Warner Bros. (ATP) in FC Barcelona, May 31 - June 2

Kevin Chavez3 said:carsick cars - some Chinese demo band from the Midwest.

🤣

fucked up - just boring hardcore punk that feels forced—I guess it would be pretty ridiculous if there wasn't a single subculture left that hadn't been hijacked by guys with asymmetrical hair, mustaches, and women's Levi's.

I'm with you on this one. I'm pretty much the definition of unhip, so... whatever. 🤷 😕

Great write-up, man—you're funny and entertaining. 👍

gentlepuma20 would probably rock a Naked Raygun shirt. 😢

That's a solid fact 😢

Kevin Chavez3 said:Tokyo Sex Destruction—some Spanish soul band. Good grief. I’m checking out after the first track.
Carsick Cars—a demo band from some tiny town in rural Ohio. Heaven help us. I’m done after one song.

It is truly amusing how you meticulously aligned those final two sentences just to drive the point home.😍

A fine report, indeed.👍

BAND THREE

They started out decent—hooked me pretty fast. I actually liked them during that transition from drone to shoegaze, but now they’ve just turned soft. Every song sounds identical from start to finish (and just like the one before it), and the sound isn't nearly as massive as it should be, likely because they lack a live drummer. I drifted off during the third track and didn't snap out of it until the end of the set; honestly, I would have preferred Uselom over being wide awake...
th' faith healers - a solid, standard group! No idea why David is into them 😁 cute lady. I really enjoyed them, as did my buddies from Yo La Tengo, including the bassist:



neil young - I don't listen to him or follow his work, but I have to admit he's good. If he could just pick up the tempo on his songs, he might actually become someone...
liars - absolute nonsense 🤮
deerhunter - 🙈 excellent. Just like every other band I've ever obsessed over, obviously. Great songs, great performance, and it reminded me that since I'm their bassist 😲 I had a blast—drank plenty of beer and did my happy dance, which involves hands in pockets, a smile on my face, and knees bouncing roughly in time with the music
sonic youth - spent 90% of the concert standing in line for the restroom after too many beers during Deerhunter. The little bit I did see was from the ninth row. They played "Tom Violence" and "Expressway to Yr. Skull," and I kept imagining how much better it would be to hear those tracks at a Sonic Youth show rather than in a chemical restroom next to the venue. A total debacle 😢
el-p - a complete riot, shame about the late slot (started at 3 AM). Managed to stay awake until the end; hoping for a chance to see what he's all about later...

From what I can tell, there were only a handful of bands worth catching, so this deep dive—even if it’s a bit of a dense 😁 read—is actually super helpful for anyone planning to hit up upcoming festivals. 👍

FESTIVAL WRAP-UP

David Gedge performed an acoustic set in the back room of a shoe store 😁 He was pleasant, charming, and genuinely likable. Most of the set consisted of Wedding Present hits, with just one track from Cinerama—Superman, which was easily the highlight of the show. Afterward, I stood near him, but I lacked the guts to actually go over and shake his hand, much like when I saw Wedding Present back in London. Dammit... 😢
The Intelligence played a club gig the night before the festival. They’ve got a new drummer, a Black woman—not sure if she’s the same person from Thermal? They were solid enough, though I was pretty drunk, so all I really remember is everyone shouting "IUU IUU IUU IUU" during the chorus. The opening act was some MULETRAIN group from Madrid; they were a total punk disaster, full of pogo dancing and typical chaos. It was great!
Plants & Animals played in a small park the day after the festival. I saw them last year in the Netherlands when they were timid, pathetic, and honestly kind of funny, so they were alright. Now they've grown a spine, grown mustaches, and bought ironic Ray-Ban glasses—they've become the real deal. I fell asleep during something else and only woke up toward the end...
Kimya Dawson—same park. Strange women, truly. She looks like an ex-convict singing songs about how turtles and frogs don't shave their armpits. I have to admit, she’s incredibly witty and charming, but I suspect I would have enjoyed her lyrics more if I were twenty years younger 😬
John Maus—the festival closing party. Some professor type, dressed in a suit and shirt like he just stepped out of a lecture hall. He plays MIDI backing tracks from a laptop while screaming, shrieking, and convulsing over them; the man takes art far too seriously. Possibly the worst concert I have ever attended. He did have one irritatingly catchy hit called "Rights for Gays" 🙏
Wilco—watched them in some beautiful concert hall a few days after the festival. Stunning atmosphere, incredible sound, gorgeous stage setup... but the music was bottom-tier. Weren't they supposed to be some kind of Americana or alt-country outfit? What I heard sounded like any old 70s boogie rock band playing for truckers, except even Lynyrd Skynyrd had better hits. A total disappointment...
Social Distortion—another rock show the day after Wilco, much more my speed. Every single song was a hit, the guys are cool as hell, great performance, great crowd. On my way back from the city, I almost turned around to catch them again in the suburbs
Sonny Vincent—a cool veteran of the '77 New York punk scene who played right after Social D in some dive bar. He absolutely tore the house down. Charismatic, witty, hilarious, backed by an excellent band (guys from his own generation, respect) and killer songs and covers (like "My Generation" and the Stones' "Bitch"). The ticket cost six bucks—seven times cheaper than the Wilco show 😢

With that, I’ll wrap up this report from my indie travels. If I had another thousand words in me, I might have added them:

AHAHAHAHAHAHHA 🙏

Photo :S :S :S

Kevin Chavez3 said:Neil Young—maybe if he picked up the tempo just a bit, he'd actually get somewhere.

🤣

Kevin Chavez3 said:They're cool now, though—growing out the mustaches, buying ironic REI gear... they've become pretty badass.

🤣

I mean, I was just trying to say, how do you not know Killer McHann? He goes all like duuuuhhh... that's the kind of stuff Jacob and I dig.🙂

Kevin Chavez3 said:He lasted ten minutes before walking away to sit down and stare at a wall (way more interesting!).

This might be the best description yet... gave me a good laugh.

Jesse Torres4 said:From what I can tell, there are only a handful of bands here, which honestly makes them worth checking out and listening to! So, yeah—this massive and hilarious (even if it’s basically unreadable 😁 ) breakdown of those three days could be super helpful for anyone planning to hit up upcoming festivals. 👍

But for me, it felt like all the music lovers were in this (not so subtle) agreement that this was the best lineup any festival has ever put together—assuming you actually trust 🤷lastefemu

Funny Wrong post and some photos 🙏 🙏 🙏

Look, I didn't think I needed to spell this out, but this is entirely a matter of MY own taste. Most of my friends would probably find plenty of other bands much more appealing...

Kevin Chavez3 said:a lot of my friends would definitely dig way more bands...

don't generalize😠 🙂 🙂🙂 :2up:

watched the video
everything was alright
could’ve been a hell of a lot better
expensive drinks, drugs just sitting there waiting to be bought, and streetwalkers on the main strip every ten feet—supposedly working a solid nine-to-six shift
though maybe having too many killer bands in one spot at once ruins the vibe because you don't even have time to process anything before you're sprinting from Liars to Deerhunter, then onto Sonic Youth, and by the time you actually sit down to breathe, you realize Black Lips absolutely tore up FC Barcelona despite the crowd giving them hell
day one was decent enough with an awesome Yo La Tengo and MBV, who basically turned their signature wall of noise into a thirteen-minute psychedelic freakout during "Feed Me with Your Kiss"
can't really remember day two, but I guess it was fine

Has anyone here actually sat through a performance by the Dan Deacon orchestra—for fuck's sake!?!?!??! 😠
I’d be super polite if you could just drop a sentence or two about it... you know, like, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? 🙂

I was wondering if anyone here has actually checked out the Gang Gang Dance tracks?

Man, did you actually have a good time during those three days? 🤷 🙏

Aside from the lizards, of course—can't complain about those...

Yeah, that was pretty much my look at the concert too 🙂 Honestly, the only album I ever actually listened to was Summerteeth, and this new stuff feels worlds away from that... Some guy in the crowd started screaming "play Free Bird" for no damn reason 😬

Anyway, I ran into a colleague recently who’s a huge fan of the band, and even she agreed that the new album is—and I quote—"so good that I streamed the whole thing and didn't even feel the need to download it" ☕

Tweedy had a pedalboard that stretched nearly six feet long 🙏 🙏 🙏 It just goes to show once again: the amount of actual good music you make is inversely proportional to the amount of tech gadgets you need to produce it 🙄

urbannomad30 said:it honestly felt like there was a near-unanimous consensus among music lovers that this might be the greatest lineup in festival history, provided you actually have taste 🤷

Music is fine, I suppose, but I’ll go ahead and agree with myself that this is easily the best festival 🙂lineup ever assembled
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