The Primavara Run-down

A couple of months ago I wrote about a pretty killer music festival called Primavera Sound. It was this past weekend, and yours truly was there. Let me say one thing about this festival.... its pretty friggin awesome. For one thing, it is very very well organized and set up. The Barcelona Parc Forum is probably the best place I have seen for a festival of this kind so far. For another thing, the ambience was great. The kind of people that go see bands like Múm, the Sonic Youth and Patty Smith, are my kind of people. It was all contemporary music nerds who liked to rock. I got along great with that kind of crowd.
I also fell in love with about half of the girls there. Both the dread headed hippy chicks with their flowing skirts, short haired hipsters with their dark rimmed glasses... both the tanned spanish local girls and the blonde Northern european travelers... the deep thinkers and the party rockers... but mostly the girl who worked at the CD merchandising booth. Sigh...

But enough about the chicks, what about the music! It is rare to hear such sonic treats in this "square" pop loving country. They dont even have classic rock stations. And you guys thought american radio sucked... Anyway, this was nice. Here is the rundown:

Band that Rocked the Hardest: Sonic Youth
These guys gave it all on stage. They performed one of their seminal albums "Daydream Nation" in its totality. Thrashing around stage and summoning feedback from their guitars, they have my vote for the hardest rocking show at the festival.
Best Show Overall: Patty Smith
This old rocker still has all the power she became famous for in her proto-punk era. Her band was as tight as any I have seen. I may not have been as pumped up, amused or moved by her as I was as some of the other shows, but the quality of her performance was stellar.
Show with the best crowd: Smashing Pumpkins
It was unfair really, the Pumpkins' audience has been salivating in anticipation for this show for over 5 years now, so it was natural that it should be an excellent crowd. During the concert they were rocking like mad; moshing, jumping, and yelling. And I swear I have never seen a crowd sing along with the band with such zeal and consistency. I mean, every single word to every single song... only letting up for some slow ones out of reverence for the all-powerful Billy Corgan. It was a blast.
Most moving performance: Spiritualized
It is strange, the band is usually quite... cacophonous, having gleaned much influence from the shoegazing era they were born in, and yet this show was a calm, mellow and moving set. The band had a string quartet and a group of gospel singers. As for "the band" it consisted of a rhodes piano, a harmonica and an acoustic guitar. The songs were all of a beautiful bittersweet nature. I hope they put out an album with this setup. I prefer it to their normal fare.
"Funnest" Band: TIE: Architecture in Helsinki - Múm
The setup of both groups was similar: many members, the combination of electronic and real instruments, movements of members.... Both had pros and cons. Múm put on a tighter show, so they win points for that, but Architecture in Helsinki wins when it comes to strangeness. Either way, both had me smiling.
Other bands that I saw (in order of awesomeness or lack thereof):
Blonde Redhead: ***** (and a great CD too!)
Hot Chip: *****
Fujiya & Miyagi: ****
Justice: ***
Long Blondes: ***
Herman Dune:***
Grizzly Bear:***
Modest Mouse: ***
White Stripes: ***
Isis: **
Maximo Park: **
The Melvins: **
And many many DJs... some good some bad