Rock and shouts of "Long live Palestine!" with Idles at Primavera Sound

BarcelonaThe artistic narrative of Primavera Sound 2025 has been built around three headliners, one per day: the British Charli XCX and the Americans Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, all three with the star status that comes with having been invited to the Met Gala. The proposal has received the support of the public, who have sold out tickets and season tickets. That means that around 70,000 people will pass through the Parc del Fòrum venue on each of the three days of the festival.

However, Primavera Sound offers many more artistic attractions, such as the incendiary Idles, responsible for one of the festival's big concerts; Or, in the early afternoon, Virginia-born singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger opened one of the two main stages on Thursday, the one sponsored by the neobank Revolut, a British financial institution that two months ago was fined €3.5 million by the Bank of Lithuania for not being sufficient. Last year, the same stage was sponsored by another bank, Santander. Bollinger, part of a quartet, livened up the afternoon with slow-tempo pop-folk and melodies whispered more than sung, but also with some rhythmic thrust celebrated by the audience, who gradually appeared on the esplanade. However, most followed the concert sitting on the artificial turf and looking at the enormous vertical screens flanking the stage.

Just after Bollinger, on the other stage of the marine platform, the Estrella Damm, the Filipino-British Beabadoobee gathered more audience with indie rock from the nineties, stage charisma and a good group of hits of distortion as California and Talk, the two with which he launched his performance. However, he doesn't hide his voice under the guitars and exploits it properly in songs like Take a bit, the most popular track in the repertoire, which strains electric riffs and the sonority of acoustic guitar, in keeping with the '90s style guide. In times of tight stage presence, Beabadoobee simply deployed a kind of giant shower curtain and a small orange tree. And that was enough.

In an afternoon dominated by female soloists, New Yorker Cassandra Jenkins, in sync with artists such as Courtney Barnett, offered a remarkable folk-pop series (including saxophone) on the Amazon, a stage located in the central part of the Forum that the Stop Concerts association has filed a complaint against in the local court. Jenkins, who was returning to the festival where she performed in 2022, gave one of the best concerts of the day, especially in relation to the album My light, my destroyer. It stirs deep roots, those of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, but with a convincing pop sophistication. David Lynch would agree. In these early afternoon hours, some spectators also took advantage of the opportunity to have their first beers, which remain at last year's price (5 euros), and to relax in one of the corners where small-scale concerts are scheduled that strive to convey a sense of exclusive intimacy. Each corner has a different sponsor: Levi's, Cupra, Aperol, and Estrella Damm. For example, in the jeans brand's corner, Rigoberta Bandini performed at 5:30 p.m. in an atmosphere conducive to relaxation.

The transfer of energy

Cassandra Jenkins held a large audience, but others traveled to the Revolut to receive the rock blast from Idles. The British group is beginning to tone down the rage on their records, but they maintain it live, and how. Even more so when the singer, Joe Talbot, shouted "Free Palestine!" as soon as he started the concert with Colossus. It's already the case with the Bristol band: concerts are adrenaline rushes on stage and among the audience, but this time they went even further. Idles achieved an energy transfer more akin to a performance in a venue than a festival. "This is a gift. Thanks so much for the energy!" Talbot exclaimed upon seeing the monumental pogo that had formed mid-concert. The band's response was led by the two guitarists, Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, who descended from the stage to play. Benzocaine among the audience as Talbot chanted "Long live Palestine!" and some spectators waved a Palestinian flag.

Charli XCX and Chappell Roan's surprise dance

Charli XCX, the headliner of this first day, was scheduled to perform at 1:15 a.m. The British artist brought Sweat to Primavera Sound, which she toured exclusively in the United States with Troye Sivan. Charli XCX's show, closely linked to club music. While one turned up the crowd's revs, the other tempered them. Apple, it was Chappell Roan, headliner on Saturday and who was in the guest area, who was in charge of performing the viral dance that accompanies the song, a moment much celebrated by the audience. Both Sivan and Charli XCX were celebrating. The former had been doing it for years, while the latter remembered that this week it will be a year since she published Brato, the album that has made him an icon. The couple only sang together twice in the entire concert, 1999 and Talk talk, the two duets they have recorded so far, Charli XCX, by the way, did not authorize professional photographers to take pictures of the concert.