If you’ve spent enough seasons navigating the endless concrete of Parc del Fòrum, you know that Primavera Sound is entirely dependent on the elements. It can be a really fun playground, or it can test your absolute resolve. This year, it chose to do both.
Let’s be honest, Thursday can be pretty much written off. We arrived with high spirits, prepared to endure whatever the sky threw at us for the one act that most people bought their tickets for: Massive Attack. Unfortunately, after a few delays and a turn of the weather for the worse, we called it a night and just went home. The weather turned from bad to outright hostile, and early casualties like Alex G and Mac DeMarco were pulled from the schedule before the plug was officially blown on Massive Attack, Doja Cat, and Bad Gyal.
The sting was made worse by Massive Attack’s subsequent statement. The Bristol outfit shared they were utterly devastated, especially since they had spent months preparing a special visual gig, containing a highly politicised show specifically designed for Barcelona. A heavy start, but if Primavera teaches you anything, it’s resilience.
By Friday, the arrival had nothing to do with the day before. You could tell people were genuinely excited to be dry and warm again, and the walk to the main stage, where Newdad would become our first act of Primavera 2026, took us through the usual chaos of endless bars, live radio shows going on, and food trucks that smelled a little too tempting.
Newdad turned out to be an awesome way to start the festival. They’re laid-back but have that rock band urgency that gets you hyped for anything. The lead singer was in a seemingly engaging mood, and it felt really heartwarming for us early arrivers. It was the perfect injection of energy just in time for Slowdive, who played straight after on the Revolut side of the main stages. Their set perfectly complemented the awesome sunset that was looming behind the stage, dosing us with their mesmerising sound and ability to transcend reality through atmospheric textures. They practically pioneered the shoegaze that keeps listeners afloat, marking their dream pop and psychedelic sound in a whole new realm in indie music. What really did it for us were the delayed guitar effects, especially during ‘Sugar for the Pill’, it absolutely hit the spot.
Then, after a couple of side quests to the Cupra and Plenitud stages (shoutout Powder, one of this year’s discoveries and one of the grooviest DJ sets, if not the most, we’ve caught this edition), came the weekend’s anchor: a massive two-and-a-half-hour set from The Cure. As an under-30-year-old, the need to be there an hour before was not as necessary as it was for the slightly older, more die-hard fans who arrived decently early to grab a good spot and, consequently, but much to our amusement, had to sit through the last hour of Addison Rae’s gig.
There was a slight hesitation beforehand that the gig was going to feel too long, but it went by in a flash. They never fail and did themselves justice by playing the classics too. The way they still hold up after all these years is quite telling of how influential their music is, and we are still in awe of how Robert Smith still sounds exactly as he did when recording his many legendary tunes decades ago. True generational talent that we will tell our grandkids that we were lucky enough to watch live.
After that, a late-night detour to see one of the most energetic and euphoric performances of the entire weekend. No one keeps peak time energy for an extended period than Skrillex, finding the sweet spot between those who knew him from his ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’ brostep days, and the ones who have seen his name featured on the many collaborations he’s been involved in in the past years. Bangers, bangers, and more bangers that we still count as the most intense cardio of the week. Still dripping some sweat out of our foreheads, we came over to the Occident stage for Viagra Boys. At this point, it’s worth noting that Primavera’s booking team has mastered the art of reading a crowd. They’ve found a clever loophole in scheduling the best rock and punk bands at 3:00 am every year now (last year was Turnstile on this same stage) because they know we’re the ones who will wait it out, good, loyal fans.
As per usual, they delivered, even though for some reason the sound was a bit low at the start, which is strange, maybe because it’s the stage nearest the flats around the Fòrum? Who knows. But Murphy is always as blissfully weird as ever. Regardless of decibels, Viagra Boys delivered pure, unadulterated spectacle. He played the best of the old and new ones, but then, for some reason, didn’t realise the mic was off during their (not) one-hit wonder ‘Sports.’ He ended up on the floor singing it anyway, which was legendary to say the least. Their sound is aggressively addictive and always gets the crowd moving and jumping straight into a mosh pit. How could one not when he shouts “Hola Cabrones, ¿cómo estáis?” to the crowd, followed by a “let’s fucking party,” and proceeds to play one of our personal favorites, ‘Slow Learner.’
By Saturday, the weather gods finally decided to stop punishing us. The arrival was beautifully sunny, and hats off to the weather for keeping us warm for the home stretch. That being said, you could tell people were still slightly traumatised by Thursday’s apocalyptic downpour. The number of people walking around with cagoules aggressively tucked into their bags and back pockets was amusing to say the least.
We kicked off with Little Simz at the main stage, and her energy was contagious as per. Last time she played here, she performed at Cupra, so seeing her rightfully upgraded to the main stage felt like a proper win. She embraced the crowd with this infectious positive attitude, but what really hooks you is her ability to be completely stern with her words and what she believes in. Because most of her tracks are rap songs, not many of us possess the talent to remember every single bar, but when ‘Selfish’ kicked in? Total game over. The entire crowd collectively found their voices for a massive sing-along.
As much as we love the massive headline acts, our inner adventurer always forces us to seek out the grungier, dirtier pockets of Parc del Fòrum. Once again, hats off to the booking team; they are absolute masters at calling in global icons without leaving out the hidden gems that wouldn’t necessarily draw a 50,000-person crowd to the city.
Next, we had to divide and conquer. On the one hand, we couldn’t miss one of the biggest comebacks in electronic music: The xx. Sweet like a kiss on your forehead, throwing us back to the good old days, and with those tunes that we haven’t heard in ages, lighting something back inside us. Beautiful.
Half show in, we headed down to the underground depths of the two stages by the port area to catch back-to-back chaos from Touché Amoré and Lambrini Girls, barely knowing either of them. We started Touché Amoré with hands in pockets, cold beer in hand, watching from the sidelines. Within twenty minutes, their emotional American post-hardcore energy completely took over me, the lead singer’s visceral screech giving me absolute goosebumps. Right after, Lambrini Girls washed the entire space in devastatingly heavy bass riffs and politically encouraging vocals. At one point, the lead singer demanded we form “the biggest mosh pit Primavera has ever seen.” In which challenge was duly accepted. By the final song, our outside observer selves were demolished; we ended up in the front row, sweating loads, with a lost jumper and an empty plastic cup.
After sweating every single drop of beer out of our systems, we took a quick detour to refill the tanks before managing to wiggle our way right to the front for Gorillaz. To be fair, the absolute least of our worries was whether they were going to be good. Damon Albarn was in a brilliantly funny mood, owning the massive stage as if it were his own living room. Without leaving out the classics everyone was there for, they unleashed a heavy dose of tracks from their new album, ‘The Mountain.’ But the real flex was the rotating door of absolute royalty they brought out, turning the set into the world’s coolest block party with appearances (some of them virtually, but still getting the scream out of the crowd) from Little Simz, Yasiin Bey, Moonchild Sanelly, Kara Jackson, Pos from De La Soul, Bootie Brown, and Omar Souleyman.
Quick tap back at the Plenitude stage for quite an experience. Verraco and Lechuga Zafiro’s joint project, Hyperverbena, was a celebration of South American culture with such a fun delivery. From a set of visuals that felt like Mexican TikTok meets oldschool YouTube with leaked police cameras from riots, soundtracked by a combination of a wide spread of genres, from IDM and breakbeat to cumbia and drum and bass.
The final trek of the weekend led to the Occident stage for Kneecap. Placed in another 3:00 am slot, it’s clear Primavera knows its loyal, sleep-deprived demographic all too well. Despite the ungodly hour, the crowd was utterly feral, perfectly matching the Belfast trio’s fierce political stance and no-nonsense attitude. They tore through a blistering setlist featuring tracks like ‘H.O.O.D.’ and ‘Sick in the Head,’ raising the stakes even higher with a couple of brilliant guest appearances, including Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten and an emotional moment of solidarity alongside Fawzi. Considering their connection with Catalunya, rooted in a shared history of cultural resistance, they really squeezed everything out of this one. Having caught them in Bilbao last year, you can tell they properly resonate with these crowds.
And here we are, with our legs thinking they already deserve a break, but finding strength for a last daytime boogie. Not going to lie, this one isn’t for the weak ones after a full 3-day festival bender, but a cheeky little dance killed no one… And with these heavyweights controlling the decks, it is a no-brainer.
We got back to the venue, with the area cut down from its massive initial map to this one stage by the entry to gather on the same dance floor all those club heads. On the mix, none other than Joseph Capriati, teaching the kids how to make some heads bop. Being honest, we weren’t expecting such a radio-friendly version of the Italian DJ at first, but he clearly knew what most of the crowd needed first to finally get them all into deeper cuts. With some more minimal grooves coming out of the speakers (which were very much appreciated by those who already know what this guy’s capable of), the handover was ready. Oh yes, oh yes! You know the king was ready, and so were the people.
Carl Cox welcomes everyone aboard with his iconic MCing skills and reflects everyone’s smile into his. We’re still not sure how he does that, but there’s no way anyone can’t be in a bad mood the moment he’s on stage. He took us on a ride that, to be completely honest, was a bit bumpy sometimes. We had the feeling he was in the mood to play some darker and stompier tunes, and despite taking his set straight from where he found it with some house grooves (including his iconic ‘Finder’ moment), he steered the wheel every now and then to see if we were ready to take it there. It didn’t go well at first, and you’d see him driving the selection back into happier places, where he tried from disco to breaks and even some melodic techno. But in the end, he got what he wanted… and to be fair, it was the most fun. The sun is already set, the BPMs haven’t been this high today, and everyone’s dancing knowing this is their last chance to do so. We wanted to leave a few minutes earlier to avoid bumping into packed metro entries… But he was in his element, and that’s always a pleasure to see.
And if you think about it, this last experience was quite a great metaphor for our full Primavera experience. Expectations are always high, but the excitement is always there. You enter Parc Del Fòrum with your seatbelt fastened, thinking your mindset’s ready for the ride. But as much as you plan stuff, you circle your unmissable acts on the calendar, try to meet your friends for that one concert, tell yourself you won’t be there until the closing… The magic of festivals like this lies in the unexpected (both good and bad). The artist discoveries, the people you meet, the Red Bulls you drink to get one last dance out of you, the excitement when tying your shoes before leaving your place, and, of course, the loads of live music that fill our minds and hearts. Sometimes you hate it while your socks are soaking wet, but you always wake up next Monday counting the days for next year’s edition… And that’s how we feel writing these words. Thank you once again, Primavera Sound. See you soon!
