- The whole “having our accommodation cancelled after we’d already arrived” saga. At least it seems to have worked out for the best.
- The general overcrowding. Never saw the Cupra stage so consistently packed the four previous times I’ve been.
- Having to queue an hour for a lukewarm can of rancid water on the first day
- The chokepoints at the Binance Stage and Mordor, leading to potentially dangerous crushes
- The revised location of the Binance stage, which meant you could comfortably fit fewer people than previous years.
- The transport getting home on the Thursday. Took us almost 3 hours to get back to our apartment.
- Wasn’t blown away by Beck at Razzmatazz. A bit too “Las Vegas revue” for my liking.
THE GOOD
- The lemon pie at the Peruvian stall. The butter chicken burger at the Indian place was excellent too.
- Magnetic Fields at Paral-lel 62 was my musical highlight of the whole week and made me feel actual feelings.
- Nick Cave remains one of the most commanding frontmen in rock ‘n roll history. What a pleasure to have seen him from a few rows back.
- Les Savy Fav were the second band I saw, and basically won the Parc del Forum portion of proceedings. It’s so good to have Tim Harrington back.
- Jehnny Beth is both intimidating and awesome. What frightening energy she has!
- Mad Catalan duo Za! once again felt like a bewildering, electrifying fever dream, except now they had a brass section and folk singers to augment the madness.
- The Armed were both great and intimidatingly buff.
- Shellac were dependably...Shellac. You could clean one of your many collectable plastic cups on their crisp, clear guitar tones.
- Otoboke Beaver, although a tame set by their standards, managed to attract a 2,000 strong audience which wasn’t bad for 3:10 in the morning. Apparently the barrier struggled to withstand the moshing.
- The National deigned to play some Boxer material (including my all time fave “Apartment Story”), which they neglected to do the last time I saw them.
- Tyler The Creator- loved his stage presence, but had to leave early as my flatmates were starting to flag.
- The queue may have been a mile long, but I’m glad we got into the Poble Espanyol for Pom Pom Squad and Magdalena Bay on our last night. Both fun sets, and we got to see the Font Majica on our way home!
- The Auditori remains one of my favourite venues on Earth. Was a pleasure to see Low (for the final time), Jenny Hval and the legendary Mavis Staples there.
- Pavement were the best I’ve ever seen them. It’s almost like they gave a shit(!)
IN SUMMARY: a good time was had, even though I suspect I’m far too old for this now.
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