Geese's rock triumphs at a Primavera Sound conditioned by rain and wind

BarcelonaFrom time to time, rain claims a headline spot at Primavera Sound. It happened a couple of years ago during PJ Harvey's memorable concert, and it happened again this Thursday evening, when the Fòrum grounds were already full of a crowd ready to spread out among the different stages. The combination of rain and wind conditioned the first day, and "for safety reasons" performances on the two main stages on the marine platform were temporarily suspended, and later on other stages. This was the decision diligently made by the festival's management, and communicated in Catalan, Spanish, and English throughout the venue.

Despite the rain, activity continued on secondary stages in the central area of the Fòrum, like the Cupra, where Oklou and Father John Misty performed, while the organization worked to get the two main stages (those on the marine platform) ready again, as well as the third, the Occident (at the Fòrum), which had become soaked. Finally, the performances of Axel G, Mac DeMarco, and Doja Cat had to be cancelled. The marine platform venue was also evacuated, and did not reopen until midnight, when the venue's conditioning tasks allowed the concerts of Massive Attack and Bad Gyal to be reprogrammed from one o'clock.

Even so, there were good concerts before and – while there were open stages – during the rain.

Mega-festivals are weapons of mass frustration, because seeing one band means missing half a dozen playing at the same time. At Primavera Sound, it's even more frustrating to run to see the only concert at 5 PM in the Auditorium... and find that there are always thousands of people who arrived earlier. This Thursday, half an hour before the solo concert of the North American Cameron Winter, the leader of the band Geese, the three thousand seats were already full, and there were still people queuing outside just in case. The frustration could be mitigated a few hours later, when Winter himself performed with the band on the Occident stage. Different repertoire and attitudes, of course.

. Geese, who were preceded by the good reception of the album Crusades and the punk-rock of Islands of men. Geese, who came preceded by the good reception of the album Getting killed, have earned the right to return to Primavera Sound to perform on the main stages, if possible on a day without rain.

The early bird alternative was to poke your head out onto the Schwarzkopf stage, "the hairdresser's one" according to popular wisdom. Before 5 PM the South Koreans Hypnosis Therapy were already dishing out daytime rave beats, in fact, more than the first concert on the first day of the festival, it felt like the last one at an afterparty on a Sunday. The audience, grateful by nature, spent their time quite entertained by the sea, and even crouched down when the vocalist screamed at them to do so.

The contrasts are commonplace at the festival. That's why the same stage hosted the magnificent evening pop of Renaldo & Clara. The Lleida-born Clara Viñals started with Repartir and

Quines coses de mi, two of the gems from the album L’encant, and continued to act as a reference for so many artists who graft pop onto danceable proposals. To reach the main stages, sponsored by a bank (Revolut) and "the Ministry of Music" (Estrella Damm), you had to cross the entire venue, passing, for example, the new Disney mini-stage or the bars, where beer costs 6 euros, one more than last year.

Once on the marine platform (the green-carpeted Mordor according to the people), Blood Orange, the project of British Devonté Hynes, delivered a sensitive atmospheric R&B with guitar. However, in the mid-afternoon, the offering of small stages was more stimulating, such as the one at the Port, where the British band The New Eves performed: rock dressed in punk with cello, violin, and flute, and an undeniable capacity to surprise, recalling the early PJ Harvey, remembering the rhythmic determination of the Riot Grrrls, or proposing post-punk electricity spirals. Splendid, of course. And then among the audience at the Geese concert.