Scenestar

Photo & Review by Chris Molina

Despite the last couple of weeks of Southern California scorching heat, the Friday kickoff of Primavera was graced by a sunkissed picturesque day. The crisp breeze and festival atmosphere reminiscent of the carefree days of a pre-Covid era are warm but equally offset. For many long-time Los Angeles concert rats and music editorials, Los Angeles State Historic Park is a familiar reminder of yesteryear’s FYF Fest, which in some ways, laid the groundwork for the venue’s subsequent music events and festivals. Curiosity and anticipation peek, wondering if the Primavera Sound production and logistical operations will meet or exceed expectations from its promoter predecessors.

Overall, we can declare the lay of the land was cozy complete with incredibly hospitable staff, a village of art stalls, and foodie-style vendors. Still, there are definitely some kinks that should be hammered out for the next installment. Namely, the corralling of the age gating (if this becomes a permanent thing) and the overlapping sound pollution of the Smirnoff stage/activation straight into the live performances of the next-door Tecate Alta stage. Before hitting a single note of their electric set, rockers Surf Curse were not shy about giving a humorous nudge over the goofy nature of the whole situation. But we all managed to have a good collective laugh.

In the hierarchy of staple, festivals reside Glastonbury, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and most certainly Barcelona’s Primavera Sound are critically and commercially celebrated. This makes it all the more special to have the Spanish-imported festival land in the music, entertainment, and cultural hub of Los Angeles, where a broad swath of Latinos make up the very fabric of the city. In terms of brand and identity, Primavera is synonymous with a tastemakers mindset that could easily be reflected in the three-day lineup, which had a thoughtfully curated balance of older 90s, early 2000’s and recent decade youth audience tunes.

Speaking of older bands, evidently, Arctic Monkeys still hold a lot of tangible equity as a headliner regardless of their four-year L.A. appearance drought. The festival chatter and even excitement within The Senestar’s extended network were smothered by any potential hype for electronic legends and Los Angeles favorite Nine Inch Nails. We even met a couple of blokes from Liverpool who impressively flew out to the festival just to see Sheffield’s finest shred the Sunday night mainstage. It was also rumored the band would not play the festival unless it was 18+. The opening and fan-favorite “Do I Wanna Know?” immediately set the tone for an impressive setlist consisting of “Do Me A Favour” and “Pretty Visitors”. There’s no arguing Arctic Monkeys still have raw-unbridled stage presence matched with solid musicianship chops which warranted their headlining spot. Rock n’ Roll is still very much alive!

Continuing down the path of headliners is none other than longtime Scenestar favorite Nine Inch Nails, who have already kicked off an aggressive touring schedule that included a Santa Barbara Bowl stop just a couple of days before Primavera Sound. While Arctic Monkeys may have won the word-of-mouth battle, Nine Inch Nails certainly won the merch/swag wars as there was no short supply of fans flexing old or freshly purchased tees and hoodies. With the band’s impressive catalog of tracks, "Wish” remains a timeless tune that manages to set a singalong punctual statement as part of the opening setlist on Saturday night.

Friday night had us hopping between Lorde and Darkside. Lorde’s set could be described as heavily leaning towards the "Solar Power" side of the spectrum. Though she did play into her classic strengths, which included “Buzzcut Season” and “Royals” which were seamlessly set alongside the elegant yet minimal set pieces of her stage production. Circling back to our earlier mention of L.A.’s heatwave, Lorde took the opportunity to address this very observation with a sincere plea toward mindful action against the omnipresence of climate change. It’s good to see this become a reoccurring awareness trend across the live music landscape.

Another beloved Scenestar act is Darkside, who we’d argue is one of the select few most important bands in the last decade. One of the most important bands probably most people never heard of, and that is intentionally done by design through none other than band members Dave Harrington and Nicolas Jaar. Darkside can equally be considered a fringe conceptual experiment, but that didn’t stop festival attendees from making a good turnout despite Lorde’s commanding clout across the venue. Compared to the Wednesday-night Hollywood Forever set, this version felt super consolidated but equally tight, demonstrating both Dave and Nico’s prowess of live jamming within a modest window of time.

On the newer-youth-centric side of the lineup were Clario, PinkPantheress, and Mitski’s infectious upbeat energy, all of which managed to strike a visceral-adoring chord with their fans. From singalongs to selfies, it was fascinating to see the sometimes stark differences between the vibe of new versus old-skool. Especially when it came to fashion, the youth didn’t hold back with their vivid color palettes and eccentric outfit designs. The novelty and possibility of life are still palpable with zero interference or sense of outside judgment. All of these are great indicators for what appeared as a relatively successful inaugural Primavera Sound Los Angeles edition. We hope to see the festival become a regular staple of our city’s backyard.