In this chapter we talk about Primavera Sound and the most recent 'Papa Sound'. "And is this news?" is the question we often see in the comments of news about gossip magazines and pop culture. And, obviously, they are not news that occupy the front pages of newspapers, but they are issues that we often discuss with friends or family around a table or at the bar counter. And this is what we do in this podcast: move to a venue to review some social chronicle news that serve not only to keep up with the most outstanding gossip, but also to talk about love, friendship or breakups.

Although the britpop 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 followers on Spotify 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 a reduced ego and that visually expresses itself through Jamie Hewlett's drawings has been a complete success: the esplanade known as Mordor overflowed with an audience that wanted to join Albarn's particular proposal.

Primavera Sound 2026 began on Thursday with rain as an unwanted guest. And it ended on Saturday with a very different guest: American singer Olivia Rodrigo. One of the festival directors, Gabi Ruiz, had announced on Thursday on RAC1 that there would be a top-level artist whose surname began with the letter R. "A Halland," he said, citing the Norwegian Manchester City player. Finally, the name of the artist in question, the hidden card, was announced on Saturday at half past six in the afternoon, when rumors were already circulating because the artist herself had shared a photograph in which she appeared as a vip spectator of Friday's show by The Cure at Primavera Sound.

The Cure's return to the stage, after a year and a half break, showed them in a very different incarnation from their previous visit to the Palau Sant Jordi, in November 2022. At that time they were presenting the album Songs of a lost world, marked by the death of the parents and a brother of the band's leader, Robert Smith. The group has also lost guitarist and keyboardist Perry Bamonte, who died in December. Despite this accumulation of loss, The Cure, who triumphantly took the main stage at Primavera Sound as headliners this Friday, left all that grief behind to offer their most festive and festival-ready repertoire, with a very generous selection of singles, out of the fifty they have released in almost half a century of existence.

After the storm comes the calm, they say, but also laments, anger, criticism, understanding, and resignation, often all at once. After the rain and wind wiped out a large part of Thursday's headliners at Primavera Sound, on Friday there was a great desire to enjoy a good day of concerts and to discuss the situation that left Massive Attack, Doja Cat, and Bad Gyal out of the festival. The warmth of the sun on a breezy afternoon was also celebrated as a victory, and doubts were shared about how the refunds for Thursday's tickets would be handled. The festival management announced that on Monday the "refund operation will be detailed", which will only be made to people who bought a ticket for Thursday – which cost 150 euros – and not to those who purchased a pass for the entire festival – priced at up to 390 euros.

From time to time, rain claims a spot as a headliner 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 venue was already full of a crowd ready to spread out among the different stages. The combination of rain and wind, with gusts of up to 80 km/h, conditioned the first day, and "for safety reasons" performances on the two main stages on the marine platform (where four concerts were cancelled) were temporarily suspended, and later on other stages. It was the decision taken diligently by the festival's management, and communicated in Catalan, Spanish, and English throughout the venue. The festival will announce on Monday the protocol for the return of Thursday tickets.

The concert that opens Primavera Sound is usually a nod from the festival to a local artist. If last year it was Llum who broke the ice, this year it was Ouineta who was in charge of sounding the first notes of Wednesday's session, also free as a gesture to the city. The singer, dancer, and choreographer defended her danceable pop with urban touches in front of an audience of fans – mostly female – who sang the songs by heart, which suggests that this first performance is not so much a vehicle to make herself known to the international audience as a way to celebrate that the Catalan scene, even if at the ungodly hour of mid-afternoon, exists. The highlight of her performance was when Mushkaa appeared to sing Nois" together. 

The rejuvenation of Primavera Sound was evident in 2025, especially among the headliners: Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, born in 1992, 1999 and 1998, respectively. Furthermore, the choice set the festival apart because it managed to bring together three of the most sought-after artists of the moment. Tickets sold out in January, five months before the event. The headliners of the 24th edition, held from June 3rd to 7th at Parc del Fòrum and the marine platform, considerably raise the average age, especially The Cure and Gorillaz, and among the notable names are some that connect with an audience that is closer to retirement than to their first paycheck, such as Massive Attack and My Bloody Valentine. Robert Smith, the leader of The Cure, was born in 1958; and Damon Albarn, the helmsman of Gorillaz, in 1968. This is balanced by the third headliner, Doja Cat, born in 1995, who makes a festival exception on a European tour of arenas (the term used in the music industry). Tickets sold out in February, four months before the event.

The Cure, Doja Cat, The XX, Gorillaz, Addison Rae and Kneecap are some of the main attractions of the next edition of Primavera Sound, which will be held at the Parc del Fòrum from June 3 to 7, 2026, although the festival has not yet detailed its programming segregated by days and stages. The British group The Cure, which in 2024 published the magnificent album Songs of a lost world, returns to the festival with carte blanche: he will be able to give as long a concert as possible, according to sources at Primavera Sound. That is, just as it happened in the 2012 edition. They then starred in one of the most countercultural moments in the history of Primavera Sound. In the context of a festival where concerts barely reach 90 minutes, the British group led by Robert Smith performed for almost three hours, finishing with the performance of Boys don't cryThis gift for music lovers took place on June 1, 2012, at the Parc del Fòrum. The only previous performance at the Barcelona festival was Neil Young, who had monopolized a two-and-a-half-hour time slot five years earlier. With a 50-year career, it's inevitable that The Cure's concerts evoke nostalgia, as happened. three years ago at the Palau Sant JordiHowever, Robert Smith also understands music as an expression of his present, which is what he did in Songs of a lost world.