Primavera Sound Santiago: Björk and a closing edition with symphony orchestra

Classical music is associated with small spaces and a lot of formality, quite the opposite of what a festival with 30,000 people among the public offers. However, on Sunday night, the Icelandic Björk took the main stage of the Primavera Sound Santiago with the orchestra of the Fundación de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Chile (FOJI) for an entirely symphonic repertoire that was one of the most popular at the event that lasted three days in the Chilean capital.

The Icelandic, who became a pop icon in the 90s for an artistic proposal that went beyond music but was closely associated with electronic beats, has always been linked to classical music training, which she received as a child, and string arrangements have been a part of his albums since he began his solo venture. But her relationship with this format has always been from a very unprejudiced and curious vision.

In the fifties, in his television program, Leonard Bernstein showed that classical music had infinite samples of a sense of humor, and in the format that Björk brought to the Santiago festival there was a lot of it and a playful mood.

Although the Icelandic spoke little with the public (barely a few ‘thanks’ between songs), it was clear to her that her form of communication would be with that version of her compositions in its purest form and she allowed herself to play with them with different arrangements in “I’ see Seen it All”, for example, and by demonstrating all the electrifying rhythm that violins can have in songs like “Quicksand” and “Pluto”, the bonus with which he said goodbye to the festival, but not before clarifying: “Everyone has It’s been string arrangements, but I’m going to give them a little bit of techno,” he said, referring to the fast tempo of the song, even in its orchestral version.

His presentation also made room for some of his most singable classics: “Joga” and “Hyperballad”, in the latter he made a game between the lyrics and the mountainous landscape of Santiago. “We live on a mountain, right at the top. This beautiful view from the top of these mountains,” he said pointing to the natural scenery surrounding the stage.

“My Spanish is horrible, but you guys don’t speak Icelandic, do you?” she asked before continuing in English saying, “These mountains are almost as high as the Icelandic ones, but I’m not going to give you that. Today there are more Chileans on stage than Icelanders ”, she stated in relation to the musicians who accompanied her under the direction of Bjarni Frímann.

Although the previous day of the festival had been marked by rain, for the presentation of the Icelandic she made a radiant sil, whose last rays faded when she finished her set, something that she took advantage of for her farewell after a short concert, but which was listened to with great attention by the public. “The sun is going away”, she pointed to the horizon and then said “thank you” once more in masticated Spanish and retired without further ado on the stage.

The presentation of the Icelandic woman took place on a date in which the name of the American trapper Travis Scott was headlining (which in fact generated more than furor in his schedule), but in which the proposals of several women stood out of pop.

Hours before Björk, the Londoner Jessie Ware began with “If Only I Could Let You Go” a fresh set with songs that ranged from disco to dance. She was accompanied on stage by two choristers, two dancers, a drummer and a guitarist who also took charge of the synthesizers, bass and keyboard, according to the needs of the songs.

Another Briton also stood out on the final day of Primavera: Charli XCX, who carried the entire show on her shoulders: she came out alone, without musicians or dancers, but filled the stage as if she had an army behind her. Songs like “Lighting”, “Boom Clap”, “1999 ″ and“ Hot In It ”were not missing from her repertoire.

ear to music

The third and last date of Primavera Sound in Santiago began with the Spanish Amaia, who has a special relationship with Chile, since it was here that she wrote the songs for her second album. Curiously, she had never given a concert in the country.

“For me it is special to be singing today in Santiago the songs that were born here, looking at those mountains,” said the former participant of “Operación Triunfo” on the set that lasted 40 minutes, but which allowed her to show that versatility that has given her a own audience beyond the notoriety that the ‘show talent’ gave him.

Songs like “Dilo sin hablar” and “Perdona, ahora sí que si” were part of the repertoire, as well as “La vida imposible” and “Yamaguchi”, in a version accompanied only by a flamenco guitar that proved how well they work for him. the most minimalist formats.

While Amaia Romero was closing her presentation, a kilometer away the first songs from Familea Miranda’s set were playing on the Pepsi stage. The Chilean band, with a more conventional format of bass, guitar and drums, offered a mainly instrumental performance of strong, classic rock, although at one point in the show they also played guitar riffs at a folklore tempo.

This would be one of the demonstrations of select local talent of the final date of Primavera in Chile, hours later they would be on stage with an important call in their respective spaces Niños del Cerro and Inti Illimani. The first ones played on the Pepsi stage, just five members on stage produced an enveloping wave of sound like the one on the song “Esta enormous distance” with many guitar distortions and even a saxophone solo. But there were also demonstrations of a rock of more familiar landscapes like in “Flores, labios, dedos”. As an anecdotal fact, Santiago Campusano, the band’s vocalist, appeared with a polo shirt from the Peruvian group Procastinación 1 Yo 0 (P1Y0), which is currently on tour in Chile.

Shortly after this concert, Santander, one of the ‘main stage’ of Primavera, received a South American legend. The Inti Illimani were applauded by those present, who danced and sang to songs like “En la calle de la disillusion”, “What I love the most”, “Samba Landó” and “Malagueña”, these last two songs that drink from Peruvian rhythms and Mexicans, respectively, a mixture that Jorge Coulón did not miss.

“We want to tell them that they live in an incredibly wonderful continent with a variety of colors, cultures and sounds. Culture is made to cross borders, to be contaminated, ”said the musician who asked to celebrate all of Latin America through his music.

And Primavera also followed that slogan of opening borders. On the closing date, for example, the American Raveena Aurora, the daughter of Indian migrants who has her roots very present in her proposal, was present. What’s more, her performance included a Hindi track, “Dum Maro Dum”. The same thing happened with the Swede José González, of Argentine origin, who, although his music is written mainly in English, communicated in Spanish with the public and in his set he had songs with rhythms from different origins: a bit bossa in “Swing” , a little more of a Latin American song in “Sacred Valley”, but always having his guitar as the main accompanist to follow his repertoire that also included covers “Blackbird” (by Beatles) and “Teardrops” by Massive Attack.

González sitting alone with his guitar in front of more than 10,000 people, Björk with a symphony orchestra with the full attention of more than 20,000 people or a show like Mitski’s arousing hysteria among young people and adolescents are postcards that only a festival like Spring.

In its debut in Santiago, the festival stood out for its organization (the order in its spaces and exact compliance with its schedule and schedules) and for the good reception of the public to a different proposal that might not seem very massive. Its continuity for future editions would guarantee a healthy differential offer for the field of music festivals in the region.