Best Acts at Primavera Sound LA

Photo by Nicolita Bradley

Arca: She/Her/It/They/Them

Arca, our extraterrestrial goddess. Arca knows no limits and chooses to defy every border within music. Arca is a legend. A Venezuelan artist who injects into their music loud unnamable sounds meant to startle the soul while combining it with Spanish and English vocals which leave you feeling on fire.

This is truly an artist who creates works of art by combining whichever elements speak to them at that moment.

At their 2022 Sunday night concert at Primavera Sound they were everything I could have ever dreamed of: an ethereal, dominatrix alien who happens to be a part of the fabulous Latinx community. 

From banging on industrial equipment, which created a sense of being on an alternate planet where work and play are no strangers, to belting out deep hypnotizing notes that an onlooker may have assumed were meant for the opera, those of us in the crowd threw all our worries into the wind. This was no ordinary show. It was otherworldly. Never have I felt like I was burning high while being held while my dancing my ass off. The height of their set was screaming along with my fellow Latinx community “Viva Los Latinx.” 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Arca! 

Photo by Ismael Quintanilla

Lorde: Screaming, Dancing, Crying

My teenage years were spent passively listening to Lorde. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Lorde or her music but her moments and words just never seemed to coincide with mine. This has all changed thanks to that first night at Primavera Sound LA 2022. When I caught my first glimpse of Lorde she felt bright and comforting, and yet there was something about her that seemed like she understood all my anxieties and accepted them with open arms. Typically, when watching artists perform live I can never connect. I know this is due to being prone to anxiety and the pressure to view the artist in awe and take in every moment. However, with Lorde and the short time we had together, she was a friend who opened up to each person.

Lorde discussed mental health and how her music is meant to be a love letter for all who face anxiety and/or depression. Lorde shared with the crowd her need for sun and warmth and summer all while tying it into global warming; listening to her speak on our planet’s crisis brought us all to tears by reminding each and every person there that we all have special bits of the earth that we appreciate and connect to on a very deep level. For me, I was transported to the woods where I spent a large part of my childhood pretending to be a fairy and building small wooden hovels where friends and I imagined living out the rest of our lives. Apart from making me feel comfortable, which as I mentioned is a high feat at a concert, she carried me away with her voice. The best, and yet confusing, way of describing it is like a really good book. It is just easy to read and follow. It makes you feel so many different emotions but in the end, leaves you happy and wanting to go back and experience it all over again. By the end of her set, I felt peace but not because I found all the answers to the universe. I was in a calm state because I finally understood the allure of this artist; Lorde creates a space for little guys like me who feel things an absurd amount and sometimes just need a good scream, dance, and cry.

Photo by Lindsey Byrnes

Mitski: A Poet in Her Own Right

Watching Mitski perform was as though I was witnessing a siren take a person out to sea, the allure and fear of looking away lest you miss something were exactly the same. 

The start of my Primavera Sound LA 2022 weekend was hectic. Traffic in the city was wild and all streets surrounding the venue were blocked. Due to this I tragically missed a few of the first acts. I feared that due to this traffic I would miss seeing another great artist: Mitski. Though once onto the festival grounds Mitski’s voice immediately called over the bobbing sea of heads and ushered you where she stood, all other thoughts evaporating from your minds. 

It was impossible to take your eyes off of her. As she sang “Nobody” this spectacular poet put on quite the show; she moved around in comfortable clothes that made it seem as though she was at home and we, the crowd, were watching her go through some dark internal battle. A man moved around the stage with her and at times she fought to keep him close though at other times she pushed him far away, as though in disgust. 

As I looked around the crowd I could see all sorts of reactions. There was sadness in some of the faces of my fellow swimmers out at sea. I could only imagine they were recalling some past love in which they had gotten caught up, only to find an inevitable end. In others, it was awe, like myself, who saw an artist in her perfect form creating flawed moments (such as the internal battle or the push and pull of the lover) so that those of us unable to look away could pull from our pasts to connect with the music. In others, I saw what I can only assume was confusion. For example, Mitski began to continuously knock on a white door directly behind her that looked like it belonged in front of some suburban home. I found this to be a metaphor for trying to escape that which you know is not good for you but through a flaw of self, escape, at that moment, is impossible. 

Overall, I would love to be back in the grasp of such a hypnotizing artist. Mitski not only has an amazing voice but a uniquely stirring performance style that may not be for all but those it is meant for leave feeling rattled and quite introspective.

Written by Carolina Munce