Today it is so hot in Barcelona, that’s it been all I can do to roll over and turn on the fan. I’m questioning if I will ever be able to leave my room again. And to be honest, that would be no bad thing as we have already had this summer’s highlight and it’s not even mid-June. Yes in 2019, Primavera Sound was truly that bitch.

Loverboy has been based out here in Cataluña for the past three years now and Primavera Sound has been a summer staple ever since. Over the years we’ve already seen Grace Jones, Solange, The xx, Sevdaliza, Jorja Smith and more.

But 2019 was the year, Primavera Sound went interstellar. Let’s just take a second to list some of our favourite artists who took to the stage…or stages. Robyn. Roisin Murphy. Janelle Monae. Erykah Badu. Solange. Miley Cyrus. Carly Rae Jepsen. Charli XCX. Lizzo. Rosalia. Christine and the Queens. Yes, according to Primavera Sounds, having 50% female artists minimum is “the new normal.” If Lilith Fair festival was still jumping in 2019, Parc Del Forum, Barcelona is where you would have found it. But the boys were there representing too as we also witnessed Nas, J Balvin, Tame Impala and many more.

Now we’ve dealt with that line up, let’s actually discuss the performances. For the four months leading up to the festival, we were plagued with anxiety, worrying about set clashes, getting a good view and ensuring we were wearing a suitable festival ensemble. (Let me tell you, this year the Primavera crew were turned out!) But we needn’t have worried, as once we had got past the reality that we could never see everyone we wanted, we just strolled around the Parc Del Forum and got the “highlights edition.”

We began with the crowd going wild to Carly Rae and realising this year Global Gay Pride had come early and showed up in Barcelona. The vibe was super upbeat and everyone was there to have fun. We bumped into friends who had come over from London and some who had even come from the US.

But, yes, Carly Rae was the perfect way to start the proceedings before catching Christine and the Queens perform a set that was inspired, in equal measures, by Moonwalker, West Side Story and…The Luniz. Erykah was also on the first night and while it was not exactly a greatest hits set, Erykah was never about making things easy. She did give us our summer anthem for 2019 with this bop though.

Some of the festivals highlights, as expected, came from Robyn, Rosalia and Roisin Murphy. Loverboy had not seen Robyn in such a huge venue and we were unsure how it would translate, how stupid. Her most recent album, Honey, was the perfect summer sunset soundtrack, so it was no surprise that it sounded like perfection as the summer vibes rolled over the crowd. Rosalia was another major success, treating the show like a Homecoming, and if the majority of the crowd were from outside of Spain, she didn’t seem to care. People would listen to her speak Spanish in between songs and enjoy it. And enjoy it we did. Almost as much as her pink leather chaps! Roisin was our closer for the festival, taking to the stage at 2:30am…or was it later? By that point, we were firmly adjusted to the after-hours scheduling. Roisin gave us ‘Overpowered’, Moloko’s ‘Forever More’ and recent hit ‘The Rumble.’ This is gay culture.

The other best thing about Primavera was seeing artists we knew nothing about, like J Balvin, whose new album has since become our ‘go to’ for the gym. Kali Uchis was great too, rolling around the stage like our inner stripper. Also a big shout out to the Dance Area too, because the El Punto by Adidas Originals stage was one long Reggaeton block party and the Seat Village was pumping for four days solid.

We also need to discuss Barcelona’s Parc Del Forum because being right next to the sea, having the sunset every night, dancing to techno with the backdrop of a spot-lit power-station was insanity.

Gracias, Barcelona. Nos vemos. 

For more on Primavera Sound – see www.primaverasound.es