Pop Break Live: Primavera Sound LA at State Historic Park in Los Angeles, CA — September 16-18
Any true fan of music festivals knows the name Primavera Sound. They’re the brand behind some of the last two decades’ most unforgettable and impressive lineups coming out of Europe. This year, they’ve decided to expand across oceans and bring Primavera Sound to the Americas; specifically, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. This past weekend, more than 50,000 attendees experienced a truly international and diverse music experience at L.A.’s State Historic Park just east of DTLA. And while the weekend wasn’t without its problems, the lineup led by Lorde, Nine Inch Nails, and Arctic Monkeys made the event worthwhile.
After a spring and summer of incredible music festivals in Los Angeles – from Cruel World and Just Like Heaven, to This Ain’t No Picnic and Palomino – Primavera Sound LA set the bar high with three full days of highly unmissable acts that hailed from across the globe.
Starting on Friday – a day that was heavy with various female artists across multiple genres – attendees might’ve seen French musician and Savages front woman Jehnny Beth cover Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” South London’s Shygirl rap on the main stage, or Bath’s own PinkPantheress draw a huge crowd with both great songs and a brash sense of humor. Then they could’ve caught American-born Clairo and her stripped-back set before watching as the Japan-born Mitski emerged from the darkness post-sunset on her glowing stage. To end the night with the bang, they probably all watched as New Zealand’s resident pop star Lorde held on to the last bit of summer in the air with one of her last live performances of the Solar Power World Tour.
Not only did it feel exceptionally rare and welcome to catch so many women featured on a festival lineup, but the diversity of sound, genre, nationality, and ethnicity set a new precedent for what future music festivals should look and sound like. It was downright refreshing to go from hearing ’90s legends Stereolab give an excellent performance on one stage, to seeing R&B up-and-comer Giveon light up another, and catch electronic-metal band Darkside pump the festival with atmospheric fog by the end of the night.
Despite Lorde’s electrifying set and all the incredible acts on Friday, it was quickly apparent that Primavera had some organizational issues. Only days before the festival took place, fans noticed that the map layout had large, segregated areas for people over 21 and much smaller areas that were designated for all ages. Even though at least a third of the acts over the weekend typically appeal to a young audience and attendees under 21 years old paid the exact same amount for their tickets, those not of drinking age received the short end of the stick when it came to watching performances.
Additionally, people who could legally drink weren’t allowed to bring their alcoholic beverages from stage to stage, so people were often downing drinks to make sure they didn’t miss their favorite acts. The issues were somewhat remedied later in the weekend, but most of the damage was done.
Fortunately, day two of Primavera Sound LA continued the theme of diverse artists appealing to a variety of age ranges. There were memorable sets from Paloma Mami, a Chilean-American artist who brought along exciting back-up dancers; Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, who wrote one of the best rock memoirs of the last several decades and still sounded great; and Dubliners Fontaines D.C., one of the most exciting post-punk bands out there.
One of several mosh pits of the weekend opened during Fontaines D.C., and proved why they’re such a talked-about live act at the moment. Surf Curse brought on another mosh pit later in the day, and that one was certainly a bit more beer-soaked.
Fans of fun rap and loud, colorful clothing watched Tierra Whack bring all her energy to the main stage while fans of California indie rock were treated with a last-minute addition to the festival with Warpaint. The female foursome replaced indie veterans Low, and gave a pretty, atmospheric aura to Primavera’s third stage. Khrunagbin brought their funky, psychedelic tunes to the main stage and started a bit of a dance party before Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails changed the vibe of the festival entirely.
With intense flashing lights, dramatic fog, pulsing bass, and the sound turned up beyond 11, Nine Inch Nails tore through a catalog of undeniable hard rock hits. Playing tracks like “Closer,” “The Hand The Feeds,” “Head Like a Hole,” and “Hurt,” the band managed to sound exactly how they do on their records but also somehow even better. Bicep continued the industrial, electronic theme after Nine Inch Nails ended, and crowds left the festival dancing along.
The final day of Primavera Sound LA undoubtedly had the largest crowd of the weekend. At one point, it felt like half the festival had gathered at the main stage over five hours early just in anticipation of seeing Arctic Monkeys at their first LA show in over five years. And it seemed like festival organizers had somewhat anticipated this. Overnight, barricades and areas dividing those 21 and over had been dramatically shifted to accommodate larger crowds. VIP areas shrunk, but general admission areas grew. It was a bit disorienting to have a different layout days into the festival, but the weather was perfect and the acts were even better.
Faye Webster drew a large crowd at the main stage while Amyl & the Sniffers stoked a beer-drenched mosh pit that just kept growing larger throughout their time onstage. Cigarettes After Sex were a lot more ethereal and dreamy during their set which timed perfectly with a setting sun over the festival grounds. Girl In Red, aka a queer singer-songwriter named Marie who hails from Norway, played a smashing set of her mental-health-awareness-heavy songs including “Serotonin,” “girls,” and “we fell in love in October.” She joked throughout much of her set that everyone in the crowd must be there to see Arctic Monkeys, which was fine with her because she was a fan too.
By the time Arctic Monkeys actually took the stage, the crowd was so large that it appeared endless on the tight grounds. They opened their career-spanning set with “Do You Wanna Know?” before playing hit after hit after hit from AM, Humbug, Favourite Worst Nightmare, and more. Fans, ironically, weren’t treated to the band’s newest single “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball,” despite a large disco ball being on stage, but instead heard another track from their forthcoming record, The Car called “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am.” Old school Monkeys fans even got to hear “From the Ritz to the Rubble” and made the grounds into one gigantic dancefloor during “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.”
Overall, Primavera Sound LA brought together one of the most diverse and interesting festival lineups in recent memory. Their dedication to bringing international acts to LA, and in particular, highlighting women and people of color across each day of the festival, is something that should be both admired and replicated for future events. While there were organizational issues and logistical problems with the festival, they’re issues can easily be fixed and reconsidered for next year. For now, Primavera Sound LA has raised the bar for attracting talent and bringing in large crowds of music fans who love them.
