“A festival without women should not have public financing” is the headline that Christina Rosenvinge recently left in an interview. The presence of women in the main music festivals in Spain does not reach 40% even today according to data from Newtral. The BBC analysis reaches a similar conclusion: parity at festivals remains a pending issue.
To see the importance given to women over men at festivals, just take a look at the first lines of the posters: the presence of male headliners compared to female headliners is usually overwhelmingly higher. This has an impact not only on greater visibility for them in the face of future hiring, and less for them, but also and, above all, in an economic sense, since they end up earning more than they do.
There are several festivals that have managed to direct their artistic direction towards true equality in recent times, while others have opted to offer an alternative where the programming is made up exclusively of women, demonstrating that another reality is possible. In 2024, Primavera Sound has taken a step further by dedicating its most important day – Saturday – exclusively to women: no, we are not talking about the group, but about female artists.
June 1 is the day headlined by SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitski, FKA twigs and Charli Although on a smaller scale and in a more dispersed manner, the names of 070 Shake, Atarashi Gakko!, Amaarae, Eartheater and La Zowi appear later. But there is no need to look that far down: just taking a look at the first two lines gives food for thought. Primavera seems to have organized the day on purpose, to emphasize that parity is possible, that female headliners – I repeat, headliners – exist and in fact it is perfectly possible for them to occupy the first two spaces of a festival as important as Primavera Sound : You just have to give them the importance they deserve, the same as men.
Tickets for Primavera Sound change prices tonight. We comment on Saturday’s featured artists.
SZA
Historically it has been very difficult to see SZA in Europe. Primavera Sound will bring it to Spain for the first time. It will be an opportunity to listen live to ‘SOS’, one of the biggest bestsellers of 2023, and also to listen live to JENESAISPOP’s Song of the Year, ‘Kill Bill’. Surely, by the time the date arrives, the album ‘LANA’ – included in a future reissue of ‘SOS’ – will already be on the streets.
PJ Harvey
Unlike SZA, PJ Harvey has played at Primavera Sound on numerous occasions: almost every time he has released a new album, the Parc del Fòrum has been able to witness it live. ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ has been another of the Best Albums of 2023, a newly conceptual and ambitious work from the author of the legendary ‘Rid of Me’ (1993), still on an unstoppable creative crest, in her own league of she.
Mitsky
The umpteenth climb from the underground to the mainstream has been carried out by Mitski. Their song ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ has hit spectacular numbers and it doesn’t look like the public will get tired of it anytime soon, as it remains among the top 5 most listened to on Spotify Global even after the Christmas season. ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ was another of last year’s standout albums.
FKA twigs
She was already – and still is – an absolute showwoman thanks to her athletic choreographies – striptease pole included or not – and her extravagant and dramatic staging. Musically, too, FKA twigs is an indispensable talent who has been able to create a masterpiece like ‘MAGDALENE’, the Best Album of 2019. FKA twigs returns to Primavera Sound in 2024 loaded with her most commercial and accessible album, ‘CAPRISONGS’ . Her next album is in the oven.
Charli XCX
Another one whose creativity doesn’t run out even if she wants to is Charli XCX. In fact, Charli is back in the studio preparing new material. If her next album is – at least – as good as ‘Crash’, her fans can already be satisfied. And if the show she prepares at Primavera Sound is even a little bit like the one she created for this album, she will once again be a hit.
Bikini Kill
The riot grrrl group par excellence has not had much luck when it has appeared on the Primavera Sound poster, neither in the 2020 edition, which obviously could not be carried out, nor in the 2022 edition, from which they were dropped for reasons agenda. When the punk feminism of Kathleen Hannah, Kathi Wilcox and Tobi Vail is still as necessary as in the 90s or in 2019, when they met, Bikini Kill is once again confirmed on the 2024 poster, in a symbolic way, surrounded by women .
Róisín Murphy
Neither JENESAISOP has canceled Róisín Murphy, since ‘Hit Parade’ is nothing less than the 2nd Best Album of 2023 for our editorial team, nor has Primavera Sound done it, since Murphy is one of the great headliners of Saturday, by the way, as he has deserved throughout his career. One of the great pop innovators of our time, Róisín has just released one of his most accessible albums, signed with DJ Koze, but without giving up the usual extravagance.
Romy
Although there is a great desire to listen to the new release from The xx, we must give all the attention it deserves to the album that Romy has published alone. Devoting itself fully to the trance-pop of the 90s and 2000s, ‘Mid Air’ may not bring the sophistication of a Jamie xx album, but it is an essential collection of hits for any fan of pop that is both danceable and emotional.
In addition to these artists, Saturday, June 1, also features the presence of the prestigious rapper 070 Shake, the South Koreans Atarashi Gakko!, Amaarae, author of one of the highest-rated albums of last year; from the fascinating Eartheater and from the southern kingdom, La Zowi.
