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NOS Primavera Sound 17: welcome to our top ten

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(Photo: Hugo Lima / nosprimaverasound.com)

Oh my brothers and oh my other comrades… six years of NOS Primavera Sound, six years we’ve left the Parque da Cidade hungry for more. After another sold out edition, we’re wondering if the festival needs to grow a bit more. And the answer is “no it doesn’t”. We love it just the way it is: a smaller, familiar festival that keeps us from going to Barcelona because we simply don’t need it anymore, even after those two sweet, sweet editions we were a part of (’09 and ‘10).

10. HAMILTON LEITHAUSER

After repeated listens of Leithauser’s debut record (with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam), I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, we couldn’t help but think “A 1000 Times” was a one hit wonder. Things are shaken up a bit live, but the single still stands strong as the major highlight, a contender for one of the best moments of the whole festival, with Leithauser screaming his heart out during the verses.  

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9. THE GROWLERS

Half an hour of The Growlers’ gig was enough to grant them a spot on our top ten. In the end, all you need is a great song – and they’ve delivered it in the form of “Love Test”, off hit record Chinese Fountain. The Growlers have grown from the garage scene and matured well enough to grant them a safe spot at a festival’s major stage, but they remain young at heart. Wish we could have stayed for “Going Gets Tough” later in the set, but some band was calling our names in a stage nearby… (Photo: Miguel Oliveira / pointandshoot.pt)

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8. SLEAFORD MODS

The Nottingham duo sounded a bit less abrasive than in the past, but they’re still what you should look for in a festival stage if you want a good time. Props to Andrew Fearn for keeping the best job ever (traveling the world, hitting the ‘play’ button every now and then and bobbing his head while holding a 50cl can of beer, and drinking it). (Photo: Hugo Lima / nosprimaverasound.com)

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7. SAMUEL ÚRIA

Our favorite Portuguese songwriter of the 21st century had the honor to open NOS Primavera Sound 2017 and of course he was up to the task. It was also the first time in six years that we’ve seen someone dance in the first concert of the festival, when people are usually busy seeing friends they rarely see during the rest of the year and having the first beers while there’s barely any queuing. “É Preciso Que Eu Diminua”, from his latest record, and old favorite “Teimoso” did the trick.

6. JULIEN BAKER

Playing simultaneously with the festival’s headliner, especially since the headliner is also a fellow singer-songwriter, is a tough job. Still, the few hundreds who (rightfully so) thought this kind of music is best enjoyable in a small crowd, close to the stage, and not in the middle of 20-something thousand people were rewarded with what was probably the best solo delivery of this festival. The young Julien Baker, alone at the microphone, presented new songs (“Distant Solar Systems”, “Funeral Pyre”) from her second record, her yet unnamed Matador debut that should be due later this year. We have, indeed, witnessed the beginning of something important. And beautiful.

5. MITSKI

Like The Growlers an hour before, Mitski was hurt (well, not literally, just our appreciation of her gig) by the fact that our annual celebration with a certain Chicago trio did not allow us to be there at 9pm sharp. Still, our swift run to the Pitchfork stage has rewarded us with the chance to witness her playing the song that turned us on to her music, Bury Me at Makeout Creek’s “First Love / Late Spring”. However, the highlight of her show had to be the closer “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars”. Who does not relate to the words “I work better under a deadline”?

4. WEYES BLOOD

Her birthday wasn’t until one hour later, but in the end it was Natalie Mering who gave us a present instead. Playing most of Front Row Seat to Earth, an album we unfortunately haven’t seen her play before – and with a full band – this was one of our most awaited shows and we weren’t disappointed. And, on top of her having the most beautiful voice of the whole festival, the band delivered a pretty decent version of Can’s “Vitamin C”.

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3. JAPANDROIDS

In an edition of the festival where we ended up seeing mostly “quieter” acts, Japandroids – along with our favorite band, read along… – was one of the exceptions to the rule. It’s difficult to stand still while the Canadians are on stage, throwing us punches left and right. (Photo: Miguel Oliveira / pointandshoot.pt)

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2. NIKKI LANE

Playing for an understandably small audience given the options, the Highway Queen still deserved a bigger crowd. Mostly playing songs from her latest album (“700,000 Rednecks”, “Send the Sun”, “Highway Queen”, “Jackpot”), our favorite country princess/queen/just give her a crown already ended things in style with a great version of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”. (Photo: Miguel Oliveira / pointandshoot.pt)

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1. SHELLAC OF NORTH AMERICA

What did you expect? My seventh Shellac show in eight Primaveras (two in Barcelona, six in Porto), although not my favorite from the bunch – 2016 was unreal – was indeed the best of the 2017 edition. Back in the ATP meadow, and earlier than ever (8:30), they didn’t even need two of their biggest classics (“The End of Radio” and “Prayer to God” were absent from the setlist) to set the crowd ablaze. New crowd favorite “Wingwalker” was as fun as ever, “Steady as She Goes”, “My Black Ass” and “Squirrel Song” provided the most headbanging fodder and, by the time the show ended, most people would be perfectly fine with an additional half hour. Yes, it’s true: year after year, Shellac is still the best rock band you can see in a stage. (Photo: Hugo Lima / nosprimaverasound.com)

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NOS Primavera Sound 2017: what not to miss

Shellac.

Ok, ok, let’s get a little bit deeper than this.

First, the playlist:

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

We know it’s hard to go to the festival this early, especially when the only artist playing that early is a Portuguese singer-songwriter singing in a language you probably don’t understand. But really, give him a shot: Samuel Úria (17:00, Super Bock stage) is probably our favorite dude-with-a-guitar-singing-in-Portuguese. This should have been Grandaddy’s night, but misfortune knocked at their door and we’ll get Arab Strap instead (21:10, Super Bock). Recently reunited after a 10-year hiatus, the Scottish influent duo might look oddly placed between Miguel’s adventurous R&B (20:00, NOS) and Run the Jewels’ (22:20, NOS) raucous hip hop set, but hey, this is Primavera.

FRIDAY, JUNE 9

Painful decisions are to be made early in the day, with Whitney **(18:50, Super Bock) and **Royal Trux (19:00, Palco., or “the stage formerly known as ATP”) fighting for your attention. Last year’s _Light Upon the Lake _and their recent new single “You’ve Got a Woman” brought Whitney to the spotlight and were one of our highlights at last years’ Vodafone Paredes de Coura Festival. If they bring the full band to Porto it will be difficult to not see at least part of their show, but the prospect of witnessing Royal Trux’s reunion show swings the pendulum on the other direction. Last year, Neil Hagerty walked all over whoever was seeing him at the same stage, and this year he brings his lifelong partner Jennifer Herrema along. Well, at least **Angel Olsen **(19:50, NOS), who needs no introduction (seriously, she doesn’t – this is usually what people say when they’re too lazy to write anything substantial about an artist, but she really doesn’t) has no opposition, so I guess we’ll all be there, right?

Same with the first 30min of Sleaford Mods (20:30, Palco.), we’re guessing. Their music is definitely not for everyone, but then again most music isn’t. Just one day after the British election, expect the Nottingham working class heroes to be extra angry while spitting their verses. We were similarly angry when we realized two of our favorite acts in the whole festival, Nikki Lane (21:00, Pitchfork) and Teenage Fanclub (21:00, Super Bock) are clashing. Life isn’t fair. Country darling Nikki Lane has just released her third solo album, Highway Queen, and has a mountain to climb trying to win over a crowd that usually disregards country music as food for hillbillies’ ears. Teenage Fanclub, lords of British indie rock, have been touring relentlessly after releasing one of the finest albums of their almost 3 decades long career, Here. The toughest choice of the year.

And here’s to hoping we can hear Julien Baker (22:30, Pitchfork) during Swans’ set a few metres away (22:00, Palco.). The young songwriter from Memphis is set for indie stardom, releasing her sophomore record later this year on Matador, and faces fierce opposition, not only from Swans (on their last tour, at least with this lineup) but from bearded-folky-guy-turned-glitchy-weirdo Bon Iver. Later on, Hamilton Leithauser (00:00, Pitchfork) returns to Primavera without his Walkmen and the party goes on with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (01:00, Palco.) and Nicolas Jaar (01:00, NOS) splitting the audience in half: rockers to the left, dancers to the right.

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

The Growlers’ (19:50, NOS) make some of the catchiest songs of modern rock and roll, and their latest record, produced by the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, is filled to the brink with such tracks. Expect fun. Then, it’s time for the yearly pilgrimage to wherever Shellac are playing (20:30, Palco.). This year, they play unusually early, but maybe that’s a good thing – they’re back to the stage where they originally played every year. Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer will – of course – once again provide us with the best show of the festival. I’m pretty sure we wrote the same exact thing last year.

Mitski (21:00, Pitchfork) is not exactly a good kept secret anymore, with her Dead Oceans-released latest album, Puberty 2, making her reach new heights. She will be followed by another songwriter at the top of her career, **Weyes Blood **(22:30, Pitchfork). _Front Row Seat to Earth _was one of our favorite records of 2016. Like Julien Baker the night before, she’s playing simultaneously with two of the most popular artists in the festival, but will have no trouble catching the attention of whoever passes casually through that stage.

Towards the end of the festival we switch to full-on party mode, with Canadian garage rock duo Japandroids (23:20, Super Bock) warming up to Aphex Twin (00:30, NOS)’s clusterfuck of a set (preview here) and The Black Angels (01:00, Palco.)’s psychedelic rock. And while we’re still longing for another of those DJ Coco sets at closing time that (again) won’t happen this year, there’s still a lot of dance to be had until the sun comes up for the last time.

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NOS Primavera Sound 2016, the review

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© Hugo Lima

I’ll start this article by stating the obvious: the fifth edition of NOS Primavera Sound ended up having the most solid set of shows so far. As it’s the case with most festivals, this obviously depends on the choices you make, your taste in music, from where you choose to watch the gigs from, your level of intoxication, your company (or absence of) and, of course, the profile of the crowd surrounding you. Never leave those bastards spoil any show for you. Also, don’t be that bastard. Everybody hates you. Why don’t you just play with your phone in the new amazing food truck area instead of being in the front rows shouting like you’re in a loud bar? Summer festivals definitely need to have a stage with DJs permanently playing dance music the whole day. Maybe those idiots who don’t want to see concerts anyway spend the whole day there.

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NOS Primavera Sound 2016: the timetables

Our NOS Primavera Sound printable timetables are back for the 2016 edition of the festival! You know how it works: either you get your ready to print PDF here, or you download the original XLS file you can edit. About the Royal Headache you’ll have while trying to decide whether to see Brian Wilson or Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney or Protomartyr, Tortoise or Beach House, Drive Like Jehu or Titus Andronicus, Ty Segall or Shellac… well, there’s nothing we can do about it, but we’ll have a special Bolachas playlist next week entirely dedicated to the festival.

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NOS Primavera Sound 2015: the review. DAY 3

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Foxygen. Photo by Hugo Lima [NOS Primavera Sound]

We told you Xylouris White would be one of the acts to watch on the last day of the festival and they didn’t disappoint. Too bad their entertaining lute-drums combo was witnessed by only a couple of hundred people, some of them laying down in the ATP meadow, enjoying the sun without having to see local hero Manel Cruz on the main stage, who gathered a huge crowd early in the afternoon (full of people who clearly need to check their priorities, of course). The Thurston Moore Band was next, interesting as always, but we would rather listen to Demolished Thoughts-era straightforwardness rock songs instead of seemingly endless guitar riffs that seemed to go nowhere. 

Now, Foxygen’s circus was pretty entertaining. Sure, if you saw their concert in Barcelona you noticed none of the theatrics was improvisation (he also broke up with both his girlfriend and boyfriend a week before…) including their stage exit mid-concert when they left their best song, “San Francisco”, playing in the background and then came back to butcher their second best song, “Shuggie”. Sam France knows how to annihilate his own band – they’ve announced this as their last tour ever – going out with a bang and having fun while doing it. Kudos.

Kevin Morby. Now we’re talking! It was Kevin Morby’s second time in Portugal (remember the first? We do.). Now presenting his second album, Still Life, with an added bass player that adds an extra layer to his songs (what a fantastic performance of “Harlem River”!) he has clearly surpassed what was already a great concert back in October. Songs like “Amen” (video above) or “All of My Life” sound even better live, and the final sequence of Bill Fay’s “I Hear You Calling” into his own “Parade” is already a live classic that we’ll be sad to see vanishing from his setlist when the time comes. A truly fantastic concert by one of the best songwriters of this decade and the best of day three.

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Death Cab for Cutie. Photo by Hugo Lima [NOS Primavera Sound]

Death Cab for Cutie was right next on the Superbock stage. Nostalgia was never my thing – and it still isn’t. Ten years ago, I’ve listened to Transatlanticism and Plans more often than I would admit today. But hey, I also listened to the Editors and Kaiser Chiefs’ debut albums and people would have to pay me for me to go through the pain of seeing them live in 2015. What drove me to see DCFC instead of one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live (Einstürzende Neubauten at the marvellous Casa da Música back in 2008)? I don’t know, but I’m glad I did. For the first time in Portugal, and after cancelling their gig three years ago due to heavy rain (maybe they just wanted to see Portugal vs Germany like everyone else) they’ve presented some sort of greatest hits set (”Crooked Teeth”, “Soul Meets Body”, “The New Year”) along with a decent selection of songs off their latest albums (including the beautiful opener “I Will Possess Your Heart”). But what really made DCFC’s Portuguese debut memorable for the fans was show closer “Transatlanticism”, which lead to a reasonable amount of tears being shed throughout the audience. 

One Direction for adults.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that – I would rather see 1D among thousands of hysteric 12 year olds than sit through five more minutes of The KVB or aligning myself with all this fake nostalgia that is pretending to be a massive Ride fan when nobody actually listens to Nowhere or Going Blank Again since the 90s. Unless you were one of those post-rock nerds who listened to all instrumental rock albums released between 2005 and 2007 then proceeded to experiment with similar genres, like shoegaze or dream pop. Either way, you’ll probably never listen to Ride again until they’re announced to play other festival.

Speaking of bands people only listen to once per year, Shellac has played for the first time outside their natural habitat, travelling from the ATP stage to the Pitchfork tent for yet another massive show that words can’t explain. And I wouldn’t do it if I could, go check them for yourself next year. No excuses!

The New Pornographers were up next at the ATP stage. Massive disappointment for those who were expecting Dan Bejar and Neko Case on stage. Bejar is simply irreplaceable – so irreplaceable that the only song written by him that the Pornos played was the amazing “Testament of Youth in Verse” – but Kathryn Calder’s stellar voice quickly made most of us forget Neko Case wasn’t there. By the apotheotic show closer “The Bleeding Heart Show” you couldn’t tell if it was Case or Calder singing the coda. A great concert that could’ve been something else if Bejar had nothing better to do back at home.

If you were expecting to read a really excited review of Underworld’s rave by the main stage, please go somewhere else. Still on the ATP stage, Ought stole the show by playing one of the most exciting shows of the festival, which is even more surprising if you take in consideration the fact that Tim Darcy’s voice sounds like the official soundtrack of being constantly bored/being hollow on the inside. (That’s a compliment!) Starting with a triad of some of the best songs in their debut More Than Any Other Day (”Pleasant Heart”, the frantic “The Weather Song” and “Today More Than Any Other Day”), Ought then proceeded to numb the audience with some slower but inspiring numbers (including some new songs) and then proceeded to rip it all again by playing album closer “Gemini” by the end of the set. By the end of the concert – after shouting WANT IT!/WANTED! countless times – you could see people in such a state of ecstasy that made them celebrate, run and dance all at the same time while trying to catch a glimpse of Underworld’s concert. I might have been one of them. Right on time to experience “Born Slippy .NUXX” live, the moment everyone was waiting for (and which made a lot of people leave the ATP stage before the end of Ought’s gig). That “Gemini” -> “Born Slippy” sequence was probably the most exciting combo I’ve witnessed live – a mix of old and new, of organic and electronic, of shouting and dancing – and it could only have happened in one festival. See you next year, Primavera.

DSS