Music Critic Nina Avitabile reviews Primavera Sound Porto 2023, which delivered incredible music and an unforgettable experience to festival goers in the face of challenging weather
Primavera Sound Porto celebrated its tenth anniversary on June 7-10 in Porto, Portugal with internationally renowned headliners Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and Blur. The four day non-camping festival was held at the tree-lined city park, Parque da Cidade which was easily accessible from the city centre via bus, dropping attendees around five minutes from the festival gates.
The four days were well-organised with limited queuing for wristbands and very short wait times for festival essentials, namely bars and toilets. There was a relaxed atmosphere amongst the festival goers throughout the Parque da Cidade and it was clear that the space had been carefully curated to encourage this, with a scattering of bean bags, hammocks and swinging benches. There was a generous variety of food trucks, covering all bases including the classics (pizza, burger, kabab) as well as great veggie, vegan and health-conscious options.
One important aspect of the festival was it’s evident commitment towards sustainability with water fountains, reusable cups and biodegradable food packaging as well as enhanced public transport during the festival and a bike park onsite to promote cycling. Primavera Sound is the only music festival allied with the Sustainable Development Goals Campaign of the UN; it was refreshing to see a large festival make such a notable commitment to sustainability.
Primavera Sound is the only music festival allied with the Sustainable Development Goals Campaign of the UN; it was refreshing to see a large festival make such a notable commitment to sustainability.
On day one there was a more limited line-up as just the Vodafone and Porto stages were open, with attendees alternating between the two. The acts played sequentially meaning there were no dilemmas between friends about which acts to see on the Wednesday. Portuguese singer-songwriter Beatriz Pessoa opened the festival with a 45 minute set featuring hits such as ‘Roda Gigante’ and ‘Passou Pequeno’ from her 2023 album PRAZER PRAZER. She performed in an electric blue two piece, warming up the crowd with beautiful vocals to accompany her melodic jazz-pop set. Next up was Londoner Georgia, giving an energetic performance on the Vodafone stage, followed by fellow Brit, musician and record producer Alison Goldfrapp, who was captivating in a sequenced cape and body suit. At just 23, Brit Award-winning Holly Humberstone gave a heart-felt performance, the perfect combination of reflective lyrics and clean, chorus laced electric guitar. Humberstone played crowd favourites from her 2023 album release Can You Afford To Lose Me? such as ‘Falling Asleep at the Wheel’ and ‘Deep End’ as well as treating the audience to a rendition of her new song, ‘Antichrist’.
Fans arrived at the Porto stage early to secure a good spot to see American rapper Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr, better known as Baby Keem. The anticipation of the crowd was building and as Keem began his set with ‘trademark usa’ followed by ‘hooligan’ the crowd erupted into chaos. 808 led bass and ground shaking vibrations continued throughout his set with numerous mosh pits breaking out to the sound of Trap drums. Keem curated a varied set, incorporating fan favourites from his most recent album, The Melodic Blue (2021), including ‘issues’, which focuses on his mother’s addiction and challenging upbringing. The weather took a turn mid performance with many retreating for cover. At 12.30am long-awaited headliner Kendrick Lamar took to the Porto stage in an orange tracksuit. Despite his usual energy and skill as a performer, it was hard for the crowd to not feel the effects of a days’ worth of torrential rain. The crowd thinned as many of the soaked audience retreated to cover, sorting the casual fans from the ‘Day Ones’.
Rested, dry and with stamina restored, we headed back to the festival grounds for day two. With torrential rain and thunderstorm symbols still dominating the weather forecast, everyone came prepared and the crowd was a rainbow sea of ponchos. Thursday’s line up boasted Canadian indie pop band Alvvays as well as London-born rising star Arlo Parks. Fellow Radio 6 favourite, Gaz Coombes was a hit on the Plenitude stage with his pop-rock sound; with hints of The National, Baxter Dury and a little LCD (the latter more apparent in ‘Deep Pockets’ appearing mid-set). It was clear how Coombes had parlayed the talent he first demonstrated with his time in Supergrass into a successful solo career, releasing four solo albums since 2015.
It was clear how Coombes had parlayed the talent he first demonstrated with his time in Supergrass into a successful solo career, releasing four solo albums since 2015.
One of the highlights of the festival was Japanese Breakfast fronted by the multi-talented creative, Michelle Zauner. Zauner played a joyful set of indie-pop in front of their quirky persimmon fruit backdrop. The audience sang along entranced and barely noticed the light rain that reappeared. Moving from indie pop melodies to electronica, with enough time to get a Super Bock, music producer Fred Gibson (Fred Again) kicked off his set on the Vodafone stage. Fred Again ignited the crowd with one of the tracks that has seen his sharp rise to stardom, ‘Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)’ which contained edited voice samples from artist The Blessed Madonna musing on the importance of music and dance, especially during the pandemic. Headlining the second night was the enigmatic Rosalía. The Spanish singer put on one of the best performances of the festival, innovatively fusing flamenco, R&B and Latin pop while executing a precisely choreographed dance routine. The Steadicam operator worked overtime moving around the stage alongside Rosalía to capture a level of intimacy that is rare to witness for such a large festival crowd.
The penultimate day saw American rapper and songwriter Pusha T perform a career-spanning set aided by an enthusiastic hype man and DJ, both supported by a not-so-subtle drug paraphernalia video. After the high energy set of King Push, the good vibes were sustained by NxWorries, made up of Anderson .Paak and producer Knxwledge. Paak, who appears to have an endless supply of creativity and drive, with an abundance of projects to his name, had utter control of the crowd who lapped up every minute. The one hour set oozed feel-good groove, and was sexy and soulful with classics such as ‘Suede’ and ‘Droogs’, a whole club’s worth of dancers joining on stage for the latter.
The evening came to an end with an eclectic mix of artists, starting with legendary English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Gracing the main stage in a pair of white lab coat and masks, they opened with ‘Suburbia’ and dutifully played hits ‘Always on my mind’ and ‘It’s a Sin’ during their one hour forty set. Later St. Vincent was a rock and roll vision in white, against a backdrop of the New York City skyline. Annie Clark curated an exceptional visual and audio experience, juggling performance, crowd interaction, energetic vocals and innovative guitar work.
…popular closer ‘On Division Street’, connected with the crowd in a way that recalls much more established artists like Saturday’s big headliner Blur.
Saturday highlight Nation Of Language took to the Super Bock stage at 19:50. Hailing from New York and comprised of front man Ian Richard Devaney, bassist Alex MacKay and Aidan Noell contributing backing vocals and synths, the band played to a packed crowd in the stages’ leafy setting with the smell of pine trees wafting through the air. Their accessible sound featured numerous homages to 80s synth pop titans (one of which, the legendary New Order, would take to the closely located Vodafone stage in an act of brilliant programming later that evening). Despite being only two albums in, popular closer ‘On Division Street’, connected with the crowd in a way that recalls much more established artists like Saturday’s big headliner Blur.
Providing the perfect back drop to the setting sun on the Plenitude stage was Los Angeles based artist Julia Holter. Classical sounds blended with modern synthesizers as her accompanying band launched into popular tracks such as ‘Feel You’ and the whistle-featuring ‘Sea calls me home’. Performing in the same time slot on the Vodafone stage was the classic indie and emo rock band Karate. Often playing with a slow and delicate poise, Geoff Farina’s instantly recognisable voice was just as arresting as it was when the band released their last record before their 17 year hiatus. Closing out the festival were the Britpop icons, Blur, playing the perfect mix of deeper cuts and radio singles. Towards the end of the set Blur treated the dedicated audience to singalong favourites such as ‘Parklife’, ‘Country House’ and ‘Girls and Boys’. The atmosphere was electric in front of the Porto stage and all eyes were on Albarn as he swaggered around his signature piano, holding the crowd captive throughout.
Despite some initial unavoidable setbacks (or should we say wet backs), Primavera Porto once again proved that with the likes of Rosalia and Blur headlining your festival, no rain shower can stop 40,000 people in a field having the time of their life.
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