Photos and footage have been shared online, showing the impact of the weather conditions that forced the opening day of the first ever Primavera Sound Madrid to be cancelled due to “safety reasons”.
Today (Thursday June 8) was due to be the first day of the inaugural Primavera Sound in Madrid â a sister event to that in Barcelona and others around the world â but was cancelled yesterday “due to the persistent severe weather experienced in recent weeks that have affected the pre-production of the festival.”
The festival added that the decision was made “in view of the adverse forecast that is expected for Thursday with heavy storms during the afternoon”. Acts due to perform on the opening day included Blur, Yard Act, Halsey, Ghost, Le Tigre, Turnstile and more.
Now, photos and footage have emerged online showing the impact of the weather on the festival’s grounds at Ciudad del Rock in Arganda del Rey.
“Primavera Sound cancels its concerts this Thursday, in exchange it offers its proposal for a water park,” wrote one user, sharing a video of the flooded and muddy site. Another shared a series of images depicting “a lot of water, especially affecting the loading area and artists”.
El Primavera Sound cancela sus conciertos de este jueves, a cambio ofrece su propuesta de parque acuĂĄtico. pic.twitter.com/SehLsdKVGT
— Javier (@JaviMynoize) June 7, 2023
El recinto del @Primavera_Sound, muy afectado por las lluvias.
Estas imĂĄgenes me las acaban de pasar y son de esta tarde.
Mucho agua afectando en especial la zona de carga y de artistas.
El festival ha suspendido el jueves y trabaja intentando salvar el viernes y sĂĄbado. pic.twitter.com/OzYa724AYp
— Criado el Enterado (@CriadoEnterado) June 7, 2023
Los barceloneses: el Primavera Sound en Madrid? Si no hay playa.
Ayuso: sujĂ©tame el cubata. https://t.co/6lnXGi4TD5— Javier Löpez (@jajajavierlopez) June 7, 2023
While the opening day at Ciudad del Rock of Arganda del Rey has been cancelled, the performances planned on June 8 at the CĂvitas Metropolitano will go ahead as planned. Due to the weather, the time that doors open has been delayed, making La Paloma unable to perform. Jake Bugg, Confidence Man and Pet Shop Boys are set to go on as planned.
Blur have also since announced a free show for ticket-holders at La Riviera in Madrid.
Blur tocarĂĄ esta noche en La Riviera (apertura de puertas a las 20h).
La programaciĂłn de Boiler Room x CUPRA tendrĂĄ lugar en The Bassement (apertura de puertas a las 17h).
Las reservas para estos eventos serån totalmente gratuitas y estarån disponibles a través de Accessticket⊠pic.twitter.com/7Kwxnsemss
— Primavera Sound (@Primavera_Sound) June 8, 2023
Back in March, Primavera organiser Joan Pons told NME that they decided on launching a sister festival in Madrid due to the venue being “like a dream site” for the event.
He added: “Weâd feel kind of silly if we didnât take advantage of this. Itâs probably going to be better than the Barcelona one because itâs built for having festivals. The Barcelona site is lovely, iconic and part of our legacy, but every year we have to adapt it for us.â
Pons also addressed the many issues of last year’s Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, which suffered problems relating to bar issues, large queues, overcrowding and access to water on the opening day. By the second day, the festival had responded, citing issues with COVID âcasualtiesâ and other logistic matters.
âThe thing is that we apologised for the very first day,â said Pons, looking back on the festival. âThe behaviour of people once in theyâre in the festival can be predictable but is often surprising. Last year it was the first big festival after three years of the pandemic and suddenly, all of the people who had tickets appeared there for the very first time just as we were opening the doors.
âWe were like, âWow, that is too many people for this time of the dayâ. We had some problems with the bars, but we fixed them the very same day. That doesnât mean we donât need to apologise â of course, we needed to apologise the second day. If you think about the whole event, it was a 12-day festival with only one day of problems. We are proud of ourselves for being so reactive and listening to people so quickly.â
Primavera Sound Madrid 2023 is set to continue with performances from the likes of Depeche Mode, Kendrick Lamar, MĂ„neskin, Pusha T, St Vincent, Skrillex, ROSALIA, Japanese Breakfast, and more.
Meanwhile, sister event Primavera Porto continues this weekend simultaneously.
Last week’s Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023 went ahead successfully, with performances from the likes of Avalon Emerson, Black Country New Road, Blondshell, Blur, Depeche Mode, Skrillex, Turnstile, Wednesday and more. Read the NME review here.
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