Moho, mais visiblement ils ne doivent jamais répéter ensembles.

On s’installe pour voir se dégonfler comme un ballon de baudruche la hype MGMT qui ne joue pas à la bonne heure. Les deux dernières chansons nous remuent un peu les guiboles, mais tout ça est peu inspiré. Au beau milieu du concert je laisse mes camarades atterrés pour aller prendre un coup de fraicheur à Mount Eerie ou The Microphones… Je ne parviens pas à saisir le nom de ce groupe. Folk gentille mais un tantinet chiante. Cette première journée cumule les déceptions, mais ce qui a suivit tout au long des trois jours m’a convaincu de revenir l’année prochaine.

A commencer par The Notwist en pleine ascension commerciale et qui fait sensation en scotchant son auditoire sur une grande scène et ils font assurément le gros casse du jour. De l’autre côté les injustement méconnus d’Eric’s Trip tentent de faire du mieux possible sur la CD Drome et ce son catastrophique.

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back. L’un des meilleurs groupes de hip hop vient nous présenter son meilleur album. Après une intro assurée par 2DJ qui nous offrent un set de 15 minutes avec du rap 80’s, un peu de reggae et du Dub, dans une ambiance très zen, le groupe se met en place. Et là, c’est devenu très méchant. Un grand concert de fusion rock hip hop, comme on les aime, une basse un peu Fishbone, et une énergie comme ceux qui n’ont jamais vu NTM l’imagine. Le public, nombreux est aux anges, le concert fait l’unanimité.

Ayant eu la chance d’avoir vu Portishead précédemment sur cette tournée, je vais dormir devant Boris qui malheureusement s’est révélé caricatural dans un métal kamikaze. Le batteur fort bon avait un micro casque et poussait des hurlements plus tirés d’un manga que d’un concert de cette violence. J’ai par contre beaucoup aimé le final tout en bourdonnement par le mur des trois guitares saturées et le batteur barré dans la foule pour slamer. Je reviens vers Portishead et là stupeur. Brouhaha dans la foule, et le groupe joue sur scène dans l’indifférence de la moitié du public, un concert infernal et un public irrespectueux s’échangeant photos et jeux sur leur mobile. Le son est bon, Beth est en pleine forme, mais concert gâché, et mes copains verts de rage se jurant de retourner les voir le lendemain à l’auditorium dans de bonnes conditions (Le lendemain, concert identique, mais conditions optimales avec une Beth qui a finit par faire monter une partie du public sur scène à la fin pour danser avec eux. Hélas des gros retards les ont empêchés de voir Sebadoh…)

Pause repas devant Caribou, puis de nouveau rap avec les volumineux et doux rappeurs de De La Soul. 4000 personnes, surtout des fans ont été conquis par un set énergique, tout en humour et plutôt inspiré. C’est le show du trio qui est plaisant, aucune démonstration technique, on balance les samples et puis on joue avec le public qui a été très réactif. Je ne pense pas qu’un non connaisseur aurait en revanche eu la chance d’apprécier autant que moi.

Vampire Weekend enfin m’a déçu, non pas parce que le concert n’est pas bon, car ils jouent habilement avec le public et que le son était fort bon, mais parce que je trouve le groupe mauvais.
Rideau sur la première journée


Jour 2 – Vendredi
Intro de la journée allongé dans l’herbe devant la scène ATP à siroter des bières devant trois groupes de fort bon gout. Träd, Gräs Och Stenar d’abord avec une pop légèrement progressive tout droit des années 70. Le bassiste ressemble étrangement à mon bibliothécaire chauve pratiquement à la retraite… Ca vous donne une idée de leur look pas du tout rockn’ roll.
Le nom à coucher dehors du groupe suivant, MV & EE and the Golden Road ne m’avait pas incité à lire le descriptif. Cependant quand J Mascis (bassiste des Dinosaur Jr) monte sur scène pour monter une batterie, vous commencez à vous y intéresser. Sympathique groupe de folk rock à 2 batteries, qui est monté en puissance, très agréable en cette fin d’après midi.
Enfin l’apéro se termine avec le hardcore bordélique de Pissed Jeans.
Petite ballade sur le site, devant Bishop Allen (bof), No Age (Scéniquement inexistant, son naze, mais de bonnes chansons), Strange Death Of Liberal England (Grosse douleur aux oreilles) pour revenir finalement prendre son pied devant la scène ATP et le concert magnifique de Noise Folk et tout en charme de Six Organs Of Admitance. Je laisse mes copains se régaler devant Portishead. Je préfère voir Sebadoh qui a livré un efficace et sobre concert de rock. Il était amusant de les voir s’échanger les instruments tous les trois ou quatre morceaux et de continuer à sentir cette touche, ce son Sebadoh si particulier. Auparavant, Bob Mould (Ex Husker Dü) tentait de se dépatouiller comme il pouvait sur la CD Drome mais le son était tellement médiocre que ça ressemblait à du skate core californien sans saveur. Pendant ce temps là, The Sonics faisait un voyage dans le temps jusqu’en 1966 pour un public semblant très enthousiaste.

Voici enfin mon gros morceau du jour. Devo. Un concert jubilatoire ou il suffisait de connaître les best of tant ils n’ont pas pris de risque sur leur répertoire. Mais peu importe les meilleurs chansons sont dessus. On y va pour une qualité de spectacle, identique chaque soir, mais la fête est là, on ne boude pas son plaisir, on saute, acclame leurs personnages hauts en couleur et constatent avec amertume, que c’est déjà fini. Spectacle rodé, tellement rodé, que même la coupure d’électricité au rappel ne les a pas gênés pour continuer jusqu’au bout de leur fête.

Je suis resté quelques instants à A Place To Bury Strangers tant le son saturait en plus de leur son shoegaze. Dommage ça avait l’air d’être vraiment excellent. J’ai donc été voir Cat Power. Très bon concert avec un grand orchestre. Elle a l’air en forme, en fait voir de toutes les couleurs à l’éclairagiste en lui hurlant dessus, mais aussitôt vu, aussitôt oublié. La sensation Fuck Buttons devait certainement plus valoir le coup. En attendant Om, on se repose devant The Go! Team qui est une vrai dynamite à remettre la pèche.

Om, donc, avec une heure de basse batterie sourde et lente, une atmosphère perturbante et monotone qui hypnotise. Derrière ça, Rumble Strips et sa pop euphorisante ne peut pas nous toucher. Le reste du public a répondu très favorablement.

Enfin la grosse fête Math Rock qui remue les jambes même à 4h30 du matin, Holy Fuck, a drainé un large public qui a finit par envahir la scène pour célébrer cette musique si bien réinventé par Battles et dont Holy Fuck continue les expérimentations !


Dernier jour – Samedi
Le dimanche fut incroyable par son enchainement de groupes qui valaient la peine. La pop espagnole a redoré son blason à mon niveau par les prestations encourageantes de Gentle Music Men ou Madee (ces derniers ont été plus incontants). Scoutt Niblett a pu prouver tout son talent dans le cadre parfait de l’auditorium. Son duo Guitare batterie a un peu de Shannon Wright, mais avec plus de fraicheur et de fragilité.

Nous filons sur la scène Vice ou la veille, le son avait été terrible pour A Place to Bury Strangers ou No Age. Et bien aujourd’hui, tout va bien, pour Mission Of Burma plus tard, mais également pour le magicien Atlas Sound. J’ai eu des frissons pendant tout son concert tant son electro pop a su me toucher et me parler. Habituellement réputé timide, il n’a pas cesser de déconner et de parler.

Rapide passage sur la grande scène ou Okkervil River se montre plus joyeux que sur album, mais ça ne me parle pas et puis paf, refrisson et moment de bonheur devant un groupe avec une très grosse envergure, Silver Jews. Les pop songs de l’album prennent une autre couleur, la scène leur donne une seconde vie. Pas d’artifice, c’est honnêtement américain et fort plaisant.

Petit creux avec Dirty Projectors qui semblait fort bon, puis Stephen Malkmus qui est moins inspiré qu’avec Pavement, mais il y a tellement de choses à voir que les jugements sont parfois altérés. Il faut dire que depuis quelques heures je me fais une joie de voir Throbbing Gristle dans l’auditorium.

L’evènement Throbbing Gristle, Concert sans véritable surprise, c’est un son indus oppressant, on a toute la salle qui vibre en permanence, on en prend plein les oreilles. La redondance des sons provoquent une légère somnolence, mais une vidéo d’une violence rare (ablation des testicules de Genesis P Orridge, le chanteur) vous tire définitivement du sommeil. Encore une chanson abyssale, avec des sons sous marins, un décollage d’avion, un rappel plus mouvementé et puis on sort, sonné par la voix de Genesis P Orridge qui résonne encore, et puis par cette expérience plus bruitiste que musicale… Et dire qu’après ça il faut encore se cogner des concerts.

Je vois la fin de Morente Omega et des (excellents) Lagartija Nick dans un concert hardrock/flamenco qui ne me concernait pas. J’aurais mieux fait d’aller voir Mission Of Burma, ou Deerhunter ou les retours furent formidables.

Dilemme du week end, Dinosaur Jr ou Shellac. J’opte pour les premiers. Dinosaur Jr est en tournée sans rien à vendre et on a le droit à un sensationnel best of avec un super son et un groupe généreux sautillant devant les murs de Marshall. Le public ne semble pas connaisseur et réagit peu, mais wah, quelle set list. Je vais voir la fin de Shellac qui joue dans un brouaha incroyable. Je rentre instantanément dans le concert. Faut dire qu’ils terminaient par un End Of The Radio complètement hallucinant. Je les reverrai heureusement une semaine plus tard.

Des chroniques récentes m’avaient planté un portrait peu flatteur des prestations scéniques de Tindersticks. Mais que nenni ! Un orchestre (cordes, cuivres, au moins 20 musiciens) accompagnaient l’incroyable voix chaude du chanteur qui semblait vraiment ému d’être là. Une vraie présence qui fait vivre le concert. J’ai tenté l’évasion vers Les Savy Fav au beau milieu, mais à ma grande déception, en dehors du look d’ours hirsute et de l’humeur imprévisible du chanteur, c’est un groupe pénible, et sans talent. Vite, retour vers Tindersticks

Pour finir Animal Collective que j’appréciais beaucoup avant ce concert prétentieux et sans imagination, Para One (boum boum boum, j’agite les bras) qui a défoulé et une fin tout en finesse par Aparat Band, fort en retard mais dont les doux synthés nous ont permis de débriefer avec sourire de trois jours de bonheur.


Au final, le site est plutôt plaisant malgré la magnifique déchèterie nous apportant au gré du vent de magnifiques embruns. Et puis il y a cette programmation indé qui pardonne tout. Elle semble moins impressionnante cette année, mais la qualité demeure et c’est avec grand plaisir que je renouvellerai l’expérience.

Jue 29 May – Primavera Sound 2008
JUEVES
quemada la jornada número uno del primavera sound de este año. hoy creo que el premio al momento más memorable estará más reñido, pero ayer el presagio era claro y se cumplió, además: portishead.

si algo puede resumir de forma metafórica la expectación con la que se les recibía en españa a diez años vista de su última visita, son esos diez minutos de suspense, con las luces apagadas del escenario y el hilo musical a punto de desvanecerse engañosamente en varias ocasiones hasta que finalmente aparecieron en escena. beth gibbons mantiene su postura de chanteuse aferrada al micrófono, con ese gesto en el rostro que tan bien transmite la inseguridad, la crueldad -'plastic' y los desgarradores gritos finales y 'cowboys' para el recuerdo-, el autodesprecio o el romanticismo más absoluto. las canciones del disco de retorno fueron la columna vertebral del repertorio, pero no hubo duda de que es la estructura emocional de lo que el tiempo ha convertido en clásicos como 'over', 'sour times' o 'glory box' son la médula espinal de su espectáculo.
beth, lejos de esa imagen pública que puede transmitir de persona distante y esquiva -nunca ha coincidido entrevistas desde 1995-, se paseó por el borde del escenario volviendo locas a las primeras filas, y como colofón se bajó a chocar manos en el último tema. sublime, pero solo podía ser así.

por la tarde, sacamos la nariz en un par de conciertos: tachenko, que abrieron la tarde en el "escenario que está en el quinto coño" con su pop saltarinamente clásico; mgmt, grupo de tinte psicodélico que tuvo un par de buenos momentos en forma de hits; y the notwist, formación que mezclaba electrónica minimalista de orfebrería con canciones pop de guitarras de bajón, y que estuvo bastante bien.

antes de portishead y la cena, también pudimos descubrir el pasado de la cantautora julie doiron, que venía esta vez como bajista del grupo que tenía en los noventa y que se ha reunido recientemente, eric's trip. sin ser un concierto que desmereciera o decepcionara, la verdad es que los únicos momentos que podían llamarte la atención era cuando irrumpía -muy de vez en cuando- algún tema en la voz de doiron que no estuviera cortado por el mismo patrón de 'freak scene' de dinosaur jr o 'mote' de sonic youth, que para el caso son lo mismo. de hecho, eric's trip se despidieron IMITANDO a sonic youth.
y finalmente nos fuimos a casa, entre los gritos y los golpes de bajo y batería de prinzhorn dance school, por el cansancio más que por lo que estábamos viendo.

VIERNES
¿cuánto de difícil lo tiene alguien para hacerte llorar cuando le tienes metido en el corazón? tan difícil como abrir y cerrar un ojo. así se inauguró el segundo día de primavera sound para mí, admirando a esa sorpresa en forma de belleza incontestable que ha sido russian red -en la foto- las últimas semanas, y sucumbiendo a esa naturalidad que desprende en todo lo que hace. no lo tuvo muy difícil conmigo porque no es secreto que ando anonadado y enamorado de ella.
luchando al principio con el ruido atronador de otro escenario y mezclando en el setlist los temas clave de su debut "i love your glasses" con temas nuevos -'the letters', presente en su primera maqueta, debe ser grabada tal como sonó ayer cuanto antes-, la banda que acompañó a lourdes le dio un brío ligeramente distinto a las canciones pero igualmente cálido que en disco. se despidió con 'cigarettes', y a esa altura ya no podía mirarla directamente, solo intentar hacerme el duro escondiendo nerviosamente con la mano las lágrimas de los ojos.

por la tarde, después de pillar a tachenko en acústico -mejores- y un ratito de nuevo a russian red, el plan se torció infinitamente. no es el primer año que en el primavera sound se ofrece la posibilidad de comprar entradas para los conciertos destacados que hacen en el auditori, con lo cual te aseguras un asiento en el aforo limitado que tiene. pero el caso es que este año, no sé si en un afán de forrarse o algo peor, hay entradas para la mayoría de conciertos del auditori, y el sistema para acceder es de lo más absurdo: si compras entrada para dos espectáculos seguidos, desalojan el lugar después de cada concierto y tienes que volver a entrar. con lo cual, si vas al primero y tienes un buen sitio no te puedes quedar dentro para el siguiente. y eso solo significa una cosa: saldrás del primero y te encontrarás con una cola infinita para entrar al segundo, con lo cual estarás al final del todo.

el nivel de patetismo se hizo patente aún más ayer porque portishead tocaba en exclusiva en el auditori, después de su primer concierto del jueves. para resumir: organización pésima, colas para no creérselas, y hora de retraso en los conciertos que nos afectó a todo el horario, perdiéndonos a autolux y a sebadoh; y por extensión, a bill callahan que era el concierto previo a portishead en el auditori.
la banda de bristol llevó a cabo un espectáculo idéntico al del día anterior, pero la sensación de vivirlo más de cerca, en un recinto cerrado para tres mil personas y con una acústica increíble valió por todo el calvario por el que nos hizo pasar la organización. y está, por supuesto, el final: beth gibbons, que se bajó a saludar al patio de butacas en la última canción como de costumbre, jaleando a la gente para que se subiera al escenario ante la impotencia del personal de seguridad. una imagen que corta la respiración, la de cien personas subidas a ese escenario sin que la banda deje de tocar y con esa sensación de no saber qué va a pasar después. una gamberrada necesaria y liberadora después de una tarde de espera interminable. más grandes que el jueves, y parecía imposible.

por suerte, acabaron a tiempo para que pudieramos pasarnos por devo, y comprobar que con su ironía y su freakismo son de los grupos de new wave que han revivido en el sigo XXI con más frescura -además el rato que les vimos tocaron todos los hits-, y luego acabar la noche con otra belleza: cat power. la parte mala de haber perdido a la chan marshall insegura y deprimida en favor de la mujer que sale a comerse el escenario, es que ha decidido llevarse por delante con ello todo su catálogo anterior a 2006, me imagino que porque le trae malos recuerdos. nada que objetar, pero creo que necesita sacar ya material nuevo y entierrar un poco el repertorio de versiones que ha estado forjando durante año y medio, porque con él no consigue el nivel de intensidad de 'metal heart' o 'the greatest'. solo será cuestión de que se centre un poco. antes de abandonar el escenario, estuvo dando las gracias un buen rato y tirando al público pequeños souvenirs como setlists escritos, agua y flores.

SÁBADO
puedo decir, a unas horas de que todo finalizara, que el último día de primavera sound fue una jornada que careció de un momento arrebatador o desarmante, pero a cambio estuvo plagada de varios momentos agradables.

a las cinco de la tarde, arrancó todo para nosotros con la actuación de scout niblett en el auditori -del cual cabe decir que ayer no sufrió los retrasos del viernes en su programación y que las colas no eran tan desalentadoras. bajo ese pseudónimo, emma louise niblett da salida a composiciones llenas de contrastes, que se evidenciaron ayer como nunca. puede estar cantándote lo que parece una frágil canción infantil y a la mitad te golpea convirtiéndola en un martillazo de distorsión y batería pesada. consiguió venderme con argumentos muchas de las canciones que paso en sus discos. cuando salíamos, un guiri decía que era como la mujer lobo y que estaba loca. no sé si hay que llamar tan fácilmente loca a alguien por saber articular sentimientos de naturaleza dispar en segundos, pero sí que me quedo con lo de mujer lobo. fue sin duda de lo mejor de ayer, y eso que no interpretó ni por asomo nada de lo que yo podría esperar -ricard siempre me lo podrá tener en cuenta por el recopilatorio que le hice.

a ricard mismo le comentaba ayer que yo suelo ser un poco perezoso en los festivales al respecto de bandas que no conozca -por eso voy cuando en el cartel hay bastantes cosas de mi interés. me cuesta mucho que me llegue la música al nivel que debe para sentirla como especial, como para que me pueda sorprender un concierto así en frío y sin precedentes. por eso solo puedo calificar de anecdótico nuestro paso por actuaciones de gente como the devastations por la tarde.
en la carpa myspace pasamos un rato divertido al encontrarnos por sorpresa con sesión acústica de stephen malkmus, aunque solo vieramos a la gente que abarrotaba el espacio al principio. cuando terminó, estuvo haciéndose fotos con la gente y firmando cosas justo a nuestro lado. luego me doy la vuelta y veo a julie doiron hablando con dos fans, y con ella sí que nos hicimos una foto. un poco más allá, russian red con una amiga, pero a ella sí que no me atreví a decirle nada, no sabía qué. un metro cuadrado de "famosos" en diez minutos.

vimos a la bien querida en acústico acompañada por david de beef -un poco tímida y con canciones un poco estándar, pero bonitas- y nos fuimos al auditori para el segundo gran momento de la tarde, la primera actuación de young marble giants -foto- en españa. de adolescente les conocía por nombre, ya que hole versioneaban 'credit in the straight world' en el disco clave para mí en esa época, "live through this". luego descubrí su único disco y me di cuenta de que su sonido austero (bajo, caja de ritmos que parece el pulso de alguien, guitarra) y sus pequeñas canciones habían influenciado a muchísima gente a la que adoramos en nuestros días -natalia de nosoträsh estaba entre la audiencia. estuvieron adorables, habladores y agradecidos. entrañable.

y acto seguido, la peor pesadilla posible: throbbing grisle. sabíamos que era ruido, que era experimentación y vanguardia, pero no sabíamos que no lo aguantaríamos. el morbo de ver a genesys p.orridge vestido de ramera (lleva unos años convirtiéndose poco a poco en mujer) no pudo con ese sonido infernal y sin tregua. yo me dormía y ricard salió mareado y a punto de vomitar a causa de un video artístico que proyectaron de fondo en el que le sacaban los testículos a un tío y se los cortaban. demasiado exquisito para nosotros -a todo esto, miqui puig y j mascis en el patio de butacas.

como dinosaur jr siempre me han parecido un taladro en marcha perforando una pieza de hierro, y ricard ya sufrió lo suyo con ellos en 2006, vimos cuatro canciones desde la hierba y nos fuimos a ver a shellac, que me convencieron bastante al acercarse mucho a la parte de post-rock y post-hardcore que más me gusta de la escena americana. a pesar de todo anecdótico también al no estar mucho por la labor por el cansancio, el mismo cansancio que nos hizo abandonar a la mitad de tindersticks -sublimes, con despliegue instrumental de quinteto de cuerda y músicos de viento.

balance artístico altamente positivo, a pesar de que cuatro o cinco conciertos clave se quedaran en el tintero por la pésima organización de ciertas cosas que espero que sepan valorar y solucionar de cara al año que viene.

RETRO, uvod:

iwan – 17.06.2008 19:36
weedeater sou dobra kapela. diky apacko!

apx – 18.06.2008 08:50
tak jo. zrovna jsem do lidovych novin v recenzi pissed jeans (!) napsala, ze to jsou kotatka (!)

spoonman – 18.06.2008 09:34
(o pattonovi) popsal jsem to jako jazz/hc/alternativa/tahnizaocaskockynakoksu a myslim, ze sem to trefil

(...) Jsou ale horsi veci nez nebyt v hudebnim diari. Napriklad nemit vubec zadny diar. A to se stane: v lete totiz nejsou zadne premiery, tudiz nebudou ani zadne Premiery. Je to skoda, ty hudebni by totiz s prehledem pokryly vsechny stranky prilohy (jako nechci vam lizt do svedomi, ale kdo z vas cte televizni program? toho bych do televize vubec nepoustel, dyk je to hovado). Festivalova sezona? Tak tento termin, pratele, je pase jako silon. Promoteri a poradatele uz na nejakou "klubovou" a "festivalovou" sezonu totiz davno serou. Pokud tedy taktne pomlcime o festivalech samotnych (kde se obcas mihne i neco, co neni uplna picovina), koncertu je tolik, abych si kurva vzala misto dovolenky nejakou brigadu v tesku (nejlepe za kasou, abych tam potkavala co nejvic lidi). Zbytek je v LN, takovy blekoty blekoty. Diar se na leto presouva sem na last.fm, jste radi?

(zdola nahoru)

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer (19.6.2008)
Clanek docela dobrej, jsem chytua jak uadio.

Melvins - Nude With Boots (12.6.2008)
To si myslim ze se docela povedlo. Ale je to vicemene tim (jak kdysi trefne poznamenal Spoonman), ze King Buzzo je desne vtipnej a citovat vtipny lidi zaruci pokud ne primo vtipnej, aspon zajimavej clanek. Nova deska je vyborna, den predtim jsme se hadali na Sedmicce, jestli jsou Big Biz pro Melvins prinos, nebo zatez. Ja samozrejme tvrdim (a Krepelka treba taky), ze to Jared a Coady suverenne tlaci dopredu. A to kurva paradne.
link: lidovky.cz

Primavera Sound 2008 (5.6.2008)
Reportaz z Barcelony, kde byl festival Primavera. Necenzurovana verze se objevila tady v blocku, jinak oba clanky byly dost kracene, protoze tam moc mista nebylo. Obcas se nejaka informace kryje (asi dve), jinak jsem resila problem, jestli to napsat a) tak, abych pokryla co nejvice kapel a zazitku, b) vypichnout ze pet velkych jmen a o nich napsat vic. Nakonec z toho bylo takove neurcity, faktograficko-blogovy zaznam. Tak snad se nikdo nenasral.
link: lidovky.cz

The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia... (29.5.2008)
Recenzi na kompilacku Dresden Dolls psal Ondrej Horak, coz je muj kolega, co pise o knizkach, vtipny propadliste a televizni tyden. Napsal to, pac je zna, ma rad (dal jim pet z peti tyjo) a umi psat. Umi psat stokrat lip nez ja a nedela zadny chyby. Jinak Ondrej je zamilovanej do myho odrazu v zrcadle. Fakt, rikal to! Hahaha. Jezis ted by mi dal asi par facek.
link: lidovky.cz

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (22.5.2008)
Jo, to bylo docela vtipny. Misto nejaky recenze jsem napsala spoustu omacky a az do posledni chvile jsem si myslela, ze si toho nikdo nevsimnul. Hehe. Ja to s Dino nemam nijak extra. I kdyz ted, pote, co jsem je za posledni mesic videla trikrat nazivo, jsem se zaprvy zamilovala do Barlowa, a zadruhy do nejakejch jejich i novejch pisnicek (Been There All the Time, dobrej priklad). Nevim, co si s tim pocnu.
link: lidovky.cz

Puscifer - V is for Vagina (15.5.2008)
Krasny promofotky jsem k Maynardovi mela, i kdyz samotna recenze vysla se zpozdenim, takze se trochu dotykala i oficialnich Remixes, na kterych se podileli mj. Aaron Turner, Dave Ogilvie, Lustmord nebo ten blbec ze Slipknot. Paradni remixy mimochodem. To jsem tam teda nerozebirala, naopak jsem treba zduraznila to, ze MJK je vinar. Vedeli jste, ze ma vlastni vinice? Ja teda ne.
link: lidovky.cz

Nic (8.5.2008 a 1.5.2008)
Posrany volno. Skoda skodicka!

Old Time Relijun - Catharsis In Crisis (24.4.2008)
Tohle byl trochu orisek. Hodne jsem vahala, jestli z takove opravdu hodne male, "sedmickove" kapely (kam na ne ostatne prislo fakt minimum lidi, pritom ten koncert byl moc dobrej) mam delat Premiery. Mela jsem i hotovy cely rozhovor s Arringtonem, jenze ten jsem nakonec jen trapne vmontovala do recenze. Celkove to nebylo moc dobre dramaturgicky zvladnuty.
link: lidovky.cz

dEUS - Vantage Point (17.4.2008)
Jo, na to jsem cekala mesice, az budu slyset (a moct napsat, at uz to bude kamkoliv) novou desku dEUS. Nezklamala me, dala jsem full house. Je porad skvela. Jenom v clanku nakonec nebyla moc koser fotka, totiz koncertni (presto Krystofovi moc dekuju), radsi bych tam mela nejakou klasickou promo, ale nejak se mi nezadarilo. Jinak si myslim ze i solidni text a vesmes dobry ohlasy.
link: lidovky.cz

Guapo - Elixirs (10.4.2008)
Guapo na otviraku Premier byli dobry UFO. Kdyz jsem se rozhodovala, co prijde dal, rikam si, tyvole jasne, kuci vopaleny britsky z Neurotu! Tak jsem resila fotky, rozhovor (dobrej, neodflakli, ale poslali moc pozde, haha, tak zase v zari) a pak az jsem slysela tu desku. Tyvole tohle proste klasickej ctenar LN asi nerozdejcha. Snazila jsem se byt teda co nejmin ty ctenare desit, ale ono i staci, ze jim v tom chaosu hostuje Jarboe a to je proste peklo ocistec. To nejse napsat nejakejma normalnima slovama, to co na te desce je... A jeste u nas ted budou hrat 24. zari na Sedmicce.
link: lidovky.cz

Motorpsycho - Little Lucid Moments (3.4.2008)
Jsem nasrana, ze tuhle kapelu tolik lidi ignoruje. Vizionar se mi chechtal jeste tyden potom, ze jsem napsala, ze je to jedna z nejdulezitejsich evropskych (= neamerickych a nebritskych) kapel 90. let. Staci se bavit s nejakejma kapelama z Evropy, co hrajou nejakej indie rock (uvozovky), a kazdej vam vysype, ze ma rad tohle tamto ono kdesi cosi a "samozrejme Motorpsycho". A ostatne staci poslechnout ty desky. Ppppffff.
link: lidovky.cz

Why? - Alopecia (27.3.2008)
Nejhorsi titulek v dejinach Premier, jinak vyborna deska. Mela jsem desnej problem to napsat, protoze v tomhle oboru (rekneme alternativni experimentalni nezavisly hiphopy labelu anticon.) nejsem zrovna dvakrat kovana, takze jsem za tu noc musela vstrebat jeste dalsich pet nahravek, abych mela nejake aspon trochu nezavadejici srovnani. Nicmene kuci uz neposloucham, neni cas. A ani na Primavere jsem si je moc nedavala (protoze hrali proti jinejm, no).
link: lidovky.cz

Bob Mould - District Line (20.3.2008)
Tohle byl muj salek. Borec s minulosti Huser Du a Sugar, chlap, co nestoji na jednom miste, navic docela vtipnej a deska vyborna. To se kurva pise, kdyz k tomu mate takovy realie a background. Taky jsem ho videla nazivo s kapelou a bylo to moc dobry, alespon pokud jde o preneseni toho "rockoveho naboje", kterym docela prekvapil. Docela oldschool rokenrol.
link: lidovky.cz

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (13.3.2008)
Tady chlapik neni zadnej metal, ale docela folk a jeste s takovym hodne vysokym falzetem. Nicmene pamatuju si (taky uz jsem si to nedala, protoze viz vyse), ze ta deska je nesmirne uhranciva, a na to, ze si to skladal na koleni nekde v prdeli, zni fakt moc pekne. Nevim proc jsem si to asociovala s filmem Into the Wild. Asize bych to tam slysela radsi nez Veddera. Ackoliv watafa...
link: lidovky.cz

Bauhaus - Go Away White (6.3.2008)
Dobrej clanek si myslim. A moc dobra deska. Bauhaus byli kdysi legendy, ale tohleto album (posledni) je zastihlo fakt v definitivnim zenitu. Je to docela skoda, nazivo bych si je dala (a zvlast pak nejakery veci z tohodle alba). Dobra prace, ale myslim, ze bez podpory (ktera uz ani neexistuje) se tahle deska o moc dal nedostane (rozumej: nikam). Skoda.
link: lidovky.cz

Caribou - Andorra (28.2.2008)
Jo, to je borec. A ja jsem taky borec, napsala jsem, ze je to v Palaci Akropolis (ten koncert) a on byl zatim nekde v Lucerna Music Baru. Pamatuju si, ze jsem byla zrovna pracovne v Divadle Kalich (za Landakem zahajlovat) a psal mi Machy textovky: Prosimte napis tam, ze Sunflower Caravan hrajou tuzku. Takze: Sunflower Caravan hrajou tuzku.
link: lidovky.cz

Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (21.2.2008)
Na koncerte The Cure jsem Spoonmanovi cetla uryvky, kde jsem prirovnavala hudbu Earth k nejakemu prirodnimu jevu. U takovejchto kapel se to holt primo nabizi a taky jsem tomu neodolala, ackoliv predtim jsem to profesionalne udelala jen jednou (v recenzi na Wolves in the Throne Room) a pak jsme jeste kdysi s novim delali seminar fixerum o Isis a Neurosis, hehehe.
link: lidovky.cz

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride (14.2.2008)
Jo, todle je dobry. Poslouchala jsem to docela nedavno kvuli recenzi do A2 a fakt to ma kouzlo tahle deska (resp. nejaky konkretni pisnicky). Tuhle vec mazat nebudu, az prijde na krajeni chleba (nebo jak se to rika). Clanek si myslim ze byl taky dobrej, oni k tomu maji takovy komiksy a pro ty ja mam slabost. Fakt vybrousena muzika (ackoliv zase, zadnej metal).
link: lidovky.cz

Best of Morrissey (7.2.2008)
Aran mel radost, ale urcite nebyl sam. Pamatuju si, jak jsem dve hodiny zirala na promofotky a nemohla ani jednu vybrat, pac mi vsechny prisly desive sexy a vsechny jsem tam chtela. S Mozem jsem pak mela jeste jednu eskapadu v Musicbloku, coz je nejakej porad v telce, kam me vmanipuloval Vizionar. Bylo to pekne trapny a dodnes jsem to ani nevidela. Dokonce to videl muj bratr (reprizu) a jeste mel tu drzost mi o pul druhe volat: "Hej segra vole ses v bedne!" Parrrraaaada.
link: lidovky.cz >

The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath (31.1.2008)
Cedric a Omar jsou kotata, mam ty dve fetny moc rada. Clanek byl dobrej a vlastne byla dost dobra cela stranka, ktera byla tematicka (Mars Vopruz, At the Drive-in, Sparta, fet, surrealismus). Mam to tady v PDF, ten rozhovor s Jeffem je docela zajimavej. To je typek, co jim delal posledni desky. Jsou to vsichni proste psychopati. A Mars Volta v Praze. Ouje.
link: lidovky.cz

Cat Power - Jukebox (24.1.2008)
Byla to docela dobra deska, i kdyz ne uplne muj salek. Tehdy na zacatku roku jsem ale nejake lepsi moznosti kolem sebe moc nevidela, nebo mi neprisly vhodny. Chan je takove hodne vdecne tema. Nicmene pokud jde o tu muziku, vzpominam na to celkem dobre (pekny covery ma, treba Crazy od Gnarls Barkley), ale kdyz si vzpomenu na jeji koncert na Primavere, moc se mi k tomu vracet ani nechce.
link: lidovky.cz

The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia (17.1.2008)
Haha! Nemohla jsem se dockat, az tohle napisu, takze to vlastne ani neni recenze, protoze jsem z te desky tehdy slysela jen dve skladby. Mimochodem dost dobry, Idle Hands a Stations. Takze tam ani neni hodnoceni, zejo. Jinak jsem jim pak v minirecenzi dala full house, ale to az pozdeji. Tesim se na tyhle dva srace jak malej Jarda, fakt. Nejlepsi nemetalova deska roku pro me. Zatim. Mimochodem a ta metalova? And We Wept the Black Ocean Within od Storm of Light. Tykravo.
link: lidovky.cz

Bilance (10.1.2007)
Moje prvni Premiery a hned jsem si vymrcovala specialni format. Bylo to ohlednuti za rokem 2007 v deseti nejlepsich deskach podle Metacritics. To je celkem dobrej server, i kdyz uz to tam nestiham zrat vsechno a porad. Libilo se mi, ze jsem mohla psat o deskach, kde nejvetsim mainstreamem byli Radiohead. Myslim, ze to byl docela solidni zacatek. Dramaturgicky, ta stylistika byla tehdy pekelne rozklepana. I ted obcas je, ale tehdy byla fakt o hodne vic.
link: lidovky.cz

Jue 29 May – Primavera Sound 2008

El Primavera Sound s'ha acabat. Els dubtes existencials, sacrificis, ovacions i corregudes per anar d'un escenari a un altre també. L'edició d'enguany serà recordada com el Primavera de Portishead, Public Enemy, The Sonics Mission Of Burma o Morente, però el meu festival va ser aquest:


El dijous MGMT van ser els encarregats d'obrir el foc. Concert més que correcte amb les cançons festives del Time to Pretend, amb Kids per acabar. Crec que haurien brillat més a les tantes de la nit que no pas en ple sol.

Eric's Trip eren els següents i no van defraudar. Julie Doiron i els seus van donar tota una lliçó de saber fer soroll amb melodies pop. Dels millors del dia.

Tot sopant, des de les grades i després de veure trossos de British Sea Power i Public Enemy, el plat fort: Portishead. Un retorn més que esperat i que dubto molt que defraudés a algú. Les cançons del Third no van desentonar gens amb els clàssics del Dummy. L'única pega va ser el molest soroll que venia de l'ATP, on estaven Boris i que van fer deslluïr les peces més calmades.

De la serena veu de la Beth Gibbons al post-rock èpic (de vegades massa postureta també) de EITS. Seguts de nou vam flotar amb els meravellosos paisatges instrumentals dels texans, veritables "explosiones en el cielo" com van dir.

Hora pel que seria l'últim de la nit: Vampire Weekend. Molta gent i moltes ganes en l'ambient però a mi em van acabar cansant. Agraden i sonen frescos i molt ballables. En fi, cap a casa a dormir sacrificant a Midnight Juggernauts.

Llàstima no poder veure a Health (que diuen que van ser del millor del festival) The Microphones i Manitoba/Caribou, però aquestes són les conseqüències d'aquests enormes cartells.


Divendres va començar amb la revel·lació d'aquest 2008, el projecte de la jove madrilenya Lourdes Hernández: Russian Red. Ajudada per un grup d'acompanyament va anar desgranant les petites joies del seu disc de debut I Love Your Glasses. I és que després de sentir Cigarettes és impossible sortir d'allà sense un somriure tonto dibuixat a la teva cara.

The Felice Brothers van ser els següents. Amb el bateria excercint de showman i exhibint músculs, els germans van disfrutar dalt l'escenari i van fer disfrutar a la gent. Folk/Country de la vella escola amb resultats sorprenents. Es va fer molt curt.

Els indescriptibles i experimentals No Age, que tantes expectatives m'havien creat en disc, van acabar sent una petita decepció pel meu gust. No els vaig disfrutar com m'esperava, tot i que van sonar correctes. Els hi va faltar la xispa per acabar d'encendre's. Potser en un espai més petit haguessin guanyat però en fí, seguirem disfrutant dels seus discos i a l'espera d'una nova oportunitat en directe.

Cita amb la història amb els llegendaris The Sonics. Tot i les crítiques rebudes, per mi va ser un gran concert. Els hits hi van estar presents i l'actitud va ser del tot professional. No se'ls hi pot demanar més a aquestes altures. Vibrar amb The Witch, Psycho o Strychnine en ple segle XXI és impagable!
I dels seixanta viatgem cap els noranta amb Lou Barlow, Gaffney i Loewenstein: Sebadoh. Concert amb enormes himnes que no van brillar tal i com esperava. Poc rodatge i llarguíssimes pauses entre tema i tema van fer que el que podria haver estat un excel·lent concert es quedés en un notable.

Devo van oferir una festa freak amb tot un arsenal de hits. I és que no són humans, són Devo! Amb les típiques torretes com a barret i disfressats, semblava com si no haguessin passat els anys.

I el moment més esperat del divendres: A Place To Bury Strangers. Soroll, pura capa de soroll diví. Es van confirmar com a autèntics terroristes sonors i van guanyar-se les orelles dels presents. No són un plagi de MBV o del Loveless, tenen el seu propi caràcter i fan reviure l'esperit de finals dels vuitanta sense sonar gens pesats.

Després d'això vaig decidir retirar-me i perdrem El Guincho i Holy Fuck per poder estar en plena forma per l'endemà.

El dissabte va començar a l'Auditori. Llàstima de l'horari de les actuacions dels ex-components de Hefner, al migdia. Però bé, primera experiència personal amb l'Auditori i quin debut! Bon Iver i les seves cançons per l'Emma. Genial. Quasi ple fins la bandera. Emocions i interacció amb el grup. Pell de gallina constant. Em reafirmo: Màgia pura.

D'un extrem a un altre en pocs minuts. Times New Viking i la seva distorsió encaramelada. Tot i els petits problemes que va patir el guitarrista van agradar. La poca gent que hi havia al ATP amb ganes de més.

Port O'Brien obrien el Rockdelux. Començaven a caure tímides gotes i feien patir. Fitxats sense encara tenir disc publicat, els americans van complir. Van tancar amb I woke up Today, cançó vitalista i que segur que els hi obrirà moltes portes.

Els jueus platejats de David Berman eren els següents. Tenia els meus dubtes, però eren un dels imprescindibles de veure. Quin saber estar dalt d'un escenari! Quin gran frontman! Van convèncer a base de grans cançons i el públic entregat per la causa.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks em van arribar a cansar una mica. Se'l veia en plena forma però volem les cançons PAVEMENT!PS '09? Hi tinc plena confiança.

Uns altres d'imprescindibles, Mission Of Burma. La veritat és que jo només els conec del Vs. però era una cita inevitable. Brutals. Rabiosos. Fora del sector de fans incondicionals es va sentir a la perfecció. Que bonic veure la cara de felicitat de certs personatges que ho van viure intensament.

I dels dinosaures què me'n dieu? Això si que va ser tot un concertàs! El Lou Barlow va fer el doblet després d'actuar el dia anterior amb Sebadoh i ho va fer amb millors resultats. Crus, bruts, potents i acabant amb Sludgefeast. Per recordar.

Arribem al ATP. Tothom marxant flipant del que havia estat l'actuació de Shellac. I retard en el començament de Les Savy Fav. La decisió era una de les més doloroses ja que a la mateixa hora tocaven Tindersticks al Rockdelux. Però a quarts de 2 de la nit? Quin tros d'animal el puto Tim Harrington. Ell no en té pas prou d'un minúscul escenari no, ell ha d'anar de punta a punta l'ATP, grades amunt grades avall, lligant amb les ties... Pur espectacle! A més no va parar de disfressar-se. Però no hi havia més temps a perdre...


Nervis. Arribava tard per veure els que més ganes en tenia: Animal Collective. Corrents fins a l'Estrella Damm. Molta gent. Arribo a temps just quan estava sonant Comfy in Nautica. Alegria. In Panda Bear we trust! Van anar al gra presentant les cançons que possiblement estaran en el nou disc. Semblava haver un magnetisme que et deixava hipnotitzat i et recorria per tot el cos al ritme dels moviments d'Avey Tare. No van faltar Fireworks, Peacebone, Grass o la 100% ballable Brother Sport per acabar. El que no es pot ser tant exigent amb els horaris... si tothom reclama que hi hagin bisos per què no van tornar a sortir? Concert del festival.

Després a Simian i decidit a marxar cap a casa. Però abans anem a donar una ullada al ATP... el gran diluvi que va caure allà! I quin gran final primaveral.

Jeu 29 mai – Primavera Sound 2008

So many good sounds in three days.
Here's the top five list :
1. DEERHUNTER : perfect climax and combination of noise & melody at the ATP stage, new songs from a forthcoming lp, Bradford Cox invites Geologist (Animal Colective) on stage, beautiful final with Strange Lights...and impossible to not mention the ATLAS SOUND set. Bradford is probably the hero of the week-end.

2. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE : sort of triumph at the main stage of the fest, crazy set list as usual, Panda Bear sings Comfy in nautica as expected and it sounds really good. Too years ago, this band played with little soundsystems...There's a real story between them and their audience. Terrific (infra)bass all around the set.

3.PUBLIC ENEMY performing It takes a nation..:
Just before the show, the Bomb Squad dj's played some incredible "dubstep/grime/hop" soundz (or things who are sounding like that, don't really know). Good introduction for the rest, really punchy, some live instruments, and Flavor Flav at his best.

4.BORIS : one of the strangiest (think HEALTH too who played a crazy live performance at the Vice stage)) and noisiest sound (think A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS too, who make a wall of fuzzy sound at the Vice stage again) of the fest', better than their last lp, with a gong on stage, a real experience whatever you think of them.

5.Other good shows and partly seen by : Vampire Weekend (like beginners which is good, good to hear Walcott, Oxford Comma in the night), Surkin & Kavinsky (just before the rain at 5a.m., Fuck Buttons (big crowd to saw them at the ATP stage, sounds really huge, maybe too much...but good anyway), The Microphones (with Julie Doiron from Eric's trip on vocals),Caribou, Shellac, Om, Dirty Projectors...

Primavera Sound 2008

General Stuff
I love Barcelona - one of my favorite cities - but it does seem to get more and more expensive every time I go, probably a combination of the exchange rates, local inflation as the place gets more and more popular and global inflation. This was exacerbated at the festival by the Estrella Damm\Coke\Jagermeister lock down on the sale of drinks meaning a small glass (or should that be plastic) of mediocre lager cost 4 euro (just over £3.00). The spirit measures were of the usual generous Spanish proportions but didn't come cheap at 6 euros with a mixer. Smuggling your own drink in seems to be the only sensible option!
The site is easy to get around and the sound was mostly good except for occasions on the CD Drome stage when it echoed around off the roof. It could feel a bit soul-less especially early on when there weren't so many people there. The food was good (although again it wasn't cheap) and the food stalls had more of a UK festival feel to them - a bit hippy/crusty/alternative in contrast to the corporate run bars.

Queuing was a bit of a pain - queuing for drink tickets, then queuing for drinks, queuing to change yesterdays drink tickets for todays tickets, queuing for food, queuing for tickets for the Auditori ....

The wall to wall Converse shod, tight-legged-jeans-with-saggy-arse crowd was a bit daunting for an old bloke at first but as the weekend wore on it got more diverse - my impression was that there were more local people there on the Saturday and Sunday.

The Music

Day 1

I had read a scathing review of an MGMT live performance in one of the weekend papers, but I really like the album, so I wasn't sure what to expect. In the event I think the shorter time that a festival performance allows suited them - there was no time for protracted guitar solos or prog-rock excesses and their catchy tunes went down well in the sun. The singer's frock was fab. A great way to kick off proceedings.

The Bomb Squad did a great intro for Public Enemy who were just soooo camp! 3 blokes marching on stage in matching uniforms, outsize Alice in Wonderland pocket watch and the general over-the-top performance contrasting with the faux aggressive shouting just seem hilarious to me. Are you supposed to take them seriously? Anyway I lasted about 2 songs before the joke wore off.

So we wandered off to the nearby CD Drome stage and discovered Shipping News who were great and one of my discoveries of the festival. I hadn't heard them before but thoroughly enjoyed their guitar driven post-rock tinged tunes and loved the dog howling ...

Boris were recommended by someone we bumped in to as the Shipping News crowd dispersed so we headed off to see them. I don't see the point really - it's just 1970s style heavy metal isn't it? Or am I missing something? I didn't like it anyway.

Portishead - well the music is OKish in an easy-listening kind of way but that whining, self pitying voice just gets on my tits so on to the second and best discovery of the festival ...

Caribou - they were bloody marvelous and a complete revelation. I knew the track Melody Day and liked it but live the band had so much more energy and excitement. Often driven along by 2 drummers (you can't beat a band with 2 drummers!) as Dan Snaith switched between drums, guitar and keyboards. The more they played the more I jumped up and down and grinned. F'ing bloody wonderful! I can't wait to see them again at Green Man now.

Explosions in the Sky were next - we missed the beginning of their set but I soon got into the EITS mood as they did their inimitable stuff.

Thoroughly knackered we decided to head back to our hotel - caught Prinzhorn Dance School on the way but the shouty lady in the green frock just grated after the sublime 2 preceding acts.

Foolishly decided we couldn't be arsed queuing for bus tickets and we'd walk it instead - fell into bed getting on for 2 hours later with very sore feet!

Day 2
Started off with Träd, Gräs och Stenar - despite them apparently having been around for years I'd never heard of them. They sounded like the prog rocky stuff I used to listen to in my youth only more miserable and not as good. Gave up on them after they announced the next song was a celebration of the coming of summer and it sounded just as depressing as the preceding numbers.
So we went for a wander to return later to the ATP stage so we could sit on the grass in the sun and watched MV & EE With The Golden Road - again I was transported to my youth. They sounded like the out of tune ramblings I used inflict on my neighbours when my mates used to come round and we'd "jam" in my garage. Having now seen what seemed to be 3 70s throw-backs on the ATP stage I was beginning to wonder if I was seriously out of touch and hadn't noticed that music was going through one of its periodic revivals or if the ATP curators were just a bit rubbish.
We reckoned we could fit in about 30 minutes of the Felice Brothers before heading to the Auditori for Bill Callahan. I'm glad we made the effort. They were great. Guitar, fiddle, washboard, accordion and fearsome drumming. Yes, another great drummer who also sang and played guitar - his presence dominated as he climbed over the drums acting out the songs' lyrics. And what songs - burlesque, country, Americana - you've got to love a song that starts "put some whiskey in my whiskey" ... shame we had to dash off but as a long time Smog fan Bill Callahan promised to be the high light of the festival for me.
After more queuing we got in to the auditorium scrambled for some decent seats near the front and Bill didn't disappoint. His voice seems to have even more depth live - a huge mesmerising voice from such a small frame. Once or twice he'd start doing a little one legged dance or walk round in small circles and then catch himself and realise he was getting carried away and go back to his regular immobile stance. He didn't play some of my favorites but Blood Flow was outstanding - in fact it was all good. I'm desperate to see him do a longer set now.

Went to see Sebadoh next - they were OK if a little predictable in that US punk/grunge kind of way. All the fiddling about between songs - guitar tuning, amp and effects tweaking and those drummers twitches - got on my nerves. Dinosaur Jr. seemed to do the same only even worse so maybe it comes with the territory.

Now our first visit to the main stage to see Devo. Spotted some, in this case, forgivable hat-twattery in the crowd with people sporting the Devo flowerpot. Right from the introductory film assuaging our fears that we might be inappropriately dressed for a Devo gig this was a wonderfully thought out and presented performance. The cult of De-evolution obviously lives on. The yellow paper Metropolis style boiler suits got ripped away towards the end of the set to reveal black shorts and t-shirts, socks with suspenders and knee guards. The wit and humor of the stage show was matched by the "greatest hits" set list - the whole thing had me singing along when I could manage it through the laughter. Even some sound problems during the encore didn't dampen the joy.

Back down the hill to ATP for Fuck Buttons. I'd really liked the stuff I'd heard on CD - their DIY electronics approach reminds me of Holy Fuck (who I love and sadly missed here through tiredness) - maybe there's something about bands with sweary names. Their performance kind of snuck up on you - a low electronic hum, so you didn't really notice they'd started playing, gradually built to a tremendous rhythmic climax and from then on my attention was gripped by a thrilling array sounds from an assortment of sources - how do 2 people produce such a wonderful racket?

Day 3
Saturday started off with Mary Weiss in the Auditori (so more queuing). She looked and sounded a lot younger than her years (can't believe she's 60 this year!)- her voice instantly recognisable from all those classic The Shangri-Las hits. The band were great - obviously good musicians but equally obviously really enjoying themselves. She mixed new and less familiar material with the afore-mentioned rock 'n' roll Shangri-Las classics - Walking in the Sand, Give Him a Great Big Kiss and Leader of the Pack. All of these with the (all male) backing band filling in the girlie backing vocals/conversations which Mary evidently found hilarious - so much so she couldn't sing for laughing at one point during Leader of the Pack. What a great way to start a Saturday night!

Managed to catch the end of Silver Jews - story telling songs sung by a kind of hairy Nick Cave doing country rock with the voice of Johnny Cash - another band I need to listen to more of.
Rufus Wainwright was OK. I'd seen him at Glasto last year and much prefer him with a backing band rather than the solo performance with guitar or grand piano we get here - the band seem to add a bit of variety and texture to songs that can get a bit samey after a while. The way he sings with his eyes closed and waggles his head about really reminds me of his dad (Loudon Wainwright III) and, to be honest, I much prefer Loudon.

I really want to like Shellac. I feel like I ought to like them - after all we all know that Albini is a genius. So I make my way down to the ATP stage and try. But, as ever, the testosterone fueled guitar posturing just leaves me cold. I look round the audience at one point and do a quick head count and from the hundreds I can see from where I am I reckon there are about 10 women (and 2 don't-knows). This really is blokes music - and blokes who do air-guitar too!

We tried to listen to Tindersticks but the noise from other stages marred our enjoyment - and we'll be able to catch up with them at Latitude.

The Closing Party
Massively over-priced watered down drinks and a puzzling performance by The Missing Leech who forsook the stage and busked on the dance floor in (to me) incomprehensible Spanish or Catalan didn't bode well but Kelley Stoltz was an unexpected pleasure. Good inter-song banter and songs that mixed country music with the Velvet Underground lifted our mood. And then The Wave Pictures. Another band I'd really been looking forward to even if it seems a bit odd to come all the way to Spain to see a band from Loughborough. And they didn't disappoint - initially I was worried I'd miss the nice touches of extra vocals and instrumentation to be found on their recorded stuff as it was just the 3 youngsters on stage but the energy, quirky lyrics ("the sun streamed through the window like a pack of orange spaniels"), great guitar playing and the fact that they were obviously having a great time resulted in another festival hight light for me.
And that was it for us.
All in all a great time was had and we didn't have to wade through any mud!

Thu 29 May – Primavera Sound 2008

Just some of my expressions...

Thursday

MGMT
This was the first band I saw and one of those marked by me as "might as well see" but I really enjoyed it. And now I can't get "Kids" out of my head anymore and after listening to the album even more songs.

The Notwist
One of the bands I grew quite fond of over the last month after knowing they'll be there and now liked their performance a lot. Ok, it was a concert that should rather be seen sitting than standing but the greatest fear I head for it being too "unexciting" didn't prove true thanks to a lot of 'juice' and improvising they added. Additionaly I spent about half of the concert wondering, what the one guy did with his Wii controllers. I saw him moving them then and again but couldn't quite make out what that actually controlled.

Eric's Trip
Unfortunately I missed a part of the concert since it started only half an hour after Notwist. I therefore can't say too much about it. But as for the part I heard, I must say that I liked the songs more, that were sung by Julie Doiron, than the guy's but overall had a good time.

British Sea Power
This must be the most generic indie band ever. Nothing more to say here. Except maybe that I don't know why I missed Public Enemy for this.

Portishead
Oh well, that is a hard one. It wasn't a bad concert but why does she have to do this thing with her voice? Being no music expert I cannot name it but it is most obvious in current live performances of their old songs and doing that she seems to be trying to add an additional notion of suffering and pain to their songs. Something that isn't exactly necessary considering the lyrics and the rest of the music should have covered that part already. But I'm complaining too much. The concert was good and I look differently at the album now, which I couldn't stand before.

Friday

MV & EE with The Golden Road
Ohh, the good ol' times. You know, those times I never even saw myself. But those were good times...
Seriously, nine people making classic rock music with all the ridiculously long solos and everything else one can only love. Every festival should have at least one band like that.

The Cribs
Damn, I don't remember this concert at all. And I didn't even drink anything. Strange...

Bishop Allen
Ok, I should start making notes. I don't even have a picture of this in my head anymore. *sigh*

Six Organs Of Admittance
Something between post rock and other strange things. The concert was a treat but I fear I wouldn't like their album(s) over similar bands. But I'll be checking some of it out later.

Why?
Didn't like it. I marked it as "must see" before and I now wonder, why?

Cat Power
To make things clear, I would listen to anything this woman sings just for the sake of hearing her voice. But by chance she also makes great music. Enough to even justify the hour I waited for the concert to begin because I had to make sure not to stand too far back. Lovely, especially the new version of Metal Heart that I like so much more than the original. And if you only know her from her records you got to go see her. This was much more than just a simple live rendition of her songs. Something I'll remember for a long time - maybe because I'll never fully understand it.

Saturday

Bon Iver
This being the first concert I saw in the "Auditori" it pretty much blew me away. It was a complete break with what I would expect from a festival. Comfortably seated and surrounded by sound of a quality that you hardly get at home I couldn't help but being drawn into it. Even with knowing nothing about this band and having heard none of their songs before.

Scout Niblett
Though I was already eagerly awaiting the oncoming concert by Okkervil River I have to admit that her performance made me forgot about that or anything outside of the auditorium at all. One part of that was due to the awesome light show. While I normally am not that susceptible to such things, it did manage to remove the border between her and the audience. The second point was the auditorium, I already mentioned and the third Scout Niblett herself. With only a drummer at her side it is hard to believe what happened there. With the sense for each note comparable to Jason Molina and a presence stronger than Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, she gave a worthy rendition of her music, sometimes even better than the records. I still feel like having entered a different world and am not sure if one may ever meet her in this.

Okkervil River
After years of touring and band members coming and going, leaving only it's head Will Sheff in place, one might think that there's not much left of Okkervil River. Sure, a lot has changed since the first time I saw them in a tunnel in Berlin with water dripping from the ceiling. But one thing hasn't changed - the ridiculous amount of fun to be had.
May it be the bass player Patrick Pestorius, who brought the greatest rock star clichés to life, including throwing goodies into the masses, waving his guitar over his head, checking out at least all of the women in the audience and looking awfully good during all of this or additional guitar player Charles Bissel of the Wrens, who got 'fired' live on stage for 'messing up the solos' by an amused Will Sheff, who, after losing his voice more than once due to an unhealthy amount of touring over the years, still excelled himself, reaching notes I didn't think we would ever hear from him. All of this being just the topping of an already great concert that featured a lot of songs from their latest album while still including classics like "It Ends With a Fall" with the intro they adapted from the Wrens' version, "For Real" and "The Latest Toughs". Concluded by what one can only call the perfect last song for this concert - the spanish version of Westfall.
After all, what has really changed is the experience this band gained over the years. Making their concerts worthwhile for both old and new fans and making me looking forward even more to their next EP, that, to close the circle, will include amongst others Zachary Thomas, who was one of the original members and present in that cozy little tunnel back then, and Charles Bissel.

Mission of Burma
First, I had quite a problem with their extremely overpowered bass, which I didn't expect, like a lot of the people around me. The thing that made me most angry is that while you can listen to such a concert using earplugs you unfortunately miss a lot of the higher parts of the music that way, too. But after two or three songs I decided to not let it bother me and eventually had a great time. Leaving me both exhausted and somewhat euphoric it was a wonderful conclusion to a great festival and the perfect moment to call it a day, which I did.

What's left

Well, I hadn't had so much fun in a long time. I liked the location, loved the line-up and if it weren't for the money, I would say right away that I'll be definitely back next year. But who knows? :-)

Thu 29 May – Primavera Sound 2008

Less than two weeks ago, the ATP festival saw me lose that particular cherry and what a great introduction to the three day festival it was!

Primavera offers many of the benefits of ATP but comes closer to your traditional Glasto style festivals – think Big Day Out on the harbour in Freo.

The location sure can’t be faulted, located on the outskirts of the city centre, it is an easy train ride from most of the hostels (although getting home is harder and the walk takes a good 45 minutes).

And the setting, wow! A bunch of interestingly shaped buildings with the ocean as a backdrop. Magical or what!

The only negatives are minor and basically relate to the volume of punters, the hassles getting your wristbands in the morning, the relatively poor choice of food and beer (4 euro half pints and 3 euro for a dodgy slice of pizza), although the 1 euro shots of Jagermeister went down a treat : -)

The festival site is made up of six stage areas although not all were used each night. The main Rockdelux stage offering plenty of vantage points due to the steep incline of the viewing area – in fact all the stages offered great views of the bands.

Flying in that afternoon, quickly made my way to my hostel, showered and then foolishly decided to walk along the beach to the festival site armed with only a vague map. The weather was glorious so walking along the beach was no problem but after more than half an hour I gave up and decided I must have missed the place so walked all the way back to the start and still could not find the place so caught the train and when I got off realised I must have only been a 5 minute walk away the first time – doh!

Not to worry, even with a half four wait to get my wristband I only missed MGMT and not overly concerned about that.

Day 1

So the festival proper started for me with Health, a band I only know of as the recently toured with YACHT and I was tempted to see them but passed on the gig. My loss that one as the foursome belted out some damn fine tunes! The tribal drumming, yelping/screeching vocals and jumping around could very easily get on your nerves but I was pretty mesmerised for the first 3 songs. Indie boys go hardcore via electro – pretty cool!

Then caught the end of Notwist’s set and then the start of Public Enemy who sounded alright considering they were playing tracks off an album I didn’t know and then took my spot at the ATP stage and caught the end of Kool Keith’s set which ended in him throw titty mags into the audience and him sitting talking to the crowd whilst the stage crew set up for Boris.

Wasn’t going to see Boris after only seeing them a little while and go and still not being totally won over by their live performance. But I wanted to secure front row for Explosions and thought Boris deserved another go. Luckily Boris put on a brilliant set, Pink was naturally a highlighted but the whole set was great and they somehow suited a larger festival stage more than a small club. The singer crowd surfing was all pretty cool.

The fact I’ve now seen Explosions in the Sky five times this year is something I would never have dreamt of. My time in the UK/Europe has not been timed well with respect to gigs for my two favouritest bands New Order and Sigur Ros (the former I was too late for and the latter too early for – doh!) but getting to see Explosions (and Youthmovies) multiple times has been ace.

In even four months I can tell that the band have changed, their increased popularity has made them just that little bit showy and a lot happier on stage. Curating the ATP festival was a major factor in this mood swing.

Oh and you should have seen the number of photographers when the band came on stage, I’d say there were about 15 of them squeezed into the pit in front of me – total overkill and a handful should suffice and the rest can buy their pics.

The set was pretty standard although the addition of greet death was welcomed. The guys sounded perfect from where I was and the crowd were loving it – hell the crowd were cheering madly during the soundcheck! Met a couple of Perthites behind me and a girl (yank?) who proceeded to feel my back the whole gig (had to stop her when she asked to put her arms around me!).

That little highlight over it was time to rush to the Vice/Jager stage (with a little stop off for two shots of jager) to catch Vampire Weekend. Wasn’t expecting much from these guys but I was well impressed, they had me dancing and singing along and most of the crowd were getting into it as well.

The night ended with Midnight Juggernauts but they took forever to take to the stage and the first three songs did nothing to pick up my spirits and at 4am it was time to head to my hostel and get some rest in preparation for day two.

Day Two

All about the fuck tonight: Fuck Buttons, Holy Fuck and the fucking amazing Portishead.

Today started off slowly only catching parts of sets from It’ Not Not (some hardcore-light with an overly showy front man); The Strange Death of Liberal England (well choreographed post rock of sorts, a band I’d like to see again in a small club); Bishop Allen (oops I thought it was one girl not a band, they were pretty good) and Six Organs of Admittance (wasn’t won over but the female guitarist was great and looking forward to seeing them in Paris next week – oh that does sound awesome!).

Whilst meandering between stages, I caught up with Cassio, my Brazilian friend I made at the Explosions gig in Oslo. Cassio is a huge Portishead fan having traveled to see them three times this year in the UK and he even got to meet the band after their gig last night (it clashed with Boris/Explosions so I had to give it a miss).

Not being a huge Portishead fan but loving their new album and definitely keen to see them live, I was annoyed to find out that the pre sale tickets to their special indoor show had sold out (only 2 euro to get in, done to limit the numbers in the auditorium venue.

Luckily Cassio had a spare ticket and got in early enough to secure a decent seat in the middle of the auditorium. Portishead then went on to play a brilliant set that has converted me into a fan. The stuff from ‘Third’ sounded even better live as did the older Dummy and other album tracks. The set list was, I think, identical to all their previous gigs and included Silence, Hunter, The Rip, Machine Gun (the drumming so much heavier and more distinct live) and my highlight, encore and set closer We Carry On which had most of us up and dancing and then at the end the band invited the crowd on stage with them (sadly we were too far away to get up there).

So strange to be in the middle of a festival one minute and the next in a large indoors concert hall but gotta love that diversity.

Still coming down from that high, it was off to check out Why? but they struggled to grab our attention after Portishead’s set and aren’t suited to an open stage (still keen on checking them out at their Manchester gig in a week’s time).

Cassio and I then met up with a random girl he met the night before (press pass and all so free drinks!) who had also picked up a few random girls the night before (I was quickly to realise that Anu is a bit of a free spirit that makes friends everywhere she goes). Devo were playing on the Estrella Damm (huge local beer company and naming sponsor for the festival) and despite their age and the slight ridiculousness of them still wearing their boiler suits and red hats managed to sound heaps of fun and one just couldn’t help silly dancing to their tunes – it was pretty crazy!

Eager to see Fuck Buttons, I managed to lose the rest who were not so keen on FBs and make my wait to the front row. I will admit to downloading Fuck Buttons primarily for the name but the second I listened to the album I was hooked, album opener Bright Tomorrow starts of slowly but then bam it hits you and is a fucking fine tune.

They also chose Bright Tomorrow to start tonight’s set and although the song takes for ever to build intensity, it sounded brilliant and slowly won the crowd over. I was of course dancing like a lunatic for the whole of the gig. The rest of the set included Sweet Love for Planet Earth, Ribs Out (the tribal drumming and yelping sounding brilliant) and I’m sure Okay … and Race … were in there as well but I was in such a trance like state I couldn’t tell.

I did get a bit crazy, the head banging and crazy dancing sure to play havoc with my body the following day (yep!).

Had to kill time for the next hour or so and checked out Robert Hood who spun some pretty dancy stuff but after 15 minutes I was sick of all the happy tunes so decided to get to the Vice stage early for Holy Fuck and a wise decision this would prove.

In between was, I presume, a local guy going by the name of El Guincho who was a bit YACHT like and really got the crowd going but as much as I enjoyed his set it was all rather boring my interest maintained only by the images projected onto the two large screens on stage.

The crowd thinned a little for Holy Fuck (it was past 4.30am by this stage) but I think once the tunes started things picked up and the guys were great. Fuelled mainly by alcohol (there were some dedicated fans around), the crowd were definitely getting into the swing of things and we were all partying way more than we had any right to at this time of the morning.

At the end of the set, one guy jumped the barrier and made it on stage (security is utterly useless here) and then the band invited everyone on stage with the, I ummed and erred and thought fuck it, do it Peter! Scaled the fence and then climbed on stage (a struggle in itself) and then crammed onto the stage we danced and cheered our way trough the last song. Wow it was so much fun being on stage for the first time in my life and looking out into a crowd of thousands – I want to be a rock star!!!

What an end to the night, sure it was 5.30 am and as I made my way back to my hostel the sun was rising and the birds were chirping but I was still buzzing with adrenaline.

Day 3

Today started with the free Acuarela showcase at Parc Joan Miro on the other side of town. The attraction for me being a set by David Thomas Broughton from Leeds (?) who I read about recently and was intrigued by the promise of a very unique performance.

He certainly didn’t disappoint with a set that is pretty hard to describe. As interesting as his album sounds, it is the live environment that suits his best. With a performance style that blends Ian Curtis style movements with a DIY method to making sounds and a voice nearing Antony levels it all comes off amazingly.

David doesn’t just loop guitar and vocals, he loops any sound he can make and some I’m sure he just makes upon the spot and there is a certain amount of trial and error involved – you can see it in his face when he tries a sound that works. From a little ‘mario bros’ style key chain, stomping his feet on the stage, banging his guitar upside down, hitting the mic against his skull, playing with the buttons on the amp you name if there was an object nearby he sampled it.

Despite all the messing around and the funny/awkward stage manners (too hard to describe but it is hard to tell if his ‘mistakes’ on stage are deliberate or not - they are) his songs are grounded by his brilliant vocals (damn sexy for a skinny white boy) and interesting lyrics (I had a little chuckle at the reference to Greggs bakery). He finished with the song nature which saw him draw the song title in the sand area in front of the stage.

With David’s set over it was time to head back to my hostel to grab my camera battery (doh! Left it in the charge so no pics of David’s magical set) and off to the festival proper.

First up was a short acoustic set by everyone’s ex ‘punk’ indie boy, Dev aka Lightspeed Champion. A short but pleasant set and glad I got to see him as I had to skip his proper set as it clashed with Okkervil River.

Okkervil River impressed so much at ATP that they were never going to top that performance but tonight’s show was still pretty special. Being closer to the stage it was great to see the interplay between the band, they definitely get along well and had lots of fun on stage. I managed to catch their sound check earlier in the evening and they were laughing and mucking around then too – good to see a band in high spirts.

The set list was about the same at the ATP set and included opener The President’s Dead; For Real (always a highlight for me); Black; The Latest Toughs; Our Life is Not a Movie … ; Unless it Kicks (another highlight); A Hand to Shake … ; Savannah Smiles; Plus Ones; You Can't Hold The Hand Of A Rock And Roll Man and a spanish version of their french song.

A bit of meandering between stages catching the last song of Lightspeed Champion and then the last song by Fanfarlo (a great sounding ‘Fire Escape’ damn the singer is hot and a great voice) and the first few songs by Dirty Projectors who sadly lacked the energy from their gig last year in support of Battles (maybe they amped things up for the Battles gig because the album hasn’t won me over either).

Rufus Wainwright was one of the main highlights of the night and the crowd absolutely loved him. Referencing Gay Marriage in Spain, hot Spanish boys and girls (dedicating ‘sister’ to the ladies) and the home place of the guitar, Rufus was his charming if typically melodramatic self.

Sadly the song list wasn’t the best (for me anyhow). Cigarettes was a highlight and California and Sanssouci came off well but the Brokeback Mountain song (dedicated to Heath of course!) and new song New York didn’t come across the good. After his Leonard Cohen song he teased us with the possibility of a Cohen song and of course Hallelujah was chosen to end the set. As much as I don’t like his version, it was a great crowd sing along moment that lifted the rather drab set (where was Judy?) enough to leave me happy but not ecstatic.

Some more stage crawling (the line up tonight not as jam packed as the previous nights and sadly featuring too many clashes) sadly only catching the last song by Menomena (Muscle’n Flo I think) a bit of Deerhunter (is that the Altas Sound guy upfront?) and a little Dinosaur Jnr and then caught up with my friends Cassio and Anu for Clipse who were crap so we went to do some ore dancing with some cool tunes by DJ Funk & DJ Assault I think they were, some crowd pleasers in there including Daft Punk so no complaints there (and a little kiss from Cassio once we outed each other – our first kisses each of an Australian and a Brazilian).

Anu wanted to see 808 State who were way better than they had any right to be and then it was off to Animal Collective who put on the best set yet but still fail to improve on their recorded output. They clearly didn’t impress Cassio and Anu who left me to do their own thing.

In honour of Joshua I went and caught Apparat Band’s set that was pretty good but plagued with technical difficulties and then Simian Mobile Disco who had me dancing at 4am like I shouldn’t’ have been. Mid set the rain started to fall and just as the set ended it started to literally bucket down – sunny Barcelona ???

Desperate for cover we all squeezed in to see Tiefschwarz who had us all dancing away until well past closing time (5.30am) with the crowd desperate for more with the rain barely easing outside.

Finally the rain eased and I made a quick dash t