Right at the entrance to Primavera Sound Barcelona is an enormous sculpture of the Powerpuff Girls – the doe-eyed, kindergarten superheroes of Cartoon Network. Set between the futuristic concrete structures of Parc del Forum and the Mediterranean Sea, the American bobblehead sisters are an apt tribute to this year’s headliners, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan, AKA the holy pop trinity of this year’s festival season. Where Glastonbury seems forever stuck in its nostalgia mud, Primavera has always embraced the now.
First up on Friday night (strictly speaking, Saturday morning; Primavera is very much a night-time affair) is Essex pop auteur Charli XCX. “Can you believe Brat turns one this year?” she asks the crowd, referring to the internet-consuming rave record that soundtracked a presidential campaign and invented a new colour in Brat green. Technically, she’s right – “Brat Summer” may be over but tonight, it’s alive and kicking. As is Charli. Launching into the purring electronics of “365”, her performance is as brash and insouciant as her album: it’s a hedonistic party to which everyone is invited. Including Chappell Roan, who appears on the jumbo screen for the now-iconic “Apple” dance.
