Primavera Sound Barcelona Festival Review: Europe's Reckoning Capital of Music

Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona

"Viva Palestina!"

The Catalonian capital once again plays host to a myriad of genres, from hyperpop to electronic obscurities, dreamscapes and dystopias, besieged by the indelible Powerpuff girls headlining across the insatiable 3 days on offer.

Once again, Barcelona trumpeted the inbound summer season; the Parc del Fòrum playing host to three days of sonic indulgence and blistered dancefloor devotion. Now in its 30th year, Primavera Sound Barcelona has never been just one thing; its evolution has firmly brought it into the modern realm of pop, sans abandoning the shadows of its left-field, experimental roots. This year's experience brought a myriad of scenes: swaying to shoegaze silhouettes, sweating in dark techno pits, screaming along to euphoric queer anthems; Primavera 2025 marked itself as a ubiquitous host to all.

The Rise of the powerpuff girls

Last year’s pop pivot has now blossomed into fully-fledged takeover, with this year’s headliners, Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan, conveniently dubbed 'The Powerpuff Girls'. Friday’s Charli and Troye Sivan collaboration was an all-out Brat-fuelled affair, even if Sivan’s sparse appearances slightly muted the chaos. Charli xcx, however, continued her ascent to glitch-pop royalty, commanding the vast crowd with bratty confidence and sweaty club charisma. Chappell Roan, meanwhile, delivered what many considered the standout performance of the entire weekend: an electric, theatrical and deeply queer spectacle that was equal parts Broadway to country-inflected pop bangers. Sabrina Carpenter, the most polished of the trio, flirted with prestige through sleek production and sugary hits, though her repertoire deemed itself less indelible than her Powerpuff counterparts.

Elsewhere in the pop-verse, Beabadoobee channelled her signature 90s-tinted grunge-pop under a beaming Thursday sky, while Haim defiantly offered their renowned vintage pop-rock taken from their latest LP, I Quit. Fka Twigs glistened and gleamed on the main stage dancefloor with her extensive entourage, reminiscent with notes of Björk's elegant poise within the experimental avant-pop sphere. Delving into the wider fringes of Primavera, Crystal Murray offered a late-stage lesson in groove, folding R&B, and house, whereas Jane Remover's city-centre La Ciutat show leaned harder into distortion and digital chaos; emo-shoegaze for the streaming age, complete with blown-out beats and cataclysmic screaming.

Post-Punk, Indie and the Art of Melancholy

While pop reigned supreme, indie wasn’t ousted. On Saturday, Fontaines D.C. roared into action with a defiant, politically-laced set punctuated by a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags, their gravelly post-punk poetics cutting through dusk with urgency. Earlier that day, Black Country, New Road once again demonstrated they’re a band apart, pivoting towards their folkish recent LP, Forever Howlong, whilst LCD Soundsystem highlighted their dance-punk superiority after decades of infectious groove-laden hits; incessantly on display to the final-night crowd's unbridled delight.

Thursday belonged in part to Idles, who remain an unstoppable force live, tearing through their catalogue with typical intensity and a rousing “Viva Palestina” cry that reverberated across the Fòrum. Wolf Alice and Wet Leg brought their own shades of UK cool on Friday: the former soaring through shoegaze crescendos, the latter teasing new material that sounds moodier, tighter, but still irresistibly fun; complete with a mid-set, collective scream to keep our held anxieties at bay.

Elsewhere, Dehd's raw garage melancholy offered a gentle hangover balm, while Horsegirl reminded early risers what good old, lo-fi indie guitar music should feel like: shaky, charming, and homely amongst the early evening sun.

Dreamscapes and Atmospheric Delirium

If there’s one thing Primavera nails, it’s creating spaces where sound becomes mood, and nowhere was that clearer than in the dream-pop trilogy of Beach House, Spiritualized, and Floating Points. Beach House delivered one of the festival’s most affecting moments: silhouetted against dim, hazy lighting, they drifted through pristine waves of reverb and restraint like a continuously intrepid hallucination. Spiritualized, celebrating 30 years of Pure Phase, proved just as transcendental, Jason Pierce’s voice drifting through shoegaze and gospel echoes. Floating Points, meanwhile, turned oil-projected visuals into live art, his latest offerings of new-age-electronica hypnotising an otherwise restless crowd into momentary stillness.

Clubs, Chaos, and Cold Waves

As night bled into early morning, the Fòrum’s underbelly pulsed with more intense, darker energies. Armand Van Helden had the ravers in rapture with a marathon set of funk-tinged house, while Jamie xx followed suit with a characteristically intricate set amidst UK garage and woozy euphoria. Techno juggernaut Amelie Lens transformed her stage into a strobe-lit sweatbox, while Jehia’s secretive 501 Club set ignited an intricate spectrum of electronic worlds: from ambient minimalism to thumping bliss.

Thursday’s dark-electro came courtesy of Dame Area, whose industrial EBM flair whipped up an insular crowd, and The Dare, reviving electroclash sleaze, somewhat predictably, as if it never left. Across two early mornings, Danny L Harle pushed the festival's pop-electronic boundary to a climax, his euphoric, PC-inflected pop defying genre and gravity.

Noise, Rage, and Hardcore Disputes

Primavera’s heavier corner provided much-needed abrasion across the weekend. Chat Pile brought searing sludge metal-inspired nihilism, while Machine Girl delivered one of the most sonically unhinged sets in La Ciutat; breakcore, punk, and raw physicality in an unrelenting assault. Turnstile, now ever-more melodic and divisive with their alt-pop-leaning LP, Never Enough, still ignited the pit with undeniable force at Primavera's closure.

Resistance AND Rebellion

Among the weekend’s most vital voices were those channeling rebellion. Kneecap, just days before their UK trial, turned their La Ciutat show into a liberation rally, rattling through politically charged Irish-language rap in front of a wildly energised crowd. Their presence, like that of Fontaines D.C., Idles, and even the flags flying high throughout the Fòrum, confirmed that Primavera’s position on Gaza and global politics isn't a performative pose; it’s a persistent stance.

With a record-setting attendance and confirmed dates for next year, Primavera Sound 2025 persistently situates itself at the cornerstone of modern music. From pop headliners to underground obscurities, from dreamscapes to dystopias; this year’s edition proved the festival’s curatorial genius: daringly diverse, musically multilingual, and gloriously genreless. Barcelona, once again, is Europe's capital of music.

Primavera Sound Barcelona will next take place on 4-6th June 2026 - for more info and the latest updates please visit here.

Photos are courtesy of Eric Pamies, Sharon López, Sergio Albert, Gisela Jané, Clara Orozco, Henry Redcliffe, and Christian Bertrand whose work can be found at their respective links.