Of Lemon Twigs My colleague Gabriel Cárcoba already spoke at length. So it should be noted that they inaugurated the Estrella Damm stage. The temperature is pleasant and it is very enjoyable at this time. The crowd is sitting on the artificial grass, enjoying the sunshine and the D’Addario brothers. “It’s great to be outdoors,” says one (Michael?). They look small on that huge stage, but not scared. They give us their infectious sixties pop with beautiful sets of voices and great instrumental expertise. His journey through time, not only musically, but also in terms of looks. They really want to hug each other and love everyone. And you have to have guts to close with the best song in history, ‘Good Vibrations’. Idyllic.
At the same time two of the most interesting proposals here are playing: Depresion Sonora and Lisabö. Amid the doubt about who to see, the Solomonic decision is imposed: both, who are also in adjacent settings. The post-punk intensity of Sound Depression It fits perfectly with the oppressive atmosphere that is creating a sea of threatening clouds. And well, with playing on a stage called Steve Albini. They sound very intense. Markusiano’s elusive hip-hop look contrasts with his deep voice and dagger-like verses. ‘You lie to yourself to be happy’ is abrasive. ‘Nothing matters’, she despairingly. And they sound fabulous, they force you to get fully involved…
But I’m leaving so I can see the final stretch of Lisabö in Cupra, perhaps the group with the best live performance in the state. They are accompanied by a Palestinian flag in the background. Their post-hardcore sound procession is relentless. Whatever they play sounds definitive, crucial. The wind is getting stronger and they increase the electric shock even more. To close, they read a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian poet, and close with “Gora Palestine!” Their intensity and involvement is not only sonic: it is also emotional and demanding.
Crumb They record a very good presence on the Plenitude stage and certify that the more ethereal sounds of the 90s are still trending: shoegaze, some psychedelia… They sound very good, but I abandon them because I’ve started to get nervous. You have to arrive in advance PJ Harvey to get a good spot.
We managed a good fourth row on the Santander stage, although the stage is blocked by all the tall boys with hoodies who are saving room for SZA (why, Lord??). The time is approaching and 070 Shake, on the Estrella Damm stage, never ends. It seems that the big stages are late. We endured stoically (with the occasional shout of “ma’am, shut up!”, we’re not that holy either). Intro music plays. PJ has to be prayed for. Drops begin to fall. Our goddess Polly Jean emerges in a spectacular white linen cape with black embroidery. In her band I distinguish her inseparable John Parish. She stays on the side. She doesn’t say hello, she inhabits her world. Her voice is shocking, powerful and with a different, almost spectral timbre, to open with ‘Prayer at the Gate’. The drops are now rain, but at the moment none of us are moving from there.
PJ Harvey’s last concerts were being divided between a first half dedicated entirely to his latest album ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ and another half of past songs. But here this distribution is eliminated. Because after three songs on the album, three lavish songs from ‘Let England Shake’ fall: ‘The Glorious Land’, how glorious Harvey’s guitar sounds, ‘Let England Shake’, where he brings out the autoharp and ‘The Words that Maketh Murder’ , cheered with clapping by the public. She looks refocused. The cape doesn’t do well when changing guitars and there are some stops. He keeps raining.
Suddenly, Polly Jean abandons her apparent coldness to tell us that she feels terrible that we are getting wet. And she in those moments she becomes warm. We don’t care about getting wet and very few people are seen leaving the concert. And she recovers the last album from her. ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ is especially emotional. The sound is neat, clear. And if until that moment she had been somewhat hieratic, she possesses herself and dances the choreography of ‘Send His Love to Me’. And the rain is getting worse but it doesn’t matter, because you’re watching one of your favorite artists sing one of your favorite songs.
PJ takes off the cape and is left with only the dress to lead us with the forceful ’50 ft Queenie’, between her almost spasmodic dances. Tonight, PJ Harvey is not a PJ Harvey: she is all the PJs possible, the stark young woman from the album ‘Rid of Me’, the dreamer from ‘Is This Desire?’, an album from which there are two wonderful repechages: ‘Angelene’, heartfelt and melancholic and ‘The Garden’. She dedicates ‘The Desperate Kingdon of Love’ to Steve Albini, she plays it on acoustic guitar. And how he sings it…
For the final volley there are no prisoners. He grabs the electric and attacks us with ‘Man Size’ and ‘Dress’, while the water doesn’t spare us either. The versions mimic the originals. And the goddess PJ, who seemed so absorbed in her art that she was dominating us from her stage, returns to our world with warmth to thank us again for having endured the rain: ‘Down by the Water’ is perfect in this tessitura. But I swear I reached a moment of religious ecstasy with the final ‘To Bring You My Love’: the rain, the plucking, Polly’s voice coming from somewhere deep in the soul… There are no words. Is the best. Spot.
Back on Earth, it seems that it has stopped raining. The water lasted exactly as long as the PJ Harvey concert lasted. Could she be the rain sorceress? Well no. Because as we head to the food court (we sacrifice Mitski, being wet is very tiring), she starts up again. And she flashes. The thing does not look good. Everyone is sheltered. Some following the Champions League final. But you have to get out of the comfort zone. After all, it’s not raining that much and they’re waiting for us Bikini Killother legends.
Lightning, rather than scaring, seems to serve as an incentive. We cheer each one of them. Kathleen Hannah explains to us that it is the first time that Bikini Kill play in Barcelona. It is sparkling, its Riot fury is in Technicolor, because rebellion is not incompatible with joy. It’s a shame not to be able to get closer to the first rows and see the pogos, to be able to confirm that, indeed, there are the “girls to the front!” Kathleen never says it, so I assume so. But her prominence is not just for her, Tobi Vail, the drummer, appears several times to sing. They all seem in excellent spirits. The sound is much better than what they enjoyed with Le Tigre the previous year.
Kathleen explains that “the next song is about when you fall in love with someone” and starts humming, of course, ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve?)’ by Buzzcocks to blend it with ‘Feels Blind’. The rain doesn’t stop, neither does the punk discharges, Kathleen’s screams and the jumps. “Are you all set?” she jokes. “I don’t. “I’m completely sober!” And of course, the closing with ‘Rebel Girl’. It has stopped raining and we are singing and dancing the definitive Bikini Kill anthem. Fun and essential.
