Simian Mobile Disco defy kit destruction

Spain | | 01 June 2008

The electro outfit pulled in huge crowd on the final night of the Barcelona event, treating revellers to mixes of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and Inner City's 'Big Fun', plus reworks of their own hits 'It's The Beat' and 'Clock'.

But it was a records only affair after their live equipment was damaged on the flight from London to Spain. Describing it only as 'an accident', a statement by the pair apologised to fans.

But they needn't have bothered judging by the smiles of the crowd, who danced through the rain in homage. The DJs were even joined by a man dressed up as a rabbit, who invaded the stage to bop along to their beats.

Perhaps it was Les Savy Fav frontman, Tim Harrington, who is renowned for dressing up and was recently spotted at All Tomorrow's Parties wearing a fetching Pink Panther costume.

The singer was up to his usual antics during the band's 1am set on the ATP stage, climbing up speakers and racing round the crowd in between hollering out songs like 'Patty Lee' and 'The Equestrian'.

Shellac pulled in one of the biggest crowds of the night, returning to Primavera Sound after playing what's been fondly remembered as one of the best sets in the festival's history in the Auditori several years ago.

A similar reputation may now be reserved for Throbbing Gristle, who delivered an incendiary performance in the indoor arena, or for another clear festival favourite Dinosaur Jr, who played their usual mix of old and new including a rare outing for 1994 hit 'Feel The Pain'.

They were followed on the Estrella Damm stage by Animal Collective, who played an electrifying and eclectic set bathed in red light and smoke. Rufus Wainwright and Okkervil River also performed on the same stage earlier in the evening.    

But some of the best music on day three was to be found in the CD Drome arena. 808 State rolled back the years with their genre defining Balearic house, while Virginia rappers Clipse proved why The Neptunes were so keen to produce their albums. The pioneering dubstep of Digital Mystikz proved one of the festival highlights and showed that Burial is not the only artist pushing the genre forward, before Tiefschwarz closed the night with a solid tec-house set.

Some revellers refused to accept the end of the festival, however, instead holding their own party on the street outside the site by banging empty coke cans on a bench and dancing in wild abandon to a mouth organ. 
  

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