From The Cure to Addison Rae, the essentials of Primavera Sound

By now, there will be few owners of a ticket for Primavera Sound who have not drawn their own route through the 18 stages that this 24th edition will have, six of them large. Pop, rock, electronic, folk as well as any of their derivatives will have their reference from June 3 to 6, and the following are a reflection that serve as a starting point to get to know the rest or, simply, to make those who cannot attend the Parc del Fòrum during Barcelona’s big festival week envious.

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Wednesday, 9:55 p.m.. The boldness and distorted guitars of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have brought music back to the legendary Isle of Wight, the piece of land in the Channel from which the authors of Moisturizer come, one of the most acclaimed albums of 2025. With sounds ranging from pop to hardcore and a powerful bass rhythm, they only needed three years to go from a secondary stage at PS early on to closing Wednesday’s session to sing about love, teen horror movies, and, why not, Pokemon.

Thursday, 7:45 p.m. It is still possible to be daring and succeed in the 21st century, as proven by the Brooklyn quintet after making the big leap with Getting killed, where they embrace experimental distortion, folk good vibes, or psychedelic choruses with a sound that reflects the album cover, featuring a trumpet and a gun pointed at the listener. As if that were not enough, hours before the concert there will be a recital by Cameron Winter, the group’s very personal voice always on the verge of falling off a cliff full of screams, who will present his first solo album at the Auditori (5 p.m.), undoubtedly one of the performances of this edition.

Thursday, 10:05 p.m. Golden opportunity for new generations to get to know one of the seminal bands of Bristol trip hop. Predecessors of the sound embraced by Billie Eilish or Lana del Rey, the creators of Mezzanine still live like lords of the English countryside from the five albums they released between the 90s and 2000 (the last, Heligoland, in 2010), dominated by abstract textures that draw from post-punk, hip hop, and soul. Sparse in musical novelties, Robert del Naja and Grant Marshall have not forgotten their activist side, denouncing climate change and protesting against the Palestinian genocide, which led to Del Naja’s arrest, accused of supporting the organization Palestine Now, banned in the United Kingdom.

Thursday, 11:30 p.m. The rapper of the moment crosses the Pyrenees for the first time to present Vie, an album produced by Taylor Swift’s producer Jack Antonoff that revalidates the multifaceted nature of this Los Angeles artist, always straddling rap bars, the softness of pop, and the love for the dance floor of R&B. Collector of hits like Say so, Streets, Woman or Kiss me more, Doja Cat now bets on the 90s sound, influences from Prince or Jessie Ware, and the melody of Knight Rider for those who are not clear.

Thursday, 1:20 a.m. Her performance in 2018 marked a before and after for the festival when she said, “those who don’t want to dance should go to a guitar stage.” Since then, Alba Farelo has not stopped growing and, finally, releasing albums, the second of which, Más cara, will serve as the axis of her third participation in the festival with an ambitious production full of provocation that was already followed in the three sold-out shows at Palau Sant Jordi or, more recently, when she sang Da me at Bad Bunny’s first Barcelona evening.

Friday, 9 p.m. PS’s penchant for pop divas was already evident in the last edition with the crowning of Charlie XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappelle Roan as the Powerpuff Girls. This time it is Addison Rae, another product of the American factory, who visits Barcelona to crown herself with sugary songs like Diet Pepsi or Fame is a gun. Although to achieve this she will have to surpass PinkPantheress (Friday, 1:45 a.m.), who comes from the very British Bath and is a few albums ahead with hits like Pain or Boy’s a liar, Pt. 2, hyperpop arrangements intertwined with Victoria Beverley’s childlike voice to create a necklace of colorful musical beads.

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Friday, 10 p.m. Robert Smith and company have been long awaited to perform Songs of the lost world live, undoubtedly their most anticipated album if only because they had been promising it for 12 years and performing isolated pieces from the album in their live shows. Primavera Sound will be the first stage they step on since presenting the album in 2024 with a single concert at the Troxy theater in London, almost two years of hiatus that will hardly change the English band’s policy. For now, they have reserved two and a half hours on the main stage to unleash their usual mix of light and darkness supported by Simon Gallup’s bass and the guitar of the returning Perry Balmonte.

Friday, 1 a.m. Sonny John Moore’s second visit to the festival, who leads the electronic offer and also takes charge of the programming of the Cupra stage (formerly Boiler Room) during the 12 hours of Saturday. The author of Bangarang, Where are Ü Now or In da getto, to mention his most commercial works, will return to the same stage where, in 2023, a broken spotlight forced the suspension of his performance at the mixing controls, as will happen at other times with Overmono (Thursday, 3 a.m.), KI/KI (Friday, 4:10 a.m.) or Peggy Gou (Saturday, 4:15 a.m.).

Saturday, 8:50 p.m. The voice of multicultural London will be heard at PS with the bars of Simbiatu Simbi Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, actress, model, and rapper with six albums to her name, the latest, Lotus, dedicated to her former musical partner whom she accuses of being a thief (Thief) right off the bat. She does this with a musical mix that includes jazz, bossa nova, and hip hop, the result of the influences of this daughter of a Nigerian immigrant, raised in the Islington neighborhood, who leaned towards rap after listening to Lauryn Hill as a child.

Saturday, 10:05 p.m. Shoegaze lovers are doubly lucky. On Friday they can enjoy Slowdive (6:35 p.m.) and the next day they will reunite on the main stage around My Bloody Valentine with the never superfluous recommendation to bring earplugs to withstand the noisy power of Only shallow, with which the seminal album Loveless begins. The band led by Kevin Shields returned to the stage last year after seven years of silence and the promise of new music that, for now, has not materialized.

Saturday, 11:40 p.m. The indie vein of Primavera Sound flows in performances like that of the English trio formed by Romy Madley, Oliver Sim, and Jamie xx, who already appeared in the last edition of the festival. This cult band with only three albums to their name characterized by the smooth and elegant sound given by Romy’s guitar along with her voice in duet with Oliver’s. A mix that could not be heard since 2018, and now returns – like My Bloody Valentine – with the promise of a new album latent since 2024.

Saturday, 1:15 a.m. The Hindu sounds of The Mountain are responsible for bringing back the least anonymous anonymous band on the planet, always led by Damon Albarn. The founder of Blur, whom we already saw last summer leading another of his projects, Africa Express, returned to the studio with his gorilla partner, Jamie Hewlett, to create an album born from the death of their respective fathers within a few days and which caught both in India. From here comes a song to life with the sonic variety usual to the veteran band, which turns their concerts into a visual spectacle thanks to Hewlett’s animation scenes that accompany the band live.

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