For years Americans have looked on with jealousy at Spain’s Primavera Festival — sure, we’ve got Coachella, but this is a festival on a whole different level. So when it was announced (way back in 2019) that Primavera would be expanding to Southern California, music lovers in the States were understandably excited.

Photo credit: Nicole Ditt

Thanks to COVID, we had to wait two years for the festival to finally happen. Friday kicked off the first of three days of eclectic programming. Noise rock, modern R&B, dance music, indie rock and bedroom pop were among the many styles represented at Los Angeles State Historic Park on day one of the festival.

Arriving just as Savages lead singer Jehnny Beth was ripping through the lead single “I’m the Man” from her solo debut To Love Is To Live. Unsurprisingly, the French singer offered up an intense performance, diving down into the crowd before finishing the final verses perched on the shoulders of a few members of the audience.

Jehnny Beth performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

Next, she teased her final song as a cover of a band that’s playing on Saturday, but she would let the audience figure it out. As the clashing industrial beat played over the monitors, it was instantly obvious what track she was covering: Nine Inch Nails’ raunchy ‘90s hit “Closer.” Unfortunately those same monitors would fail her, the tempo of the beat slowly grinding to a halt before eventually completely losing sound.

Beth stayed positive, suggesting the equipment had just spent too much time out in the sun. As it became obvious that the technical issues wouldn’t be solved in the few minutes that remained of her set, she decided to sing the passionate song acapella, which ended up being just about as moving as it would have been with the instrumental backing.

Shygirl performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

Next up was English rapper Shygirl on the main Primavera Stage. Her performance exuded confidence, as she switched between singing and rapping while wearing a white vinyl dress. With an album called Nymph and songs like “Coochie (A Bedtime Story)” and “BDE” (can you guess what that acronym stands for?), raunchy and full of attitude are appropriate descriptors for her performance. She introduced a song by saying “this one is for all the main characters,” which is another great way to describe the MC’s vibe. Highlights from the set included “Nike,” “Firefly,” “Tasty” and “Poison.”

The next act, Shellac, was a total 180 in sound — but not necessarily confidence or aggression. Led by the legendary guitarist, producer, general alternative music opinionator and professional poker player Steve Albini, the band wove spindly, distorted guitar riffs in exotic time signatures over churning bass lines from bassist (and accomplished producer in his own right) Bob Weston, all held together by Todd Trainers versatile drumming.

Shellac performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

Anyone not familiar with Shellac’s actual music may have been in for a surprise at just how absurdist the lyrics could be. Albini sang about metal on “Copper,” mobs of literal squirrels on “Squirrel Song” (goddamn it was real) and planes on “Wingwalker.” During an extended instrumental portion of that latter song, Albini joked about taking very powerful drugs and feeling fleetingly in love with the audience in the moment, reiterating that these were very powerful drugs. Albini finished off the set by giving the audience a little insight into his World Series of Poker bracelet-winning card playing. “What’s my tell? When I bet on a hand, I want to win the chips” he deadpanned.

Again we took a complete 180 in style and attitude with Clairo, the young indie musician beloved for her intimate bedroom pop. While she may have broken out with a minimalist sound, her set at Primavera was decidedly maximalist. There were saxophones, pianos and flutes adding a lush, ‘90s easy listening backdrop that rounded out her confessional-style guitar pop.

Clairo performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

She started the set on the piano for “Bambi” before switching over to the guitar on “Zinnias” and “North.” For her performance of “4EVER” she just took the mic, allowing her to more freely move around the stage. Before one of her earliest hits, “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” she admitted that “we never do this song,” true words as they haven’t played the song more than a time or two since 2019.

After Clairo it was time to vibe out to the legendary French band Stereolab. For those that are unfamiliar, most of their songs consist of a baroque, ‘60s French psych vibe blended with motorik Krautrock tempos. Throughout the set it was obvious how much the group has influenced contemporary artists like Melody’s Echo Chamber and Hookworms.

Stereolab performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

The set opened with one of their newer songs, “Super-Electric,” one of the few of the night that saw Laetitia Sadier singing in English. The majority of their set from this point was sung in French, creating a vibe-y atmosphere as a sunny day descended into twilight, the DTLA skyline starting to glimmer a few miles to the southwest of the park. It was perfect for sitting on one of the many knolls that dot the festival ground, relaxing and enjoying dinner. Other highlights from the Stereolab set included “Delugeoisie” and “French Disko.”

Besides headliner Lorde, R&B singer Giveon was easily the most mainstream artist on the bill. Hailing from Long Beach, the local talent attracted a large crowd to his main stage performance. His songs were all about love and heartbreak, the inability to control your urges and begging your lover to take you back.

Giveon performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

Although on “Still Your Best” he doesn’t want her to take him back — he just wants them to know that he was the best they ever had. On “Lost Me” his guitarist pulled out an acoustic guitar for a gentle fingerpicked figure with “Scarred” boasting a more orchestral arrangement and wounded lyrics like “I can’t give you my heart cause it’s broken.” The man could clearly belt it out like few others and his band matched the professionalism every step of the way.

Mitski put on the performance of the night on the smaller Tecate Alta stage, exuberantly acting out the intensely honest and personal lyrics of her indie rock compositions. Her albums are critically acclaimed and she’s considered one of the best young songwriters in the industry, but her ability to connect with the audience through a theatrical performance shows that she might be in her best element on stage.

Mitski performs at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

Mitski opened with “Love Me More,” showing her humanity and admitting to the struggles of being in a committed relationship. Much of her set was from her new album Laurel Hell, including singles “Working for the Knife” and “The Only Heartbreaker.” However, the third song of her set “I Bet On Losing Dogs” saw her revisit her breakthrough album Puberty 2. She would venture back to the album later in the set when she performed one of its singles “Your Best American Girl.” Oh yeah, she also put out a pretty amazing album in 2018 called Be The Cowboy. She performed a few songs from that album too, like “Geyser,” “Slow” and “Me and My Husband.”

Lorde finished up as the first headliner of Primavera Festival Los Angeles, drawing the crowds to the main stage. She played the huge radio hits “Royals” and “Perfect Places” from her debut album, as well as “Green Light” from her superstar-solidifying second record. She placed a cover of Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” in the middle of her set, and teased a new album.

Lorde headlines at day one of Primavera Festival in Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park on September 16, 2022.

The day one lineup of Primavera Festival Los Angeles may have been the weakest and the crowd was understandably (and pleasantly) lighter due to it being a weekday, but this is already a successful festival. The layout of the grounds were easy to move around, the stages were neither too spread out nor too close together, and the Los Angeles State Historic Park post-renovations has proven to be the city’s best festival grounds. Here’s looking forward to even more success this weekend with highly anticipated sets from Kim Gordon, Nine Inch Nails, Low, Arctic Monkeys and more.

More Photos

Clairo

Giveon

Jehnny Beth

Little Jesus

Lorde

Mitski

Shellac

Shygirl

Stereolab

Photo credit: Nicole Ditt