Here are my highlights from the second day at Primavera, starting with Alt-J; overall it was less successful than the others, as I chose to spend much of my time at the two main stages, rather than taking in the more eclectic, smaller scale area.
Alt-J can appear rather wooden live: it feels as it's such an effort to recreate their intricate music live that they have little capacity left for stagecraft, Yet, this was one occasion at Primavera where a large stage worked for me, aided by a position on the front centre of the rail, and a wonderfully creative light show. To my surprise, the crowd's reaction to songs from the second album was nearly as rapturous as the earlier ones; almost inevitably they ended with Breeze Blocks. This was one of the later night sets I've attended, and also one of the most joyous.
Following the joyful performance at the main event on the previous day, I was eager not to miss a more intimate free concert in a city park, in blazing sunshine. The set was shorter than I'd have wished, but to experience this group in such close quarters was magical.
Performing her album Horses in its entirety, Patti Smith produced a rousing, inspiring call to arms which is just as relevant today in its critique of the military and corporations as was 40 years ago. It was the kind of special event that Primavera excels at, and the delivery was incredibly impassioned and fresh.
Had I not seen this legendary Pacific Northwest band from the front of a mid sized indoor space recently, this might well have been the highlight of this festival: despite the less intimate scale, the performance was as ferocious and committed as ever.
Primavera was my first time seeing Damien Rice, and I was surprised a solo performer with acoustic guitar could command a such a vast crowd. He made creative use of pedals, and an effects mic for
vocals that he stretched for expressive effect. Above all, I was struck by the gradual build-up to a devastating climax, when finally he picked up the electric guitar.
Opening my second day on the main site, and like Hiss Golden Messenger earlier from Durham, North Carolina, I found the synthpop duo to be most notable for Amelia Meath's infectious enthusiasm, channelled through dancing. As you'd expect from a former member of Mountain Man, the vocals were strong too, though it may have benefited from the impact of lighting in a night time slot.
This band came to my attention due to Mary Timony's, who was a member of Wild Flag, the Sleater-Kinney side project. The stagecraft wasn't quite matched by the more routine sounding rock, which for me, alongside the richness of experience at Primavera didn't find a distrinctive voice.
See my other Primavera 2015 coverage here:
Introduction
Day 1
Day 3
No comments:
Post a Comment