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Post by theeimportance on Jun 2, 2015 11:55:52 GMT -5
I hope y'all had a great time. So many excellent shows in five days - what a ridiculous wealth of music! Patti Smith performing Horses and Ratatat and Caribou at 3AM at the Rayban stage were my favorites.
I had an enjoyable time at Primavera. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit disappointed by the experience. Met plenty of cool people from all over the world, but the general vibe of an international festival seemed to be divisive.
Primavera seriously lacks atmosphere. The forum is a very nice venue, but at night nothing changes. There is no "magic hour" where the night comes alive. It's just the same concrete with harsh flood lights everywhere. Speaking of concrete, this festival made me seriously miss standing on grass.
The programming was spectacular. DIIV, Mac DeMarco, Strokes, Underworld, and Caribou all in the same day was ridiculous. Underworld, Replacements, and Sleater Kinney took top honors as best shows. Ariel Pink, Foxygen, Black Keys and Tobias Jesso (although not his fault) were miserable. So happy I caught a few songs of Ride and showed up to AP late; he was an absolute mess.
Overall, I learned something last weekend: I'd rather be at Bonnaroo/Coachella with a shitty line up over a festival like Prima with an amazing line up. The ambience, atmosphere, and #vibez truly make the experience that much better.
Post by theeimportance on Jun 3, 2015 12:53:13 GMT -5
Totally disagree, but to each their own I suppose. The late night sets were the best part of the festival and, in my opinion, handled much better than Roo's LN sets. Plus it was nice being in a slightly older but still very enthusiastic crowd and not having to see anything remotely close to a Sahara-esque crowd. I understand the whole lack of atmosphere feeling, but in the end I felt like the atmosphere was a bunch of people really enjoying some really good music which is good enough for me. It also seemed like most of the artists there were incredibly happy and grateful to perform, more so than I've seen at other festivals.
Gotta say I didn't think the crowds were that enthusiastic. Seemed like the majority of people were either too cool or weren't really there for the music. That's what made Underworld my favorite set: it was the only one where everyone was dancing and zoning in on the music. Most of the other sets people talked right over the performance.
Also, the late nights were poorly planned. Caribou was fucking packed, which was due to them playing right after the final show on the main stages. Luckily found a seat right beside the soundboard and tried my best to enjoy the music.
At least at Coachella I don't have to be around the Sahara crowd; the programming allows for me to not see them at all unless I choose to visit that area. Even those kids are super stoked to be there. At Primavera, those kids will be at any show and choose to treat it as a chance to socialize since they don't know or care about the band.
One other thing: sound bleed and noise levels were an issue. During the Replacements, I saw a man pointing a "sound gun" at the stage and telling the person manning the boards to turn it down. At the Pitchfork stage, which arguably had the best programming, you constantly heard noise from the surrounding stages. Unless you were in the first 10 rows, the sound from the Pitchfork stage was absolutely miserable.
Post by Fozzie Bear on Jun 3, 2015 17:31:46 GMT -5
Interesting to hear some negative thoughts on Primavera. I can deal with slight sound issues and technical difficulties, but crowds that talk the whole time really crap on my live music experience.
Post by theeimportance on Jun 3, 2015 17:59:24 GMT -5
Hah, sounds like we went to two completely different festivals. I don't know who exactly you saw, but the dance acts got everybody going. Jungle, Caribou, Ratatat, Daphni, Juan Maclean, Objekt, OMD... Not sure where in the crowd you were, but I was closer up for pretty much all of the sets I saw and I thought the crowds were excellent. Only crowd that didn't seem up for it was for The Replacements, but I was also further back and I thought the band itself was pretty loud. The Strokes and Patti Smith had great main stage crowds, bands like Ride, Spiritualized, Chet Faker, and Thurston Moore played to crowds bigger than they ever would in America, and people around me were in awe of Sunn O))). You could hear a pin drop during Antony! I was amazed by that, you'd never see that a main stage that crowd in America and I was half way back past the soundbaord.
Late Night sets were fine for me. Of course Caribou was packed, its Caribou at 4AM on the last night of the festival. The Ray Ban stage is still way better than being smashed up in a tent or (even worse) on the Which. At the very least I had no trouble seeing them thanks to the stage heights and screens. And for bands like Ratatat and Jungle I had no problem getting a good spot. I got to Ratatat right when they started and ended up around 3 rows back from the middle.
And I heard of sound bleeding issues between Torres and UMO, but I literally walked back and forth between The Bohicas (Adidas) and American Football (Rayban) and heard no sound bleed at all.
I guess its just what you make it, but all I experienced were enthusiastic and massive crowds (at least the one I saw). Totally get why bands love to play there.
Honestly didn't matter where I was standing. Most of the time I strive for in front of the soundboard or beside it. For a few shows -- Juan Maclean, Perfume Genius, Kelela--I was incredibly close and thought the sound was muddled with a bit of sound bleed from surrounding stages. For the bigger stages, I was in front of the soundboard or at the barrier in center between the stage and the soundboard. The one show I was far for, Sleater Kinney, sounded great and I had no one around me talking. Plus, had plenty of room to let loose and be the only weirdo jumping around.
There was a lot to like about this fest: programming, food, espresso, talking to Guy Burwell about MMJ. However, the essentials of any festival--sound quality, atmosphere, and crowd--were poor.
Post by theeimportance on Jun 4, 2015 9:02:12 GMT -5
Don't know what to say, other than our experiences were totally different. Funnily enough, Sleater-Kinney was the only set where I experienced sound issues because Carrie's guitar was way too quiet. Sorry you didn't enjoy it as much! I definitely saw how it was a world class festival and would easily pick it over Bonnaroo and put it up there with Coachella.
