NOS Primavera Sound 2022

[young_contra]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:02 PM, Suggestives said:

Seriously? It's 50 metres to the left .. you must be a slow walker 😁

Given comments on sound I'm pleased I didn't give up my front row position after Stella to see Kim Gordon.

Certainly busy but the organisation is as fantastic as ever given the challenges. Every year I vow to try somewhere different for the next, but find myself straight on the early bird tickets .. I reckon this year will be the same.

That VIP area is pants though.

Well, I admit I'm not the fastest walker hahaha, but I've realized that my issue is not the distance itself, but the lack of time between sets.

Now, that said lack of time is only an issue due to how hard it is to get a decent spot for the night acts, unless you purposely miss on the last songs of whoever you're watching on Cupra.

Perhaps these last two years have made me less of an enjoyer of outdoor activities, but I feel bittersweet towards this edition.

First off, it felt amazing to be back on this festival. It truly did. But it only did for a short amount of time.

I think this festival has been oversold. There's just too many people on the main stage. Either that or everyone is a dumbass who won't let you pass through (and I don't mean to the front, I merely mean to the middle of the field). Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that I should resign myself to watching a show all the way from the top of the hill, under the possibly unlucky circumstances that I might be behind someone taller than me. Please, if anyone had visibility / spot issues, please share.

Regarding the VIP area - complete bullshit. What a waste. Why is it even a thing. They decide to sell more tickets and reduce the amount of public space available? That's just wrong. 

Black Midi, Rina, Grimes DJ Set were my favorites. Main stage never had any wow moment for me (Gorillaz did, for the worst possible reasons lol)

[MeMeMeM]

8 hours ago, young_contra said:

Regarding the VIP area - complete bullshit. What a waste. Why is it even a thing. They decide to sell more tickets and reduce the amount of public space available? That's just wrong. 

VIP tickets at Porto never had real benefits, in my opinion. Must not be comparable to Barcelona VIP tickets (at least until 2019).

[Pongolesi]

9 hours ago, bananaa52 said:

lol they silenced gorillaz, wtf

What happened? I skipped the last bit to see Earl Sweatshirt, who went on and did an encore till 3:10

[bananaa52]

3 minutes ago, Pongolesi said:

What happened? I skipped the last bit to see Earl Sweatshirt, who went on and did an encore till 3:10

they were in the last minutes of Clint Eastwood and at exactly 2:30 the sound went silent, the band had wtf faces when they noticed that we were not hearing and rushed off the stage and it was finished.. some people are saying it was due to technical issue, but if that was the case the band could have finished properly when the issue was solved

even on Binance, at Chico da Tina the day before, at 3:05 they started to rush him off the stage...

[Pongolesi]

8 hours ago, young_contra said:

Well, I admit I'm not the fastest walker hahaha, but I've realized that my issue is not the distance itself, but the lack of time between sets.

Now, that said lack of time is only an issue due to how hard it is to get a decent spot for the night acts, unless you purposely miss on the last songs of whoever you're watching on Cupra.

Perhaps these last two years have made me less of an enjoyer of outdoor activities, but I feel bittersweet towards this edition.

First off, it felt amazing to be back on this festival. It truly did. But it only did for a short amount of time.

I think this festival has been oversold. There's just too many people on the main stage. Either that or everyone is a dumbass who won't let you pass through (and I don't mean to the front, I merely mean to the middle of the field). Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that I should resign myself to watching a show all the way from the top of the hill, under the possibly unlucky circumstances that I might be behind someone taller than me. Please, if anyone had visibility / spot issues, please share.

Regarding the VIP area - complete bullshit. What a waste. Why is it even a thing. They decide to sell more tickets and reduce the amount of public space available? That's just wrong. 

Black Midi, Rina, Grimes DJ Set were my favorites. Main stage never had any wow moment for me (Gorillaz did, for the worst possible reasons lol)

For me as a first time visitor to the Porto edition it felt ok. Most festivals I go to don’t even have a 10 minutes between sets so this already felt like a luxury. On day 1 and 3 the lines were a bit too long but still doable if you walked a bit and checked the next bar.

My biggest complaint however was the quality of the sound. Cupra stage was fine but the others not so much. Sound at the Binance stage was awful at times. The NOS stage was ok all the way in the front but even when I was next to the Front Of House during Interpol it was dire. Very unevenly mixed, bass and drums ok but voice and lead guitar should have been way up. Utterly ruined their set for me. 
 

All in all had a good time but just for a one off I think. 

[bananaa52]

9 hours ago, young_contra said:

Well, I admit I'm not the fastest walker hahaha, but I've realized that my issue is not the distance itself, but the lack of time between sets.

Now, that said lack of time is only an issue due to how hard it is to get a decent spot for the night acts, unless you purposely miss on the last songs of whoever you're watching on Cupra.

Perhaps these last two years have made me less of an enjoyer of outdoor activities, but I feel bittersweet towards this edition.

First off, it felt amazing to be back on this festival. It truly did. But it only did for a short amount of time.

I think this festival has been oversold. There's just too many people on the main stage. Either that or everyone is a dumbass who won't let you pass through (and I don't mean to the front, I merely mean to the middle of the field). Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that I should resign myself to watching a show all the way from the top of the hill, under the possibly unlucky circumstances that I might be behind someone taller than me. Please, if anyone had visibility / spot issues, please share.

Regarding the VIP area - complete bullshit. What a waste. Why is it even a thing. They decide to sell more tickets and reduce the amount of public space available? That's just wrong. 

Black Midi, Rina, Grimes DJ Set were my favorites. Main stage never had any wow moment for me (Gorillaz did, for the worst possible reasons lol)

in my opinion it was crowded but they managed to expand the area. that green area behind cupra seats was sweet.

also, there was a lot of people that were there just for Tame Impala, or just for Gorillaz for example, so it was expected that NOS stage was going to be full of people waiting for them. 

my only complains were the sound in NOS and Binance and the toilets layout was not that efficient

[young_contra]

15 minutes ago, bananaa52 said:

in my opinion it was crowded but they managed to expand the area. that green area behind cupra seats was sweet.

also, there was a lot of people that were there just for Tame Impala, or just for Gorillaz for example, so it was expected that NOS stage was going to be full of people waiting for them. 

my only complains were the sound in NOS and Binance and the toilets layout was not that efficient

cupra had always nice visibility, but the main stage lacked space IMO. 

and while you're right, that a lot of people would be waiting for the headliners, most of them would wait near the front barriers. my main issue is that there were A LOT of people that were very far from the stage but still decided to be assholes and not let anyone through.

it's funny that the only negative encounters I've had this year were with portuguese people. idk, it didn't feel as friendly, overall

[young_contra]

1 hour ago, Pongolesi said:

For me as a first time visitor to the Porto edition it felt ok. Most festivals I go to don’t even have a 10 minutes between sets so this already felt like a luxury. On day 1 and 3 the lines were a bit too long but still doable if you walked a bit and checked the next bar.

My biggest complaint however was the quality of the sound. Cupra stage was fine but the others not so much. Sound at the Binance stage was awful at times. The NOS stage was ok all the way in the front but even when I was next to the Front Of House during Interpol it was dire. Very unevenly mixed, bass and drums ok but voice and lead guitar should have been way up. Utterly ruined their set for me. 
 

All in all had a good time but just for a one off I think. 

absolutely. sound was horrid at times. during tame impala I occasionally felt that the sound was unilaterally panned. I think the worst offense was Slowdive's set. near the ending it kind of got better, but the beginning was atrocious. the mix was terrible and flat.  I didn't really have a bad experience with Interpol since I made an effort to be close to the stage, but it's not surprising that it sucked on that dept

[bananaa52]

4 minutes ago, young_contra said:

cupra had always nice visibility, but the main stage lacked space IMO. 

and while you're right, that a lot of people would be waiting for the headliners, most of them would wait near the front barriers. my main issue is that there were A LOT of people that were very far from the stage but still decided to be assholes and not let anyone through.

it's funny that the only negative encounters I've had this year were with portuguese people. idk, it didn't feel as friendly, overall

that's funny cuz during Gorillaz, there was a group of portuguese people that were around 40 to 50 years old, that were behaving like dickheads always complaining and screaming to the people that were passing through. I almost had to turn around and tell them to shut up.

[SDNL]

First time at this festival. Thought it was generally well organised but agree about the sound quality for some acts. 

Certainly enjoyed it more than a lot of the people at Primavera Barca seemed to enjoy this year's edition at least.

Not so amazing that I'd rush back but if the right bands happen to fall into place again then I'd quite happily return.

[young_contra]

4 minutes ago, bananaa52 said:

that's funny cuz during Gorillaz, there was a group of portuguese people that were around 40 to 50 years old, that were behaving like dickheads always complaining and screaming to the people that were passing through. I almost had to turn around and tell them to shut up.

that's precisely the profile of people I dealt with. 

I had this one guy that purposely stood with a stance that occupied more space than one naturally would, and if you were to try to get through, he'd act like a wall. on the last day, I was diagonally opposed to a guy who kind of had his leg stretched out. I tried to get through him, but wasn't being able to. I asked "hey, can I get through?" and he just replied "go on, for fuck's sake! (caralho, para quem percebe)". why? during tame impala's entrance, I tried to get past a couple of friends and one of them, replying to my request, pointed to the stage and said "it has already started" and blocked my passage. we were on top of the hill, near the right super bock stand. all of them were portuguese and older than 35. shameful and disgraceful

[bananaa52]

22 minutes ago, young_contra said:

that's precisely the profile of people I dealt with. 

I had this one guy that purposely stood with a stance that occupied more space than one naturally would, and if you were to try to get through, he'd act like a wall. on the last day, I was diagonally opposed to a guy who kind of had his leg stretched out. I tried to get through him, but wasn't being able to. I asked "hey, can I get through?" and he just replied "go on, for fuck's sake! (caralho, para quem percebe)". why? during tame impala's entrance, I tried to get past a couple of friends and one of them, replying to my request, pointed to the stage and said "it has already started" and blocked my passage. we were on top of the hill, near the right super bock stand. all of them were portuguese and older than 35. shameful and disgraceful

bad luck man ahah.

well, I really had a great time, and Primavera and Paredes de Coura are my go-to festivals every year. Let's see how things go in August!

[Pongolesi]

1 hour ago, young_contra said:

absolutely. sound was horrid at times. during tame impala I occasionally felt that the sound was unilaterally panned. I think the worst offense was Slowdive's set. near the ending it kind of got better, but the beginning was atrocious. the mix was terrible and flat.  I didn't really have a bad experience with Interpol since I made an effort to be close to the stage, but it's not surprising that it sucked on that dept

Exactly, I was all the way up front for Beck and Gorillaz and those sounded fine for me.

[Pongolesi]

1 hour ago, bananaa52 said:

that's funny cuz during Gorillaz, there was a group of portuguese people that were around 40 to 50 years old, that were behaving like dickheads always complaining and screaming to the people that were passing through. I almost had to turn around and tell them to shut up.

Same experience here, people didn’t want me going up to the stage while it was still 30 minutes before the show and there was clearly still a lot of clear space up front. I just smiled and pushed through as gentle as I could and a few times someone grabbed my arm but I managed. And I don’t mean like pushing though a thick crowd, more that people were making an effort to wall up and actively tried to block people.

Still not the best crowd. Luckily a lot of nice Portuguese people attending too, had some nice conversations and some people asked me nicely to step to the side a bit (I’m quite tall) which is no problem if you ask politely.

Feels like the older crowd feels more entitled, like this is my space, I paid for a ticket and now this is mine. Well that said I’m 40 too 😊

Edited June 12 by Pongolesi

[Suggestives]

Blimey, it was a bit busy last night wasn't it?

A fab day was had however, although after three days walking around Porto and standing at the festival my legs were giving out at Gorrillaz and I decided to leave before the rush. I couldn't believe how loud it sounded even as far back as my hotel in Matosinhos. I reckon the cut-off was a strict curfew requirement .. i'm amazed the festival is even allowed to happen in such close proximity to a dense residential area.

Sound quality was the one disappointment this year given how good it usually is. Did all the best sound techs stay in Barcelona for the second weekend perhaps?

It was obviously unusual circumstances this year but if they are going to be having those numbers in future I do think they need to expand the footprint of the site. 

Top three highlights were Jehnny Beth, Nick Cave, and Little Simz.

Looking forward to next year.

 

[KGeedora]

fuck man...I had a good/great time but at risk of sounding like a bitter old dude, there were too many people compared to past Porto editions. Thursday and Saturday were kinda brutal. Friday felt like it used to. 

[Chinaski_]

Finally home and tired, only had 4 hours sleep last night due to early flight today. 

I wasn't too enamoured with the line up originally, but ended up having a great time. Pavement were good, although they missed off a few of my favourites, so might have to go their shows. I'm sure they played Kennel District, but Spiral sang something else over it. But setlist said they didnt. 

Not sure what was happening with Beck, the playback was pretty embarrassing and at one point the guitar "played" before he did lol. Still Lost Cause and One Foot in the Grave were amazing, and it was good to hear Novacane and Hotwax. 

I'd say Dinosaur Jr were the best, followed by Jawbox. Little Simz, Kim Gordon, DIIV and Slowdive were great too.

I must have been lucky with sound, but I was at the front for every show. 

Didn't like all that NFT and Crypto rubbish everywhere, although they're taking over everywhere these days. 

They really need to ban rucksacks! Too many stood at the front with giant rucksacks or in the pit with rucksacks. 

Not sure about next year yet, hopefully there will be some good bookings.

[KGeedora]

2 minutes ago, Chinaski_ said:

Finally home and tired, only had 4 hours sleep last night due to early flight today. 

I wasn't too enamoured with the line up originally, but ended up having a great time. Pavement were good, although they missed off a few of my favourites, so might have to go their shows. I'm sure they played Kennel District, but Spiral sang something else over it. But setlist said they didnt. 

Not sure what was happening with Beck, the playback was pretty embarrassing and at one point the guitar "played" before he did lol. Still Lost Cause and One Foot in the Grave were amazing, and it was good to hear Novacane and Hotwax. 

I'd say Dinosaur Jr were the best, followed by Jawbox. Little Simz, Kim Gordon, DIIV and Slowdive were great too.

I must have been lucky with sound, but I was at the front for every show. 

Didn't like all that NFT and Crypto rubbish everywhere, although they're taking over everywhere these days. 

They really need to ban rucksacks! Too many stood at the front with giant rucksacks or in the pit with rucksacks. 

Not sure about next year yet, hopefully there will be some good bookings.

Pavement played Date with Ikea, not Kennel. It's always one or the other it seems.

I will forever be angry that they made them stop before their 2 final songs (Here, Summer Babe). Man, so enraging

[Chinaski_]

5 hours ago, Pongolesi said:

Same experience here, people didn’t want me going up to the stage while it was still 30 minutes before the show and there was clearly still a lot of clear space up front. I just smiled and pushed through as gentle as I could and a few times someone grabbed my arm but I managed. And I don’t mean like pushing though a thick crowd, more that people were making an effort to wall up and actively tried to block people.

Still not the best crowd. Luckily a lot of nice Portuguese people attending too, had some nice conversations and some people asked me nicely to step to the side a bit (I’m quite tall) which is no problem if you ask politely.

Feels like the older crowd feels more entitled, like this is my space, I paid for a ticket and now this is mine. Well that said I’m 40 too 😊

I got a bit of stick for turning up late for Interpol, eventhough they were just talking anyway and not watching haha.

Seemed to be a lot more Brits this year, than there were in previous years we went, some of whom never even engaged during the sets. Hope it isn't turning into Barcelona Primavera, with people just going to show off on Instagram. 

[Chinaski_]

Did anyone find any decent food? I thought it was terrible! Well what I had anyway. 

[KGeedora]

18 minutes ago, Chinaski_ said:

Did anyone find any decent food? I thought it was terrible! Well what I had anyway. 

man, we got sick from one of the vendors ha. Really awful selection. I live in Portugal and was surprised at how lackluster/unhealthy it was.

[Chinaski_]

3 minutes ago, KGeedora said:

man, we got sick from one of the vendors ha. Really awful selection. I live in Portugal and was surprised at how lackluster/unhealthy it was.

Ah I'm sorry. Yeah it was either dry, plain or hard. I went to that Simpsons burger van and it was the dryest burger I've ever had! 

[bananaa52]

I ate at Conga and Casa Guedes. No regrets

[lighthouse]

Making a top 10 or even 15 is really tough.
 

Although I have to say Nick Cave were by far the most memorable set of the weekend for me.  That man operates on another level. 

Edited June 13 by lighthouse

[changingman]

abiding memory is that it was oversold, certainly in comparison to our last visit around 10 years ago. Getting drinks/toilets was a struggle at times. 

That said, Nick Cave was amazing as ever, Pavement sublime. Really enjoyed Shellac and RBCF too. Last night was too busy and we left after Dinosaur Jr, did catch the end of Interpols set in front of our hotel in Matosinhos though, where the sound was probably an improvement on the NOS stage. 

Not sure we'll be back, probably too old these days haha but might be tempted for a day ticket if the lineup is strong .