Gorillaz triumphs with their resplendent 'in memoriam' at Primavera Sound

BarcelonaAlthough the brit pop war with Oasis has condemned Damon Albarn to always be the-singer-of-Blur in the collective imagination, the fact is that his parallel project Gorillaz has much more following, or at least that's what the 40.8 million monthly Spotify followers suggest, compared to Blur's 14.4 million. The main stage of this Saturday's Primavera Sound made it clear that this experiment of creating a musical collective with lowered ego and that visually expresses itself with Jamie Hewlett's drawings has been successful: the esplanade known as Mordor overflowed with an audience that wanted to join Albarn's particular proposal.

Gorillaz also came to present a peculiar album. The mountain is the result of a spiritual journey to India after both Albarn and Hewlett lost close family members. What makes it special, beyond the use of traditional Indian instrumentation, are the multiple collaborations with deceased people who had collaborated with the project at some point. From discarded snippets, new songs have been made that were showcased on Saturday. It is thus, for example, that Mark E. Smith, the leader of The Fall, was heard again at Primavera with the song Delirium. Singer Asha Bjosle was able to record her participation while alive, but she passed away last month at the age of 92, so when they performed the luminous The shadowy light with her recorded part, an emotional tribute was made to her.

Despite this background of death, neither the album nor its live incarnation had any funereal tone, but rather the vibrant notes of acceptance and celebration. Surprisingly, this latest collection of songs, more reflective and meditative, combined well with the more festive, danceable, and singalong wardrobe staples. Rhinestone Eyes, Stylo, and Clint EastwoodEnglish with Blur and jumped to whatever you want in the video of With this show, Damon Albarn is definitely growing up. This is a mature show, although from time to time you can guess that mischievous look from when he confined himself to English indie with Blur and jumped around in the video for Song 2. At Gorillaz, his musical horizon is much broader and incorporates elements from multiple traditions and, above all, skin colors. The audience entered into this communion and one of the experiences that this chronicler will remember from this year will have been trying to leave for another concert while advancing among tens of thousands of compacted people who were looking in the opposite direction, towards the stage, and jumping with joy while singing the anthem Feel Good Inc. If anyone saw a Mr. Scrooge leaving in a hurry, know that it was only professional duty.

Because at three o'clock Kneecap started on the other side of the venue. The Irish played last year in front of a scant thousand people, as they recalled, so they experienced as a success having decupled their audience in such a short time. The reason is the second studio album from this trio, which once again combines forceful political messages with techno beats full of tension and threat. The title of the work, Fenian, is a pejorative term that unionists used to refer to Catholics, but the band reclaims it precisely to reverse its negative connotation and recover the original meaning of the word, which designated a legendary warrior from national mythology.

Irish complicity

With all this context, it's not hard to understand that Kneecap opened the concert with an unmistakable “Long live Catalonia!” on stages where, most of the time, it hasn't gone beyond some Houla Españia!”. And, in case it wasn't clear enough, the traditional balaclava with the colors of the Irish flag that DJ Próvaí usually wears when dropping his beats in the first few minutes had the yellow and red of the Catalan flag. Towards the end of the performance, they even let out a “Fuck Spain”, but they quickly said it was a joke, that they didn't want trouble, as they had had enough: Mo Chara, one of the singers, was accused of glorifying terrorism for displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London. He was acquitted and the experience was captured in the song Carnival, which wasn't played on Saturday. It is not recorded that the Public Prosecutor's Office has taken any action, in any case, for outrage against something.

Just as it happened with Gorillaz, there was also a courtesy visit here: that of Grian Chatten, from compatriots Fountains DC, to sing Better way to live were some of the most celebrated topics.

Get your brits out, H.O.O.D or Smuggles & Scholars were some of the most celebrated songs.

The warm coldness of The xx

In a very different register, zero hysterical and much more chill, The xx sounded clean and crystalline again. The merit of the band of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith is to use a very limited palette of colors and sounds, but still to keep adding to a catalog of these delicate miniatures with prominent bass. Despite the minimalism, the velvety voices, both hers and his, transmit a very particular warmth. Crystalised, Say something loving, Islands and Angels opened the recital and set a very grateful tone to loosen up before and after other much denser musical proposals. A glass of cold still water, which someone places in your hands just when you need that fresh sip.