Sao Paulo
Primavera Sound, a festival born in Barcelona, celebrated its second edition in Brazil this weekend in São Paulo. But it felt like the first time.
After debuting in the country last year at the Sambódromo do Anhembi, the event moved to the Autódromo de Interlagos to grow in size, but the number of attractions and its ability to serve as a showcase for current music’s most outrageous moments shrunk . — one of the main features of the international brand.
While last year Primavera offered a good selection of contemporary music production, including the likes of Travis Scott, Charli XCX, Lorde, Caroline Polachek and Phoebe Bridgers, this time it focused more on classics and old favorites.
It was the same with “The Killers” and “The Cure,” the main shows on Saturday and Sunday, in that order. They were widely celebrated and managed to captivate audiences with their nostalgic repertoire, but while the first band peaked around 15 years ago, the British group made a name for themselves in the 1980s.
They weren’t the only examples. Artists who have achieved success in previous decades, such as Bad Religion, Pet Shop Boys, The Hives, Slowdive and Beck, inevitably became the main attractions of this edition.
These decisions were reflected in the public. While last year’s festival welcomed young hipsters and LGBTQIA+ people following the music at Anhembi, this time the audience seemed older and more male.
However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any news. Pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen brought together a crowd of young people Sunday in one of the event’s liveliest shows, and Kelela’s R&B had a smaller group of loyal fans cheering as Marisa Monte played on the adjacent stage.
Soccer Mommy, one of the most important female faces of indie rock in recent years, and British rockers Black Midi also put on a good show in the early afternoon. But artists like these, tapping into trends in today’s world, were in the minority and slated for less prime time.
What Primavera has been able to maintain from its first edition, and what is in some ways part of the concept of the event itself, is the focus on music. With around 50,000 attendees per day, the festival ended up being about half the size of The Town and Lollapalooza, which take place at the same circuit.
This is a feast for the eyes when compared to Rock in Rio’s sister festival, which debuted in São Paulo this year. Unlike The Town, in Primavera there are only specific brand promotions and the paths and horizon are much less obstructed by lights and huge advertising structures.
So the audience cares most of the time about the shows. In fact, it’s a behavior that is becoming less and less obvious at Brazil’s mega music festivals.
However, a less commercially affected event could also result in fewer tickets being sold. While Primavera was running, it was still possible to purchase tickets at the box office and it was not sold out on any day.
In any case, fewer people means less crowding, less difficulty getting around and using the toilets and bars. Ultimately, staying at Primavera is much more pleasant than its competitors.
The Spanish event also used the race track efficiently. The three main stages were positioned like the vertices of a triangle in one of the corners of the room more or less where The Town’s largest stages were concentrated, resulting in crowds and queues that were cramped between advertising stands and crowded with more people .
The spatial proximity between the stages prevented large crowd displacements, but also took its toll. Those further from the speakers heard, at various times, the songs playing on a different stage in the middle of the shows, a leak that was difficult to control at such short distances.
One change that appears to have worked was the creation of water distribution points around the race track an initiative that only came after the death of fan Ana Benevides at a Taylor Swift concert two weeks ago, on a day when the heat wave was raging broke out in Rio de Janeiro. In Janeiro it reached 60°C and some fans became sick from the heat. Primavera is organized by Time for Fun or T4F, the same company that brought the singer’s tour to the country.
In addition to providing water at the entrance and providing access to sealed glasses and bottles, Primavera also distributed bags of drinks throughout the Autódromo and also at the bars that separated the audience from the stage. If this is retained, it would be a significant change at large events where, until recently, access to drinks was prohibited and excessive amounts were charged for them.
The intense heat was actually a hallmark of the weekend. The shows, scheduled for the early afternoon between noon and 2 p.m., when the sun was warmer, had small audiences a situation that could cause events of this size to rethink their schedules over time.
Between an enjoyable experience and a cast that would mostly still make sense if it had been cast 20 years ago, Primavera is still searching for its own identity in Brazil.
The focus on music remains a differentiator, but the overthetop appeal to icons of the past could put the festival in line with its competitors which would be a loss for audiences more interested in contemporary music and without performances from their idols for that Own brand already established in Europe.