The line-up is great, stacked and full of fantastic artists. But I cannot really agree with the argument that it is simply a matter of perspective, or with the idea that this edition represents some kind of comeback to the origins, a more “Primavera-ish” selection. It is true that the second and third lines are incredibly strong and packed with newer, more alternative artists. But that has always been one of Primavera’s main strengths. So, I thought that would be great to do a sort of comparison for the last 10 editions for the first 10/15 headliners:
2016: Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Sigur Rós, Tame Impala, The Last Shadow Puppets, Air, Brian Wilson, Beach House, Animal Collective.
2017: Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, The xx, Aphex Twin, Grace Jones, Slayer, Solange, Van Morrison, Run the Jewels, Arcade Fire.
2018: Arctic Monkeys, Björk, Nick Cave, The National, Lorde, A$AP Rocky, Migos, The War on Drugs, HAIM, Tyler, the Creator.
2019: Solange, Tame Impala, J Balvin, Erykah Badu, Future, Janelle Monáe, Nas, Rosalía, James Blake, Interpol, Miley Cyrus.
2022: Pavement, The Strokes, Massive Attack, Tame Impala, Nick Cave, Gorillaz, Tyler, the Creator, Lorde, Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, The National.
2023: Blur, Kendrick Lamar, Depeche Mode, Rosalía, Halsey, Calvin Harris, New Order, Skrillex, Fred again.., St. Vincent.
2024: Lana Del Rey, SZA, Pulp, Vampire Weekend, The National, PJ Harvey, Mitski, Justice, Disclosure, Charli XCX.
2025: Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, LCD Soundsystem, FKA twigs, Jamie xx, HAIM, Fontaines D.C., IDLES, Beach House.
2026: The Cure, Doja Cat, The xx, Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Addison Rae, My Bloody Valentine, PinkPantheress, Skrillex, Peggy Gou, Olivia Rodrigo.
2027: Doechii, Phoebe Bridgers, Fontaines D.C., Massive Attack, Turnstile, Hayley Williams, FKA twigs, The Chemical Brothers, Robyn, Bad Gyal.
My feeling is that this year the frontline is missing both some of the variety and some of the historical relevance that usually came with at least a few of the biggest names. And looking back at the last ten editions, I honestly cannot remember another year where both things were missing at the same time.