On Saturday, June 8th 2024 I was supposed to see my 15th Shellac show. Three weeks after Steve Albini’s sudden passing, it’s still hard to imagine we’re not seeing their name on Primavera’s lineup ever again. Shellac is an impossible band to replace, and the organisation knows it well: it was either silence or a celebration, and we got a Shellac Listening Party instead, where their first album in ten years, To All Trains, will be played in its entirety.
In 2024 we also mourn the loss of the Bits stage, which is unavailable for this year’s edition. We lose the clubbing part and a nice shelter from the rain, but there are good news, too. Music starts earlier, with the first shows starting around 16:30, and it stops earlier, too: expect to be home before 3 am. What a dream.
Expect the best food court of any music festival, maybe a little bit of rain, stunning headliner sets by Pulp, Mitski and Lana del Rey, and the greenest the park has been in recent years, as per the festival’s director. Read on to know about our top ten non-headliner sets for this year, and listen to our special Spotify playlist.
Primavera Sound Porto 2024 runs from June 7 to 9 and full festival tickets (plus day tickets for Thursday and Saturday) are still available on the festival’s website. As usual, you can download our printable timetables here (Excel/3-day view) and the mobile PDF version here.
Ana Lua Caiano (Thu 6, Super Bock, 16:45)
I’ve written about Ana Lua Caiano when I had the chance to see her in Ljubljana earlier in the year. The Portuguese multi-instrumentalist has since released her debut album to great acclaim and I believe she deserved a later spot at the lineup. But opening the festival can be seen as an honor in itself. It’s also your reminder that this is now a festival for adults who know fun is to be had during the day. Get there early because the unmissable stuff starts at the very beginning.
Militarie Gun (Thu 6, Porto., 18:40)
Another thing that starts very early this year: painful overlaps. If you’re lucky and Blonde Redhead is not your thing (it should be, though), you’ve got a great backup at Militarie Gun. I wish they were playing at the smaller Plenitude stage instead. But, hopefully, the LA-based melodic hardcore punk band (that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Dischord et al DC scene) can handle the big, smelly stage.
Eartheater (Thu 6, Super Bock, 20:40)
Every other clash on Thursday is painful, and I’m the first to admit: I’d be running to the Mitski show if only I hadn’t seen her last week in Amsterdam. But I’m lucky, so I’ll be up front at the Eartheater show instead, likely surrounded by young people with questionable taste in fashion who probably think the same exact thing about my normie “millennial” ass. Last time I saw her she was playing at a church in the Hague with the gorgeous LEYA as a backing band. But listening to the ice cold experimental electronic pop compositions on her latest Powders and seeing snippets of her recent shows on her socials makes me think we’re about to see a very different show. [Update: They’ve now moved Eartheater’s show so it clashes with PJ Harvey instead. Hate my life.]
Máquina (Fri 7, Super Bock, 16:35)
Don’t be fooled by the 4pm time slot. Lisbon-based trio Máquina plays 4am rock music suited for the club. They’re dark, they’re loud, they’re repetitive. Their second album, PRATA, just came out on Fuzz Records, and it’s a banger. They were so good at one of the free entrance pre-parties at last year’s Vodafone Paredes de Coura festival that 3 days later the organisation rushed to book them for the festival proper after The Last Dinner Party cancelled last minute. Again, show up early.
This is the Kit (Fri 7, Plenitude, 19:35)
This is the Kit, and this is also one of the classic indie folk/rock acts formed in the mid-00s that somehow always escaped me, either because Kate Stables and co were either touring arenas with the National or getting their tour plans ruined by pandemics. A classic great late afternoon act, featuring some of the finest songwriting in the whole festival – probably the most Bolachas-coded show of 2024.
Lambchop (Fri 7, Super Bock, 20:35)
Hardly an unknown band, especially for our readership, if you’ve been here long enough. But every Lambchop show is special, and every Lambchop show is worth encouraging people to go to. Lambchop’s recent output has Kurt Wagner singing through a vocoder and flirting with electronic sounds to mixed reception from longtime fans. But that shroud hides some of Wagner’s most gorgeous compositions, and a special, intimate piano duo show is the perfect medium to showcase some of the best tunes off their latest album, The Bible.
Tropical Fuck Storm (Fri 7, Plenitude, 21:50)
Australian’s finest underground-ish rock band The Drones were one of the ‘classic’ Primavera bands of the late 00s/early 10s, tied to the best years of ATP. Frontman Gareth Liddiard has put the band to rest in 2016 and started Tropical Fuck Storm with bassist Fiona Kitschin. They were supposed to debut in Portuguese soil at last year’s Paredes de Coura, but health issues postponed it to this year. Hopefully they’ll be healthier and louder than ever – and trust me, all three times I witnessed this art-punk badasses’ live show, my earplugs did not seem like they were coping well.
Wolf Eyes (Fri 7, Super Bock, 23:00)
I don’t know if it’s possible to write about Wolf Eyes in 2024 without mentioning John Olson’s page INZANE_JOHNNY, one of the very scarce reasons to have an Instagram account these days. Memes aside, it probably will feel very counter-culturish of us to be drowning in noise made on top of a plastic folding table while the biggest star of the festival is performing on the big stage. And they’ll be done just in time for people to rush to there to hear the best Lana songs (pls play this sad one).
Joanna Sternberg (Sat 8, Super Bock, 18:30)
Adam Green described Joanna Sternberg as the “inheritor of the Antifolk mystery”, and he’s absolutely right. Sternberg is a folk singer – and a double bass player, and a visual artist… – like no other today, and their debut I’ve Got Me was one of my favorite records last year. Plus, really cool choices on Amoeba’s “What’s In My Bag”!
Lisabö (Sat 8, Super Bock, 20:35)
The legendary Basque post-hardcore band is back in Porto after five years, and they bring a new album with them, lorategi izoztuan hezur huts bilakatu arte. If you’re missing Shellac already, including Albini’s ethics, this is the band for you: you won’t see them doing PR, you certainly won’t find their albums on streaming services [I wrote this before they resurfaced on Spotify and I’m not removing the whole sentence]. Occasions to see them outside of Spain are very rare, so treat this as a happening.