Live music review: Primavera Sound L.A. saw Lorde own main stage, Darkside closed day one

Friday’s inaugural day one of Primavera Sound L.A. at L.A. Historic State Park saw Lorde own the main stage with fans crowding the area following Mitski’s heavily attended set on the Tecate Alta stage. Psych-synth rockers Darkside closed the night with a spellbinding performance, sending euphoric fans off into the Los Angeles evening buzzing with palpable energy. 

Trading on the good name of Primavera Sound Barcelona which has been held up as one of Europe’s best curated and well-run festivals, organizers partnered with Live Nation to produce their first Los Angeles edition after three years of cancellations due to the world wide pandemic. While the festival market in Los Angeles has become increasingly crowded in the interim, knowledgeable music fans have high hopes of Primavera getting a foothold in the U.S. market after successfully expanding to Portugal and South America. 

The festival has a reputation for booking quality acts down the bill that satisfy discerning music fans. They’re seeking artists that fly just below the popular music radar but bring exceptional art to the stage. Performances by Jehnny Beth (Savages), Stereolab, Mitski, Current Joys, Divino Niño and Little Jesus impressed throughout day one.

Chicago-based, Latin indie-rockers Divino Niño kicked things off at the Tecate Alta stage with a solid set of songs that reflect the band member’s American and Colombian heritage. Camilo Medina (vocals, guitar) and Javier Forero (vocals, bass ) were friends in Bogota before both their families moved to Miami and the pair reconnected in middle school. The childhood friends remained close as they delved into music. Friday’s opening festival show by the band definitively led Primavera Sound L.A. off on the right foot.

Mexico City surf-rockers Little Jesus followed with a super fun set on the sunny main Primavera stage. The duo (remaining members were unable to make the trip) put on a pleasing performance for early arriving fans. Austin fans could easily see this act playing Austin venue, Hotel Vegas’ backyard patio in the near future.

The first stand-out performance of Friday’s Primavera Sound L.A. lineup came from French artist, Jehnny Beth who previously led up and coming indie rock outfit Savages. With a similar yet different vibe of Savages, Beth simply demanded the crowd’s attention, asking them to meet her close to the stage after she’d climbed atop bass amps along the front railing. Later Beth headed off the stage again, this time in front of the under 21 section on stage left, flinging herself onto throngs and crowd-surfing her way back the front. Beth’s mastery of the live performance was clear.

                              

The most intriguing moment was the encore, when Beth set out to cover Nine Inch Nails stating, “I’m gonna do this song by a band playing this festival tomorrow.” The band then launched into “I Want to Fuck You Like an Animal” to cheers. Unfortunately the sun-baked snyth producing that thumping low-end failed. “It looks as though the sun has cooked our synthesizer,” Beth joked. With encouragement from fans, the group attempted the song without the bass and rhythmic clapping from the audience before they called it a day. 

Shellac played next on the smaller Barcelona stage. Our photographer, Christopher Alvarez mentioned, “Shellac is practically the Primavera Sound house band,” (they’ve played the BCN version many times). Always a fun show, the trio delivered as well as possible with an early set time and the hottest part of the afternoon.

Next up for Primavera Sound L.A. was a spectacular sundown set by UK legends, Stereolab. The group offered fans pleasing, chill vibes and veteran musicians showing their over 20 years of experience. The avant-pop English-French act is led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier. The combination of beautiful music, a stunning outdoor backdrop and exceptional music put fans in just the right mood to transition from day to evening. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Mitski was up next on the same secondary stage and it quickly became clear that the Pitchfork Festival headlining artist was making an underplay by not being placed on the main stage. The crowd was tightly packed into the fenced off 21+ viewing area and the kids were stacked 10 deep outside of the area. Japanese-born American, Mitski presented a highly stylized set list of indie rock songs to an adoring audience.

Nick Rattigan’s Current Joys appeared on the far flung Barcelona stage. The performance may have indeed, been the most joyful, pure rock n roll set of the day at Primavera Sound L.A. Those loud, rocking guitars were tempered by beautiful harmonizing vocals by the band. It’s nice when a band actually lives up to their name and Current Joys appear to be doing exactly that.

Finally it was time for the headliner, New Zealand’s Lorde who packed the fans into the main stage area for what was undoubtedly the most well-attended performance of the day. The young singer presented an elaborate stage set-up with rotating set pieces that featured a set of stone stairs to nowhere atop a lighted stone-like circle. Each moment was carefully choreographed and deliberate. Lorde fans ate it up like a fat kid with an entire cake to eat, lustily singing her hits word-for-word. While Lorde may not command an audience of 70,000 fans like she did at Austin City Limits Festival in 2014 these days, her rabid fans made their presence known throughout the show, screaming and some even crying at the first notes of their favorite Lorde song.

At 10 p.m. signaled that psych synth act Darkwave to close out the evening in dramatic and spectacular fashion. Smoking a tiny joint just before a Darkwave set at the end of an idyllic first day of Primavera Sound Festival might the perfect way to end day one. A music journalist could go on for a while on the exceptional nature of Darkside’s show. Perhaps a more impactful way to to describe it is to show the video below.

                              

All photos by Christopher Alvarez