b-seen Events
Primavera Sound 2017
In permanent expansion
We all think of the Primavera as the starting point for the Summer Festival season: programmed activities will be happening from Monday May 29th through till Sunday June 4th this year. (With the tickets sold out a while ago and individual day tickets almost gone as well). The most significant new element offered this year is the erection of the "electronic" stage has been part of the festival for four years now but has been rechristened Primavera Bits: At the northern end of the festival the "Bacardí Live" stage and the "Desperados Club" features a Bowers & Wilkins Sound System, which will host performances between June 1st and 3rd from 12 noon to 6 AM, that is eighteen hours of music everyday, without the classic PS scenarios. These stages include sets from of the big name artists like Bicep, Ben UFO, Henrik Schwarz, Dixon, Lord Of The Isles , los !!! (chk chk chk) in Dj mode, several live sessions and a lot of local talent like the Discos Paradiso Crew, Sau Poler and a Hivern Discs showcase head lined by a disco set from John Talabot, to name just a few of the line-up and which would be enough for an entirely separate festival.
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Ambience, Tame Impala, 2016 ©Eric Pamies
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!!! chk chk chk
The "classic" stages of Spring are not far behind: on Wednesday 31 is the free date will present to Sant Etienne, exquisite Brit-Synth Pop based in the 90, which has a significant number of fans and come with new album under the arm: “Home Counties”. As well as Sarah Cracknell and her girls, festival goers will also see and hear classics from Wedding Present, Kate Tempest, etc.
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Saint Etienne ©Elaine Constantine
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The Wedding Present ©Jessica McMillan
The festival proper begins on Thursday, June 1st; This year there’s a very special line-up, some will miss the big names, but it’s a year for looking at the fine-print: with a lot of cult bands and some very interesting debuts. Among the most talked about of the day is the live-set from Richard D. James, better known as Aphex Twin, who leaves behind more than a decade of semi retirement, back now to release a lot of new material which is as good as anything he’s ever done, and brings a visual show that according to what we have seen on YouTube looks like something from another planet. Aphex Twin has also produced two of the best albums of 2016: Solange Knowles, who went from being "Beyoncé's sister" to the artist who made "A Seat at the Table", a really exquisite record of organic soul, closer to Sade’s style than what her younger sister does, a really flawless record that earned her her first Grammy for best R&B performance, and Bon Iver, the band headed by Justin Robertson that is constantly shifting the boundaries of electro folk especially on the album "22, A Million". Fans of harder sounds will be over the moon with the mythical Slayer, 80s-90s trash metal, Canadian industrialists Skinny Puppy, and uber-classic The Damned, first generation English punk band still going strong.
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Aphex Twin
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Solange
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Bon Iver
On Friday, June 2nd Primavera presents The XX, who’ll play their third and highly recommended album "I see you" that sees them returning to their more melodic side; There will also be the ethereal Flying Lotus and their sidereal hip hop and that kind of super duo rap called Run The Jewels: Killer Mike and EL-P bring their third album full of devastating rhymes and beats. For the nostalgic, the pioneering Belgian group Front 242 will be bringing their arsenal of immortal 90s hits.
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The XX ©Laura Coulson
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Front 242
Finally, on Saturday, June 3rd there’ll be a visit from a genuine star: the last great disco diva still on the go: the eccentric Grace Jones who at 68 is still a huge force on stage, add to this the always worthy Arcade Fire who have a huge following of local fans, and not forgetting the militant punk rock and transsexual tour de force of Against Me!, the band headed by Laura Jean Grace, one of the most political and progressive voices on the current rock scene and the English rapper Skepta, who snatched the Mercury Prize from David Bowie’s Blackstar.
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Grace Jones ©Andrea Klarin
