To say my first time at Primavera has been a long time coming, now that would be a huge understatement. For years I have pined after this festival, something that I recently described as the indie fan’s pop fest, and I had once believed that the perfect line up had passed me by. Alas here we are in 2025, primed to sweat it out in Barcelona with Charli xcx and Troye Sivan, switch up positions with Sabrina Carpenter, and sure enough be hot to go with Chappell Roan. As gutted as I am that Clairo cancelled, the last-minute addition of Wolf Alice to the line-up is the sweetest cherry on top of the most delicious cake.

That is just the thing. Sure, those headliners are iconic, but it doesn’t stop there. The pre fest opening night has Caribou headlining, a longtime favourite of mine who will just set the whole thing off on such a high. It will be my second time seeing Caribou, the first time being in Margate not long after I had moved back home. It was pretty damn good then and I can imagine this will be even better. In fact, Kelly Lee Owens was amazing support that night and she will also be making an appearance at Primavera, so that is just another tick on the list of things to look forward to. Other artists that I will have already seen are Wolf Alice, Beach House and of course Jamie xx. Whether I’ve seen them once, thrice or four times before, I am just as excited as ever to see them again as they are all essential to pretty much any playlist I create.

One of the big bands to talk about is LCD Soundsystem. World renowned for their electronica indie anthems, and yet here I was going, “yeah alright, that’ll be cool, I guess I’ll go see them”. Don’t scream at me just yet. Over the last month I have made a little more effort in getting to know LCD and soon came to realise that I had been a passive fan this whole time. It is not that I did not know their songs, but until now I had not really made a conscious effort to really take them in. Now they are absolutely up there as one of my must-see bands. Not just because I ought to, but because the thought of hearing oh baby and Dance Yrself Clean live seems pretty blooming delightful. In a way I am glad that I have come to properly invest in LCD a little later, as it has injected a fresh lease of life into my anticipation for the festival. The same thing happened when I realised a good few months down the line that CMAT was on the line-up. Do not ask me how I had missed this detail, but hey, once again it created a whole new thing to be ecstatic about. CMAT has been a top tier favourite of mine over the last year, so I know that is going to be something special. Add to that, FKA twigs, Fontaines D.C., Confidence Man and Wet Leg – all of whom I have had on repeat over various periods in the last year and will be seeing for the very first time at Primavera next month. This year kicked off with twigs’ album Eusexua which I have played over and over, and I am so ready to see how she brings that to the stage. There is something about Fontaines and Wet Leg which leaves me not knowing what to expect in the best possible way, but the one thing I do know, is that Confidence Man are going to bring one hell of a party. I’m still so unsure how I have not yet seen these guys before, but that is what I’m loving about Primavera. It is a perfect mix of favourites I’ve seen, my first time seeing those I have adored for a fairly long time now, and those who I am just on the cusp of discovering.

A fair few like Beabadoobee, Tv on the Radio, The Dare, Magdalena Bay and Fcukers have made considerable appearances on my playlists. However, a little like my previously passive love of LCD Soundsystem, I don’t know a great deal about them in the grand scheme of things. Then there are those such as MJ Lenderman, Los Campesinos!, Horsegirl, BC:NR – the list goes on! These are the ones that I am barely on entry level with; I am merely waving at them from afar, but nonetheless eager to get to know. Now, we have less than two weeks until the festival and I have spent an awful lot of time listening to my favourites, so I am formally making it my mission to take a deep dive into those that are relatively new to my ears ahead of (hopefully) seeing them. Now that the stage times have been announced I can see some pretty nasty clashes, and while I have my ideas of who I may prioritise in some situations, that does not make it hurt any less. I guess I’m just going to have to embrace festival life and split my time accordingly. At least that’s the plan, but as a complete novice to Primavera this could easily be naive of me. Either way, better to be spoilt for choice than left with no treats at all.

Keep an eye on my Instagram stories and feel free to give me your top recommendations from the line-up below. With less than two weeks to go, let the countdown to Primavera 2025 begin!