The enormous Primavera Sound venue dwarfed the only 30,000 people who gathered this Wednesday to enjoy the Primavera Sound dress rehearsal, after going through a control to verify that everyone had the free but compulsory ticket, which allowed them to pass the doors of the first big summer festival and attend the opening concert.
Along with the Pet Shop Boys, La Paloma from Madrid, the British Jake Bugg and Confidence Man performed last night, who offered their indie pop to a more than abundant audience when they began their performance, at 7:30 p.m. on the Amazon Music stage.
Covered by a keyboardist and a drummer who hid their faces under a black cloth throughout the concert, the Australian duo warmed up a day cooled by the sea breeze, drawing a large part of the public in front of the stage while others wandered the wide esplanade of the Fòrum discovering the spaces and taking photos of the nearby sea.
And after the opening act, it was time for the other duo, the British Pet Shop Boys, who jumped on stage on time at 9:20 p.m., with the sun refusing to leave and part of the audience still dispersed throughout the venue. A large Ukrainian flag had appeared on the giant screen on the stage minutes before the concert began.
Forty years of their career contemplate Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who made their hieratic appearance, dressed in two silver coats and striking masks formed by two vertical metal bars. For them, the years do not seem to go by if you listen to the music that they squandered in a concert that lasted an hour and a half, a review of the greatest hits garnished with an impressive house-brand lighting fixture.
The concert brought few musical surprises to the delight of an audience whose age was well below the age of sixty that the couple of artists has, known even to those who say they don't know them thanks to their impressive collection of hits forged by squeezing and polishing the resources that electronics offers to music. It is not surprising that Neil Tennant recently advocated in favor of artificial intelligence as a new tool to continue composing and innovating, as the London duo did in 1986 when they published Suburbia, the theme with which they began the concert, easy to follow even from the distance thanks to the three giant screens on the stage, two on each side and a third meters behind.
After playing Can you forgive her, Tennant took off his mask to smile at the public and attack Opportunities showing the excellent state of his characteristic voice, with which he demanded the applause of the public shouting “¡Barcelona!”. He did not need to ask for anything when he played Where the streets have no name, the acclaimed version of U2 whose chorus was chanted by the public.
The triumph of love over greed that is Rent came next, followed by I don't know what you can buy but I can't give it anymore. The concert then traveled back in time with So hard, from 1990, followed by Left to my own devices, which ushered in a band made up of two percussionists and a keyboard, while Tennant shed his raincoat to reveal a dark suit with white lapels, matching the hat he was wearing.
“Thank you very much, Barcelona”, said the artist before attacking a Domino dance that made the entire audience dance with his catchy “all day all day” while the screens spat out colorful geometric figures.
Love comes quickly and Paninaro, with the voice of Chrisl Lowe, continued the eighties journey that exploded in You were always on my mind, immediately recognized by the plural public gathered last night.
It was followed by a long and baroque Dreamland, from his latest album, Hotspot, released three years ago. A little-known theme, but with a rapidly adaptable rhythm, for which Tennant recovered the galactic silver trench coat with which he also performed It ’s alright and Vocal before facing the finale. For this they reserved Go West, celebrated as massively as It's a sin, two hymns accompanied in the encores by the charismatic West end girls and Being bored, with a dedication included to Tina Turner. Beautiful end to a concert that heralds good festival days from today until Sunday.
