Rather mild so far, the temperature reached almost 30 degrees this Saturday followingnoon in Barcelona. Exhausted, overheated but clearly thirsty, the public of the Primavera festival attacks the final day of this 2022 edition extended over ten days. Ban on playing it calm before going home: Jorja Smith, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, Meghan Thee Stallion, Viagra Boys and Tame Impala are scheduled until the wee hours of the morning. However, we have no choice but to miss the arrival of the Australian psychedelic rockers, because, on the other side of the site, Angèle is regarding to make her entrance on the scene.
The singer had already come for a little tour of the site on Thursday evening, to give voice to “Fever”, during Dua Lipa’s packed concert. A big minute on the Main Stage, for maximum visibility and a proper introduction to the Spanish public. Angèle has also performed in London or New York in the past, as a Alex Reed or as an opening act, but tonight is a different story. For the first time in her young career, here she is solo, on a big stage, outside the French-speaking world.
At 11:20 p.m., we fear competition from headliners or electronic music stars, but the large space facing the “Binance” stage is very honorably filled. The Belgian makes her entrance on “More sense”, connects perfectly with “You look at me”, “Yes or no” and “Forget everything”. This is where you realize that something is going on. It is not known whether school buses arrived from Belgium a few hours earlier, but the first (and relatively young) front rows are singing at the top of their voices.
“Solo”, “Pensées positives” and “Ta Reine” bring the atmosphere up a notch once more, before “Les matins” and an ultra-effective “I want your eyes”. A quick tour around the area then shows that in thirty minutes, the assistance has increased even more, a clear sign that the show is taking hold and that the curious are staying.
In the middle of a passageway, a few tens of meters from the stage, the intrigued probably do not understand a word of what she says, but are on the spot for the atmosphere and the show. More in the center, it’s another story. We are told that several thousand Belgians have taken their places for the festival, the French must be even more numerous. In large cities, expatriate communities remain safe bets, but we also hear English and Spanish.
The concert given at Forest National a few weeks ago left us with mixed feelings. By moving up a gear, Angèle takes care of a production with small onions and offers herself very high level choreographies, but seemed less touching, less personal. In Barcelona, the duration obliges, the show reduced to just over an hour with no downtime, and the scale of the production allows it to hold its own once morest the many international competitors.
The end of “I want your eyes”, during which the dancers provide the show while Angèle leaves to put on another outfit, is quite eloquent at this level. It’s beautiful and strong. “Libre” and “Flou” then appear, before the arrival of the heavy artillery: “Fever”, “Balance ton quoi”, “Démons” and “Bruxelles je t’aime”. Angèle was up to it this Saturday evening. Like Aksak Maboul, Alia and of course the 2 Many DJ’s. The Belgian clique was modest in size, but fiercely convincing, in quite different styles.
