After two summers of despair, Primavera Sound returned to Barcelona last June with all the bombast this gargantuan festival has become renowned for. Twelve days and nights, almost half a million people, and a seemingly endless lineup that spanned ‘90s indie icons to modern-day pop superstars, the bleeding-edge of electronic underground to Billboard-topping American rappers; all across venues from a 250-capacity city centre club to the 95,000-capacity Parc del Fòrum.
How can one festival possibly top that almighty post-pandemic shindig on the shores of the Mediterranean? By becoming two festivals, that’s how. Introducing: I’ll be your mirror, a plural and gender-balance lineup of over 200 artists across two consecutive weekends in both Barcelona and Madrid. And what a lineup it is.
Rosalía
Kendrick Lamar
Depeche Mode, New Order and Pet Shop Boys form a formidable trio of 1980s British electro icons; Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Baby Keem, and NxWorries are just some of the big names from America’s urban music landscape; local giants include Rosalía and Bad Gyal; Blur, St. Vincent, The War on Drugs, and The Mars Volta are some of the many representing from the world of indie; and electronic music is again back in force, with the likes of Four Tet—Fred Again..—Skrillex, Avalon Emerson, Daphni, Jayda G, Kelela, Overmono, and Hudson Mohawke packing out a jaw-dropping lineup set to play back-to-back weekends in Spain’s two largest cities.
The full festival tickets for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023 and Primavera Sound Madrid 2023 give access to the main days, which take place at Parc del Fòrum and the Ciudad del Rock respectively. They also give the possibility, subject to capacity, of access to the renowned Primavera a la Ciutat, the urban festival format that brings some of the most exciting sounds of today to different venues and concert halls in Barcelona and Madrid, and the Brunch-In closing party. Both programmes will operate with a pre-booking system to avoid waiting times, details of which will be announced soon.
A mirror festival spanning 620 kilometres, with a lineup more considerable than even this behemoth could have promised, Primavera Sound 2023 is set to be the most impressive yet. Tickets are available now at primaverasound.com.
Primavera Sound Barcelona and Madrid 2023 Photography, courtesy Primavera Sound.
