Primavera Sound 2010 - Thursday Review
Here’s a story of me and some ATP kids on holiday…
Our festival starts with a trip to the Pitchfork stage which would eventually become my second home. So what better way to start the music website love-in than with one of their recent ‘best new music’ rated groups Surfer Blood. The young Floridians are a near perfect way to start the seaside festival with their summery, surf-infused pop. Tracks from debut album Astrocoast are performed immaculately with lead singer John Paul Pitts simultaneously crooning and yelping his way through one of the best vocal performances I have ever witnessed. Main single Swim is introduced as “The Poker Face of Astrocast” and the audience reaction confirms this status.
One beer break later and we are back on the Pitchfork stage for Titus Andronicus who provide the most unexpected joy of the festival. Guitarist Amy Klein is the epitome of happiness. Bouncing, clapping and singing like she had just won the world cup. 3 songs in and we realise its time to depart as last years breakthrough band The XX were about to start on the Ray-Ban Stage. Now I must start by saying I love The XX’s debut album and am a huge fan of their distant, sparse sound but on the evidence of this performance the sound just cant work in such a large expanse. It didn’t help that the band have the charisma of a bag of unsalted peanuts and that their technical proficiency also let them down. There is a great analogy hidden in the fact that it only rained during this set but if I’ll be damned before I use it.
Another beer break and its time for Broken Social Scene who as predictably as ever blow everyone else off the stage. Focusing mainly on material from recent album Forgiveness Rock Record the godknowshowmany piece band play a phenomenal set. With a little help from Final Fantasy mastermind Owen Pallett and Pavement’s Spiral Stairs they blast through an exhausting show which also features crowd favourites like Cause=Time, 7/4 Shoreline and Fire Eye’d Boy. The set is so restless in fact that the gap between them and main headliners Pavement is minimal. When we get to the main stage the crowd has swelled in size so much that we are reduced to a far side spot crammed in with all the other peasants. Opener Cut Your Hair sounds exceptional and after two more songs spent getting kneed in the back and squinting at the gargantuan stage we cut our losses and depart.
Back at the Pitchfork stage we realise our Pavement-withdrawal symptoms can be cured by the unbelievable Sleigh Bells. Entering the stage to a Slayer cassette tape is a ballsy move for a two piece band fronted by an ex-girl group singer. However when the first earth shattering drum thuds of Tell Em rattle through the speakers its clear for all that these guys have turned it well past 11. Alexis Krauss is equal parts angel and devil delivering beautifully hypnotic la-la harmonies and demonic squeals and screams whilst bounding about the stage in the most intimidating manner. Meanwhile ex-Poison the Well guitarist Derek Miller struts about the stage pounding out overdriven metal guitar riffs. In other words; Someone call off the loudness war because Sleigh Bells just won.
We hung about for a bit longer at the Pitchfork stage as Spanish indie/dance darlings Delorean were next up. Starting with Deli, the choice cut from their Ayrton Senna EP the band played a selection of songs from their latest album, Subiza. Most of these tracks seemed to divide into a hypnotic Animal Collective-esque haze. Beautiful as it was, it was far from the sunny Ibiza dance that the album promised. Immediately afterwards it was back to the Ray-Ban stage to see Fuck Buttons do their thing. Which they did. To triple the amount of people I have ever seen at a Fuck Buttons gig. In a word: Awesome.
