It's been a few years now since I last went to Glastonbury, and the last few summers have been festival-free for me, save for local city-wide affairs like Venn . I came very close to attending the 'End of the Road' festival last September, tempted by a very me-friendly line up, but it wasn't very compatible with school term dates, and last summer's terrible run of weather just left me procrastinating about it until it was far too late to bother.

In the U.K. there's almost too many to choose from now, spread right across the summer, with something happening seemingly every single weekend from May to September. This means that it's now becoming something of a stadium tour circuit, and with a depressingly production-line feel to the majority, it's increasingly hard to differentiate them.

End of the Road didn't seem to have as many must-see bands this year, and so my attention wandered a little further afield. A couple of years ago, I noticed the Primavera Sound festival, in Barcelona had a line up of acts very much in tune with my way of thinking. I've wistfully looked at it every year since then, and this time around I've actually decided to go.

It seems to be built around the music, with a thoughtful and genuinely alternative line up , very much my sort of thing. There's a great mix; bands I currently like very much and would really like to see ( Boris , Animal Collective , Okkervil River , Prinzhorn Dance School , Six Organs of Admittance , Om ), significant 'legacy' acts ( Devo , Public Enemy , Dinosaur Jr. , Shellac ), critically favoured 'name' acts ( Portishead , Cat Power , Rufus Wainwright ), favourite acts I've seen before ( De La Soul , Tindersticks , British Sea Power , Explosions in the Sky ), and, perhaps a new trend, bands with amusingly rude names ( Holy Fuck! , local outfit Fuck Buttons , and the charmlessly named Pissed Jeans ). My single line up complaint is that it's a European festival, and there's no dEUS , even though they have a new album out to promote.

Like every festival, it's sure to be pointless attempting to programme any kind of strict itinerary. Events will indubitably conspire to wreck it. Given my estimate of at least 70% of the acts being the sort of thing I'd go and check out if they were playing locally, I think the best policy is to be mostly be guided by serendipity. Suggestions for things to check out are welcome!

The festival site is next to the sea , and just a couple of km out of Barcelona itself. We're going for the whole week, flying out on the 24th and returning on the 1st of June. I've rented an apartment, right on the waterfront in Barcelonetta , which looks like it ought to be within fair walking distance of the site. This gives us a few days preceding to acclimatise, relax and see the sights before the festival properly starts.

posted by cms on 2008-05-18 18:34:44