lws

Had a great time after four Barcelona editions - loved the space and fairly light crowds, as well as ample seating space on three stages. Rosalia was the only act that felt really packed. Good layout with the stages and no soundbleed issues, though never experienced the old stages. Weather was a little rough first two days, but mostly light showers and Kendrick was the only act I missed because of it. The cheap Ubers were a huge plus when compared to Barcelona - only E8-12 back to Casa de Musica, never had to wait more than five minutes leaving at 2-3am each night. Would definitely come back if they don't jack up hotel/ticket/flight prices...! And in response to @Suggestives - one of my group did the opposite and came from the airport to the festival, leaving a bag in the cloakroom and had no issues.

comet was nice and atmospheric for the first half hour or so, but when it got torrential it was a bit much. still a great show, but we were too soaked for kendrick, and already seen him on this tour so ducked out for the last metro. anyone who stayed: how was it? hope the super bock/vodaphone stages don’t turn into mudslides today…

Yeah, mostly fine - biggest ones for me are My Morning Jacket vs. Pusha T, Built to Spill vs. NxWorries, Karate vs. Julia Holter. Will probably go for the former in each case as I've seen Pusha and Julia H before. NxWorries would be great, but it's not quite Anderson .Paak on his own... Glad they've put strong acts against two big ones I have no interest in (fred again... and Halsey). Marina Herlop in for Bleachers is a great sub for my money, but when you're up against Blur it's kinda academic...

Just got my ticket - been on the fence about waiting for the lineup, but I really can't see it not being worth £125. Along with decently priced flights and accommodation, can finally start getting excited! Not that it's all about headliners, but of the 7 at Barcelona (inc. Pet Shop Boys), I reckon Porto might get 2? Just hoping they don't plump for Halsey and Calvin Harris... After 5 times at Barcelona, I'm looking forward to some grass, fewer clashes and cheaper booze (in the city at least, if not the the fest itself).

Good to hear. Prices/cashless/app all sounds good. Obviously expensive for Spain, but pretty standard for a festival. Hope they've got a bit of decent choice. Would be good to have the wristbands before showing up, but not sure where they would do it. Possibly Fuengirola for one, but hopefully somewhere central in La Cala too (that central pedestrianised bit?).

Wow - so early, that's great. Will be interesting to be see the site map when it's out. That run of Nick Cave - Kraftwerk - Chemical Brothers - Hot Chip is gonna be special, but hope the stages aren't too far apart.

What does that comment even mean? Beyond the first two words I really can't tell what he's talking about. Not overly fussed if he was out personally (might even drive away some of the laddish punters only going for him), but not sure what it would mean for the festival as a whole. Shift Chemical Brothers over to Saturday?

Wow - really surprised by this. Only got a ticket because I've got access to a place in La Cala and thought it'd be nice to see Kraftwerk while having a little holiday. Turning into a proper festival now...Might be an interesting mix of folks there for the rock headliners and the excellent DJ undercard. Thursday is still fairly weak, though keen for Roisin Murphy and Arctic Monkeys are always fun, but that Friday is bananas. Saturday will be interesting with the folks only there for Liam Gallagher being treated to a really strong electronic lineup.

Been lurking for about 7 years, but thought I'd give my two cents now I've finally made it home on comedown Sunday. This is my fifth time attending and did the double weekend (non-VIP) - concur with a lot of the chat re: 1st Thursday, shitty comms, no surprises, expensive beer etc. so won't repeat that. Overall, had an amazing time and still my favourite festival (yesterday confirmed that when I was able to bounce from spiritual jazz to neo-sufi classical to nostalgic rock and finish off with big, exuberant euro-pop (and still find time for Shellac!)), but it's been my weakest probably. A lot of that was to do with being fucking knackered by WE2, which may be my own fault, but poor organisation played its part, too. My favourite day was the first Saturday in large part because I got to spend some time in the Auditori and The Caretaker, Jenny Hval and Mavis Staples were all fantastic (Caretaker might be set of the week for pure absurdity). So I was still feeling fresh and ready for Nick Cave, Beach House etc, something that you lost on WE2 as you baked watching Dry Cleaning. Not being able to get in for Kim Gordon and Low was frustrating and the "well turn up earlier" response is valid, but as someone who's basically never queued in 4 previous editions and still been able to see The Zombies or Kamasi Washington it was a little annoying. I loved the concept of the ciutat shows and my W1+W2 allowed me to breeze into Iceage/Les Savy Fav and Magnetic Fields, which was awesome, but that giant priority queue for Ride+ really showed me how much they'd underestimated, as well as the horror stories here. The Boiler Room next to Pitchfork was completely moronic as it drowned out anything that wasn't heavy guitars (The Weather Station was a total bust), though people clearly had fun there and I'm a little sad I missed out on Equiknoxx (wanted a decent spot for Beck). We'd always assumed the free shuttle buses were a write-off so generally walked or found another way, but I thought they were great! The mask thing on Friday night was weirdly sudden (one friend was hastily kettled onto the plague bus but still arrived seconds after us), but on the 4 nights I used them we never had to queue more than 10-15 mins (usually leaving around 3am). It was only the first Saturday that both metro and buses were busy, but we just walked back a stop and it was fine. Anyway, plenty more I could say but don't want to bore everyone to death on my first post. I'll probably come back unless the lineup became unprecedented garbage, but also may depend on friends/life etc. Feeling surprisingly good given the last 11 days, but not thrilled about work tomorrow. Thank you for the entertainment and tips over the years - you've (almost) all been a delight! Bring on the wild speculation for next time...