Madrid (EFE) but with important clouds in terms of managing access to the site.
Up to 50 minutes more have been required to reach the Ciudad del Rock de Arganda del Rey, some 40 kilometers from the center of the capital, who have chosen to use one of the 5,000 own vehicles with a prior parking space reservation (all sold out ), as EFE has verified first-hand and has been felt in the form of criticism on the networks.
Those who have chosen other formulas with a more direct access route to the gates have not had much better luck, since it has not freed them from any part of the congestion in the final stretch, nor from orchestrating the logistics necessary to reach the Stadium Metropolitan (departure point for the free shuttle buses) or the price (for example, VTC cars for about 50 euros from the center, according to what several users have commented to this medium).
After this point, there has been greater fluidity in the access turnstiles to the City of Rock, which inside has not shown sequelae due to the heavy rains of recent days that forced the cancellation this Thursday of what should have been the first real day of this branch in Madrid of the veteran Primavera Sound from Barcelona.
That experience of 21 previous editions was already felt yesterday with the quick maneuver to organize at least a much smaller consolation concert for a couple of thousand privileged people who enjoyed in the La Riviera room those who should have been the big stars of the day , the British Blur.
This heritage has also been felt today in the variety, quality and technical deployment exhibited in the twelve stages arranged in what was until 2012 the original headquarters of Rock In Rio Madrid, with the first hours marked by concerts such as those of Beth Orton, Japanese Breakfast or The Mars Volta.
Precisely the traffic jams and the need to give time for the arrival of a large part of the public has been the reason why the start of the Depeche Mode “show” has been delayed by about 40 minutes, the main claims of the day, as confirmed to EFE the organization.
Around 10 pm Dave Gahan and Martin Gore took the stage along with the rest of their band on a tour that, like their recent latest album, “Memento Mori”, they had to weave without their partner and friend Andrew Fletcher, deceased. in May 2022.
They have specifically dedicated one of the songs to him, “World In My Eyes”, within a repertoire that has started claiming his newest material, by chaining “My Cosmos Is Mine” and “Wagging Tongue”, but which has not stopped next to great successes like “Don’t Say You Love Me”, which did not sound in Barcelona, or the eighties lightness of “Everything counts”.
It was just a foretaste between the struts of a vitamin-rich Gahan and in a concert that has treasured other notable moments in its techno-pop spirit, such as “Precious” or the recent “Ghosts Again”, which sounds as beautiful live as it is on stage. “Memento Mori”, although nothing like the essential finish with “Enjoy The Silence”, “Just Can’t Get Enough”, “Never Let Me Down Again” and “Personal Jesus”.
It might seem difficult to get noticed after that brooch, but the American Kendrick Lamar has achieved it with his exuberant hip hop formula, with jazzy resonances and a forceful message, and that he has jumped on stage completely alone on pre-recorded bases, to instantly become the owner. of the tables with his charisma and his fast and assertive verb.
With the exception of the tallest attendees, who have left the venue en masse after the end of Depeche Mode, a look at the rest of the City of Rock was enough to verify that Lamar’s has been the performance that has gathered the most public, a merit of this festival without which this figure who is still writing the best of his legend probably would not have finally made his debut in Madrid either at this point in his career or with this display.
For about an hour and a half, punchy songs have alternated such as the start with “N95”, vindictive cuts such as “King Kunta” (which alludes to the rebel slave Kunta Kinta from the book “Raíces” by Alex Haley) or “Alright” (about the police brutality) or the essential “LOYALTY”.
In the absence of attendance figures, which will be provided tomorrow, the closing of the first Primavera Sound will come this Saturday at the hands of Rosalía as the great star of the day, along with other figures such as Calvin Harris, Caroline Polachek, Tokischa or Villano Antillano.