Thursday: Superday
Here we go with the best hours I could spend in the festival. By that day, all the shows were played at Parc del Fòrum (we had to be wearing our festival wristband at all times).
It was 5 p.m. and I was listening to Doble Pletina, a Spanish twee-pop group from Barcelona, which didn't disappoint me at all in live. Of course, they played their debut record that became a classic recently, Música Para Cerrar Las Discotecas (meaning "Music For Closing Discos"). This is an odd title, taking into account the festival was just beginning, don't you think so? Since they released this album, their legend has done nothing but expands and gathers speed.
Archers of Loaf were playing not far from where I was, so I had no excuse for not staying there and seeing their show. With their unruly sound, their sharp guitars and teasing melodies they were the darling of the indie world in the mid'90s. I saw them live recently in another festival, so I preferred to focus on other bands.
I keep on walking to see Lee Ranaldo live (ex-member of SonicYouth), leaving us fascinating with this distinctive guitarist.
It was still 10 p.m. when one
of the most expecting outfits of the day were on stage: Death Cab for Cutie. They hadn't visited Spain since they published Plans (and this was around 2005) thus, the expectation was maximum. And well, I have to say that for me it was finally disappointing. I love them, especially for their lyrics. But definitely it wasn't their best day: they faced technical audio problems while they were playing Doors Unlocked and Open and even Ben Gibbard (the lead vocalist) suddenly started playing the drums for fifteen minutes. I was like WTF?! So, yes… that was my first disappointment of the festival.
After the band from Seattle Beirut Nantes Santa Fe Beirut
At the same time, Wilco
was playing in the opposite part of the showground one of
the most perfect gigs at this year's festival.
The night was just starting in that moment,
because The XX were ready to play an amazing show. I only regret that they performed
their hit Crystalised in a weird slow way that many people didn't like and the audience even expressed their displeasure with some whistles.
I hadn't enough for that day, so I moved to
the main stage where Franz Ferdinand was introducing us to some of the latest hits that surely will appear in their fourth album. Some of these title names were Right Thoughts, Brief Encounters or Fresh Strawberries. But, of course, the outfit from Glasgow also played the "classic ones" Take Me Out and Do You Want To.
Finally, the last group I could see was
Japandroids, who were not very happy with the sound problems they found. They started playing a little bit late, but finally it was worth the trouble because they showed one of the most overpowering live
performances of the day.
Friday: Facing The Dilemma
If Thursday was an amazing day, Friday was second to none. Without many hours of sleeping, I started with Bigott (we already introduced him to you, so click here to read the article). His performance was so funny and he made me laugh a lot. He engaged and really worked the public well. Even a fan through an apple at him, he caught it and ate it during the show. Let me tell you that before going to his concert, I'd only listened to his single Cannibal Dinner, but he has so many songs that I like. Bigott actually surprised me positively.
Then, I moved to the ATP stage where
Siskiyou was playing. This band from Canada
At the same place, we waited for the Swedish
dream pop and shoegaze outfit I Break Horses. I was very excited because I'm super fan of Swedish bands (and Scandinavian in general), so this was one of
my “must-see” at the festival. They basically presented their last work Hearts (2011) and despite the beautiful voice of Maria Lindén, I could hardly listened to her, what made me think that there was definitely something wrong with the sound system in the ATP stage. Anyway, it was nice to see them finally!
One of the biggest gigs of the day was The Cure, who performed a three hours (yes, three hours!!) spectacular show. At the beginning, only one hour and a half was planned for this classic band, but their fans claimed they wanted more tunes, so we finally got the longest concert in the whole festival. Of course, we could listen their super-popular songs such as Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, Just Like Heaven and many more (even the less popular ones). What is more interesting in listening to this legendary group is that in a short period of time you are able to revive thirty years of music with an heterogenic repertoire that brings a magic sensation of transporting yourself through the time.
After this mythic gig, it was time to see The Drums. I was faced with the dilemma of choosing this band or M83, who was playing at the same time (it was very far away from where I was at that moment). Finally, I chose The Drums, and I did it well because they managed to do a perfect show having the crowd jumping and dancing through well-known hits contained in both of their first two albums. I enjoyed it a lot. One thing I learned in that concert is that one of their top anthems, Best Friend, was dedicated to one of their buddies who was dead (so sad!!).
At the end of the day, The Rapture was playing at the main stage. I loved so much seeing them live, with their cocktail of rock, funk and electronic music. They gave an energetic and good performance with their top hits How Deep Is Your Love or In The Graze Of Your Love (OMG, so much love!!). It was already late in the night and time to go home and wait for another day in the festival.
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