Primavera Sound 2010: time to pack our bags...

After another winter with almost no interesting concerts to go to, travelling to one of the Europe’s summer festivals seems like the perfect way to catch some of the new and fresh names of the independent rock scene and also some of the veterans we never had the opportunity to see on our turf.

And out of the dozens of festivals across Europe, Primavera Sound in Barcelona is one of the best options for such a trip, as it combines a visit to a beautiful and friendly city and one of the most dynamic festivals out there.

Since we are not a tourist site, we will not write here about the city of Barcelona or, say, Gaudi’s architecture, but we are going to give you all the necessary information about Primavera Festival, which is our subject after all.

So, Primavera Sound 2010 will take place between the 27th and 29th of May, at the spacious and easily accessible Parc del Fòrum. During the three day event more than 100 bands will appear, in six different stages, with capacities ranging from 3.000 to 25.000 people.

Tickets prices are escalating, so at this moment, until February 21 they cost 140 € (+ booking fee). From February 22 the price will go up to 150 € (+ booking fee).

And while even more names will be added to line up in the months leading up to the festival, those we already know are more than enough to excite any music lover. Starting with the anouncement of the newly reformed Pavement, we then had the addition of names like The Pixies, The Fall, Wilco, Yeasayer, The Big Pink, The XX, The New Pornographers, Tortoise, Wild Beasts and Grizzly Bear a few days ago.

The line up so far, in alphabetical order:

Apse, 
Atlas Sound,
Beak> ,
Ben Frost.
Bis,
Black Math Horseman,
Built To Spill,
Camaron, La Leyenda Del Tiempo,
Circulatory System,
Cold Cave,
Condo Fucks,
Delorean,
Dr. Dog,
Dum Dum Girls,
Fake Blood,
Fuck Buttons,
Ganglians,
Grizzly Bear ,
HEALTH,
Here We Go Magic,
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions,
Japandroids,
Joker featuring Nomad,
Lee "Scratch" Perry,
Liquid Liquid,
Low (performing "The Great Destroyer"),
Major Lazer,
Mission Of Burma,
Monotonix,
Mujeres,
No Age,
Orbital,
Panda Bear,
Pavement,
Pixies,
Polvo,
Real State,
Seefeel,
Shellac,
Sian Alice Group,
Sic Alps,
Spoon,
Standstill,
Superchunk,
The Antlers,
The Big Pink,
The Bloody Beetroots,
The Clean,
The Fall,
The King Khan & BBQ Show,
The New Pornographers,
The Psychic Paramount ,
The XX,
Thee Oh Sees,
Tortoise,
Ui,
Wilco,
Wild Beasts,
Wire,
Yeasaye

For those of you that have attended Primavera in the past, if you haven’t already booked your tickets, the names above are reason enough to do it now. For the rest, if you made up your mind to travel to Spain, we can give you some advice, based on our previous experience.

If don’t have any other engagements, make sure you arrive in Barcelona a few days prior to the start date, so as you can explore the city (if it’s your first time there), but also so you can catch some of the parallel events happening around the city, all part of Primavera’s additional programming.

It’s a well know fact that the sooner you book your airplane tickets, the better the price will be. As for lodging, hotels and apartments in Barcelona are many and for all budgets. What we will recommend you though, is that you book your room early, in one of the hotels near Parc del Fòrum, as during the day, arriving at the site is easy and convenient using the metro, at night though (or rather, at dawn the next day) and after hours on the festival, reaching your hotel room as fast and easy as possible is of essence.

Finally, buy Primavera’s official t-shirt which, apart from being a must as far as souvenirs go, it is also accompanied by the festival’s official guide, a multi page edition with all the information regarding the festival and the appearing acts.

To book your tickets, all the latest news and necessary information regarding Primavera Sound, visit their site here.

Our impression from last year’s event you can find here and below is a small taste from the acts we saw last May.

Primavera Sound 2009

(Sonic Youth, Neil Young, Bat for Lashes, Crystal Stilts, Th 'Faith Healers, Magik Markers, The Vaselines, Gang Gang Dance)