Primavera Sound LA 2022: The best & worst of the Barcelona music festival’s inaugural edition on U.S. soil

Primavera Sound LA 2022Photos by Josh Herwitt & courtesy of Primavera Sound LA // Written by Josh Herwitt //

Primavera Sound LA //
LA State Historic Park – Los Angeles
September 16th-18th, 2022 //

It’s no secret that Primavera Sound has had its sights set on Los Angeles for quite some time now. The Barcelona music festival that has been going strong for two decades expanded to Porto in 2012 and will finally stamp its brand on four more cities in 2022 after a two-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LA is the first of those four cities, but with the festival’s other three new locations — São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago — all launching in South America later this year, LA State Historic Park also served as Primavera Sound’s inaugural event in the states.

Spreading four stages across the 32-acre park that remains one of the best spots in the city to host a music festival before and after three years of renovations, PSLA welcomed a wealth of talent from the top line to the bottom. Lorde, Nine Inch Nails and Arctic Monkeys each delivered headline-worthy sets while an indie-leaning undercard highlighted by BICEP (Live), Cigarettes After Sex, Clairo, DARKSIDE, Drain Gang, Fontaines D.C., Girl in Red, GIVĒON, James Blake, King Krule, Khruangbin and Mitski all drew big crowds over the course of three days. In a lot of ways, PSLA fills a much-needed void after the sudden and disheartening end to FYF Fest, which would tout itself as the “best weekend of summer” for many live music fans and was one of our favorite multi-day festivals to cover (read more here).

Any time a new music festival launches though, there are always highs and lows. So without further ado, here are our best and worst moments from Primavera Sound’s first installment on U.S. soil:


Primavera Sound LA 2022

Best: The weather

After LA experienced its worst heat wave of the year earlier this month with temperatures reaching triple digits, the weather luckily cooled down just in time for PSLA. For many of us, a second layer of clothing wasn’t ever necessary from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. After all, how often does that happen? With great music lined up throughout the day and a forecast hovering in the mid to high 70’s, it truly felt like a quintessential summer weekend in LA.

Primavera Sound LA 2022

Worst: Will Call line

When we arrived at the festival on Friday afternoon, the line at the box office quickly stood out. In fact, it was so long that we knew the wait would be at least an hour for those trying to pick up their passes, only to discover later via Twitter it was even longer for many even at 6 p.m. These are the kind of issues any first-year music festival hopes to avoid and can ultimately prepare for, but when you change your ticket delivery method to in-person on short notice after previously telling fans it would be done electronically, it’s no surprise that you end up pissing off some of your customers.

Primavera Sound LA 2022 - Lorde

Best: Lorde

The 25-year-old singer-songwriter has been making the rounds this year on an extensive world tour in support of 2021’s Solar Power, and there’s no question that her entire stage design and production was impressive to witness. Ahead of festival stops at Life Is Beautiful and Rifflandia over the same weekend, Lorde arrived onstage via a rotating staircase with some of her backing band and ran through 15 songs — from her 2013 debut single “Royals” to Melodrama hits like “Perfect Places” and “Green Light” — as PSLA’s first headliner. We wouldn’t necessarily call ourselves big fans, but we definitely understand why she was deserving of top billing.

Primavera Sound LA 2022

Worst: Food & drink

We will eventually get to the limited viewing space that under-21 guests were offered, but even if you wanted to drink at PSLA, the options were simply not good. This was certainly not the place for craft beer enthusiasts, as your choices were Heineken or the low-calorie Tecate Alta that tasted mostly like beer-flavored water for $12 each. Not only would it be nice to have seen local breweries — there are two excellent ones located across the street from the festival’s entrance — featured, but in a city such as LA with a food-and-drink scene that’s one of the best in the country, partnering with major beer and liquor brands along with a handful of Smorgasburg LA restaurants doesn’t exactly cut it anymore. The only food stall in one of the VIP areas selling “California style” Philly cheeseteaks made us think about how much Goldenvoice has elevated its game in this respect, with top-notch local options at Just Like Heaven (read our festival review here) from Goldburger to Homage Brewing standing out as examples most recently in May.

Primavera Sound LA 2022 - Khruangbin

Best: Khruangbin

The Houston three-piece that has made 70’s Thai funk sound cool again has been one of the hottest acts to tour over the past five years, as evidenced by their three sold-out shows at LA’s Greek Theatre last November. While most might have come Saturday to see Nine Inch Nails, it was K-bin who would steal the show before Trent Reznor and company ever played a note. Those who made it to the main stage for sunset were treated to an hour of grooves, as Mark Speer (guitar, vocals), Laura Lee (bass, vocals) and Donald Johnson (drums, vocals) hypnotized us with fan favorites “María También” and “So We Won’t Forget” before diving into a melody of covers that embraced a wide array of artists, from MF DOOM, The Isley Brothers, Tina Turner and Chris Isaak to 90’s hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Warren G and Dr. Dre.

Primavera Sound LA 2022

Worst: Art installations

Sometimes it can be easy to forget how spoiled we are in California when it comes to all of the music festivals we have. Not only do many of our best and brightest such as Coachella, Outside Lands and Lightning in a Bottle showcase a wide range of musical genres, but they also feature their own unique art installations that continue to push the envelope. In the case of Primavera Sound, let’s just say that’s not its M.O. While we can’t fault the festival for keeping the focus strictly on the music, LA State Historic Park did seem to lack some color aesthetically. That said, there were a couple of highlights off the stage, including the vinyl market that was curated by KCRW and Beat Swap Meets as well as the FLATSTOCK poster show series making its only West Coast stop of the year and featuring locals like Kii Arens of La-La Land Prints.

Primavera Sound LA 2022

Best: Signs, sightlines & sound

With the Primavera Sound brand being all about the music, our eyes were mostly focused on the artists performing. Nevertheless, the signs, sightlines and sound at PSLA were all on point. The downtown LA skyline served as a fitting backdrop like it usually does at LASHP, and despite poor audio issues playing a role at outdoor music festivals, we didn’t experience any while we were on the ground so kudos to the organizers for locking that down. If anything, the decibels across the fest’s four stages were so high that we found ourselves needing ear protection most of the weekend.

Primavera Sound LA 2022 - Nine Inch Nails

Worst: Short headliner sets

After Primavera Sound LA unveiled the lineup for its debut this year, we presumed all three headliners would receive at least 90 minutes each day. So when the set times dropped more than a couple weeks in advance, it was a bit of a shock seeing only 75 minutes designated for each of them. A Hall of Fame band like Nine Inch Nails has more than 10 studio albums and several EPs in its catalog but were only granted enough time to crank out 16 songs, many of which have been setlist staples for years up to this point. Though NIN classics like “Wish”, “March of the Pigs”, “Closer”, “Gave Up” and “Head Like a Hole” are never tracks to lack energy live, we’re happy we caught their sold-out gig at the Santa Barbara Bowl (read our show review here) four days earlier for the chance to hear a cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” and multiple other deep cuts.

Primavera Sound LA 2022 - Arctic Monkeys

Best: Arctic Monkeys

It was clear when we showed up for PSLA’s final day that the attendance felt bigger than the day prior. Although that seemed a little odd considering it was Sunday and not Saturday, it was a testament to the fan base Arctic Monkeys have built at the 20-year mark. The English rockers haven’t toured since 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, and with their forthcoming seventh LP The Car slated to come out next month, frontman Alex Turner and his bandmates gave us a taste with the disco funk that they’ve cooked up on “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” midway through their headlining performance. And even though we didn’t hear lead single “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” despite it being the only track that they have officially released so far, there were plenty of other thrilling moments for us to remember in between the opening notes of “Do I Wanna Know?” and the closing “R U Mine?” to end the night. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long before there’s a return date to California after the new album drops.

Primavera Sound LA 2022

Worst: Under-21 viewing areas

Most of PSLA’s guests are of legal drinking age, and with the festival boasting a number of alcohol-related sponsors that included Cuervo and Smirnoff, it certainly caters to the over-21 crowd. But for those who weren’t, the viewing areas at the Primavera and Tecate Alta stages were less than ideal. Besides the allotted space being too small and positioned off to the side, underage guests were only informed 10 days in advance. If you’re not 21 yet, make sure to temper your expectations — or we’d recommend waiting until you are before attending.


Primavera Sound LA photographers featured: Nicolita Bradley, Lindsey Byrnes, Pooneh Ghana, Miranda McDonald, Ismael Quintanilla III & Quinn Tucker.

Jack White makes the case with two career-spanning shows at LA’s YouTube Theater why he’s more than rock ‘n’ roll’s last great savior

Jack WhitePhotos courtesy of Jack White // Written by Josh Herwitt //

Jack White //
YouTube Theater – Inglewood, CA
May 31st-June 1st, 2022 //

Well, look who’s back …

When Jack White unloaded the lead single “Taking Me Back” from what would be his fourth album Fear of the Dawn in October, it was a signal to both his fans and the music industry that the 12-time Grammy winner was officially back (pun intended) with new solo material for the first time in three-plus years.

Sure, 2019 saw White put out The Raconteurs’ third studio effort — though just their first in more than a decade — on his own label Third Man Records and embark on a world tour alongside the band, but with the COVID-19 pandemic beginning only three months later and locking us down for the next couple of years, it’s fair to say the world has changed quite a bit since Boarding House Reach dropped in 2018.

That’s the last time White brought his solo act out to California (read our show review here), and it was around then that he started partnering with Yondr to lock fans’ cell phones during his concerts using the San Francisco-based company’s mobile pouches and having designated areas inside the venue where you can unlock them (think of it like a smoking section at any bar or club).

Of course the whole notion drew the ire of some who claimed White crossed a line and had gone too far to control his fans’ behavior. After all, you can’t please everyone, right? But while a phone-free show is a better experience for us all as I have previously argued, let’s be honest about what really matters at the end of the day: it hasn’t hurt his ticket sales at all. And for those of us who enjoy going to shows and not viewing them through a sea of six-inch screens, it’s a breath of fresh air to not catch even one raised in the crowd.

White has never been one for mobile technology. He still doesn’t own a cell phone — not even what the kids would call a “dumb phone” — and in 2022, that can sometimes make it a little harder if he suddenly needs a lift home from the airport or has to wait longer than expected for his doctor’s appointment.

Jack White

But White has survived without one for this long and so can we every few years he decides to tour. Because whenever he takes the stage, you never know what you’re going to get. Just ask his fellow Detroiters, who got to witness White’s engagement and subsequent wedding onstage to kick off the “Supply Chain Issues Tour” that stretches 62 dates all the way until late August — two of which took place this week at the 6,000-person YouTube Theater, the newest music venue to call Los Angeles home after breaking ground in August.

I must admit that this is not the only time I have pulled double duty when Jack has come to town. Nearly 10 years ago when White launched his first solo tour in support of Blunderbluss, he booked two gigs at LA’s historic Shrine Auditorium. After being completely transfixed by his all-male group the Buzzards the first night but eager to hear more, I returned on a whim the ensuing evening to see him perform with the all-female Peacocks and I’m glad that I did considering I got to hear him bust out Danger Mouse’s “Two Against One” and The Dead Weather’s “Blue Blood Blues” before delivering his best knockout punch in the encore with Stripes hits “My Doorbell” and “Seven Nation Army” as the final blow to the head.

Looking back at those shows in 2012, White’s solo career has taken some twists and turns in that time. He has made three more albums, produced numerous artists and even wrote a song for Beyoncé. But despite upgrading on this tour to more modern rooms — and it’s reflected in the ticket prices — like the state-of-the-art YouTube Theater that’s attached to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and stripping down to a four-piece that includes Dominic Davis (bass, backing vocals), Daru Jones (drums) and Quincy McCrary (keyboards, samples, synthesizer, organ, backing vocals), the 46-year-old multi-instrumentalist has told us with his words and actions that he not only has the ability but also the purpose to continually surprise those of us willing to buy a ticket and take the ride.

“Every time I go in (to make an album), I’m trying to do something I haven’t done before,” White shared not long ago during an exclusive interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music that sees them visit his first art studio in Detroit when he made a living as a furniture upholsterer. “It’s not like something that other people haven’t ever done before. It’s just something I have never done before. … Whatever it is to get me to a different zone so that I’m not repeating myself.”

In many ways, the same philosophy applies to his live performances. There’s no doubt that White has his crowd-pleasers — particularly from The White Stripes’ catalog — that he still leans on, but you also won’t find him operating with only one setlist as he travels from city to city. Even if his live shows often begin and end in a similar fashion that creates a format for them and a brand for White as a performer, they nevertheless carry a dose of uncertainty and spontaneity.

“That’s what’s kind of cool about playing shows,” he tells Lowe later in their interview as they observe the empty lot that used to be the Gold Dollar where the Stripes performed for the very first time. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen. You shouldn’t know what’s going to happen I should say.”

Jack White

And with four separate projects to pull from now, Jack has no trouble filling out a setlist. He easily could play longer than the hour and 45 minutes that he gifts us, extending well past the two-hour mark, but at what cost? If it means preserving his health and longevity for many more years to come, I’m all for that. White, in fact, will be unleashing his second 2022 record Entering Heaven Alive this July, and given the early, yet strong reviews from critics who have gotten their hands (and ears) on it, future live audiences should eventually expect to hear more than just the three offerings — “A Tip from You to Me”, “Love Is Selfish” and “If I Die Tomorrow” — that we got in LA.

With the way rock ‘n’ roll has been holding on by a thread and White serving as one of the genre’s last great saviors, it’s easy to understand why he should consider playing the long game. Maybe that’s why certain non-Fear of the Dawn tracks — “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”, “Love Interruption”, “Ball and Biscuit”, and “Icky Thump” — were even repeated, which was certainly a surprise to us. That said, there was still plenty of diversity between the two shows, with The Raconteurs’ “You Don’t Understand Me” and The Dead Weather’s “Gasoline” bolstering Tuesday’s affair and covers of both The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” as well as Jimi Hendrix’s “Hear My Train a Comin'” standing out on Wednesday. It was even refreshing to hear him unleash Fear deep cut “Eosophobia” and the LP’s latest single “What’s the Trick?” on separate nights, while the genre-less “Hi-De-Ho” featuring Q-Tip — with his lyrics played from tape, something White rarely does when performing live — received two rounds of applause.

Some might ask, “What’s left for Jack White to do that he hasn’t already done?” That’s a good question, and one worth pondering as we have more time to reflect on the impact of his work and legacy. But as I watched White like the modern-day guitar hero that he is rip into one hair-raising solo after another while he was in LA, I couldn’t help but think of the small empire he has built for the past 25 years not only with his own style and sound but also culturally with Third Man Records leading the DIY movement for music. What makes Jack so special to his fans is that he represents what it truly means to be an artist in every sense of the word no matter what he’s doing. Whether he’s working on a song, couch or business idea, there’s always a greater vision to his madness and an inherent need to continue pushing boundaries.

“If you want to do something new to turn people on and get people’s imaginations going, you have to blend different things together and attempt to break new ground,” the blue-haired singer-songwriter explains at the end of his hour-long conversation with Lowe. “That’s the place that I try to live in.”

For more than a quarter century, White has been living in that space as he has let his own imaginations run wild. And yet, at no point did he expect things would turn out the way they have, rising to a level of international stardom that he never dreamed of when he almost decided to become a priest as a young teenager before changing his mind to attend public school — and the rest is history.

“There’s never been a moment where I’ve been like, ‘Yeah, that’s a good song. People should like that,'” he admits to Lowe. “I have never felt that. It’s always, ‘Well, that felt good to me. We’ll see.'”

That can be hard to believe from someone who’s as accomplished as Jack White, but for those of you who somehow aren’t familiar with the man after all these years … well, where the hell have you been?

MAY 31

Setlist:
Taking Me Back
Fear of the Dawn
The White Raven
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes song)
Hi-De-Ho
You Don’t Understand Me (The Raconteurs song)
Love Is Selfish
Temporary Ground
A Tip from You to Me
Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes song)
Cannon (The White Stripes song)
Eosophobia (followed by a reprise of “Cannon”)
Fell in Love With a Girl (The White Stripes song)
Lazaretto
Over and Over and Over
I’m Shakin’ (Little Willie John cover)
Gasoline (The Dead Weather song)
A Martyr for My Love for You (The White Stripes song)
Love Interruption
Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes song)

Encore:
Icky Thump (The White Stripes song)
Steady, as She Goes (The Raconteurs song)

JUNE 1

Setlist:
Taking Me Back
Fear of the Dawn
I Wanna Be Your Dog (The Stooges cover)
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes song)
The White Raven
If I Die Tomorrow
Love Is Selfish
I Think I Smell a Rat (The White Stripes song)
Black Math (The White Stripes song)
Freedom at 21
Hi-De-Ho
Apple Blossom (The White Stripes song)
We’re Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes song)
Love Interruption
I Cut Like a Buffalo (The Dead Weather song)
Hear My Train a Comin’ (Jimi Hendrix cover)
Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes song)

Encore:
Icky Thump (The White Stripes song)
What’s the Trick?
Suzy Lee (The White Stripes song)
Catch Hell Blues (The White Stripes song)
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes song)

After 16 years, Smokin Grooves Fest makes its long-awaited return & blazes a new trail in Long Beach

Smokin Grooves Fest 2018 - NxWorries


Anderson .Paak of NxWorries

Photos by Joseph Gray & Natalie Somekh // Written by Joseph Gray //

Smokin Grooves Fest //
The Queen Mary – Long Beach, CA
June 16th, 2018 //

We are in the heart of festival season. This is a time of the year for music lovers that’s often synonymous with multiple days of unforgiving heat, dusty campgrounds and some young adults who are readily anxious for a mosh pit. The long food-truck lines and heart-shaped sunglasses, polka dots, ripped denim and tie-dyed garments that have become staples at a large majority of music festivals — particularly during the summer months — were present, but Smokin Grooves Fest offered a welcome alternative. And based on its history, Southern California concert promoter Goldenvoice wouldn’t have had it any other way.

For one day only, a sold-out crew enjoyed moderate temperatures at the overcast waterfront adjacent to the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach for Smokin Grooves’ long-awaited return. The event, which last took place 16 years ago, pushed hip-hop, R&B and soul to the forefront of popular music at the time by booking The Fugees, A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill and a whole lot more when Lollapalooza and other rock-focused festivals weren’t showing them the same kind of love.

The crowd, relaxed with a peaceful aura but also energized, mirrored much of the lineup, which showcased veterans such as Erykah Badu, The Roots and Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) among buzzing newcomers like H.E.R., Smino, THEY. and Arin Ray across the 38-act bill.

I fall somewhere in the middle between those two age groups, so it was fitting that the uber-talented rapper/singer/drummer Anderson .Paak had just walked onto the “Free Your Mind” main stage when I showed up. .Paak, 32, wore a smile as expressive as his music, packaged with a bright nautical-themed ensemble. He effortlessly impressed with standouts “Suede”, “Another Time” and “What More Can I Say” off Yes Lawd!, his 2016 LP with Los Angeles hip-hop producer Knxwledge as part of their collaborative project NxWorries (pronounced “No Worries”). The duo’s set would eventually culminate in a playful dance-off between women, which fans showed their appreciation for before .Paak and Knxwledge said their goodbyes.

Many attendees went back and forth from the main stage to the two other aptly named stages — “Smokin'” and “Groovin'” — via an elevated overpass, where we overheard several praising the Brooklyn troop Phony Ppl for their soulfully funky grooves.

Smokin Grooves Fest 2018 - Miguel


Miguel

However, anticipation for The Roots kept me at the main stage. It proved to be a wise decision, as their nearly hour-long performance reminded me why the Grammy-winning band is still so revered after more than three decades. Black Thought got the crowd riled up with a 10-minute barrage of lyrical proficiency that so many have come to know as his “Hot 97 Freestyle” after it hit the internet in December and quickly went viral, while his bandmates exuberantly jumped with sousaphones and guitars during “You Got Me” and a number of other hits. But providing a jolt like he only can, the one and only Busta Rhymes showed up for a quick-but-memorable performance of “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” and “Pass the Courvoisier, Part II”.

The concert, nevertheless, was not without its faults, as some complained about the sound quality during various times, but neglecting hometown artists certainly wasn’t one of them.

Not long after the buzz around Thundercat’s bass-guitar skills subsided, fellow LA-area acts Jhené Aiko and Miguel were greeted with admiration. Aiko, for one, entertained fans behind flowers, acoustics and enchanting vocals with occasional curse words. Miguel, who proudly reminded us that he was from nearby San Pedro and Inglewood, kept the momentum, along with his fringed microphone stand, moving by performing several crowd-pleasers like “How Many Drinks?”, “Sure Thing” and “Come Through and Chill”, among others.

The event’s headliner was Erykah Badu, who performed during the tour’s second edition in 1997 and looked like she hasn’t missed a beat since. Playing a drum machine between songs while weaving some classic hip-hop instrumentals — one of which was Mobb Deep’s “Shook (Part II)” — into her set, the neo-soul queen dazzled with her seductive, incredible voice and responsive wit for an hour-long class on “How to Deliver a Full-on Show.”

Several journalists and photographers, myself included, mentioned at various times the need to leave early to avoid the traffic on the way. But Badu and others made liars out of us, and we couldn’t have been happier in the end.