Primavera 2016 Odds – Radiohead Rumoured to Headline

Early-bird tickets for Primavera Sound (June 2nd), Europe’s largest indie music festival, are already on sale. Even though the lineup won’t be released until sometime later this month, festival junkies are already clamoring for tickets to the Barcelona bash. Why? Because Primavera boasts a fantastic lineup every year, and 2016 is sure to be no different. 

Primavera has a habit of combining the biggest acts in the world with up-and-comers. Last year, they had established indie rockers The Black Keys, The Strokes, and Belle and Sebastian along with relative newbies like Alt-J, tUnE-yArDs, and Mac DeMarco. 

If that sounds like your jam, then start saving up, buy some early release tickets, and plan your trip.

Or don’t do any of those things and just watch the live stream. Whatever works for you.

And just who would you be watching on that live stream this year? Here are our 2016 Primavera Sound predictions!

Primavera Sound lineup odds:

Radiohead: 4/1

Rumor has it that Radiohead will be headlining this year. Even though the rumor hasn’t been verified by any credible sources, I buy it; Radiohead have announced their plans to tour in 2016 and they’re the original indie darlings.

At this point, Radiohead definitely have the cachet to announce a last-minute appearance and force the organizers to reschedule (and Thom Yorke is the kind of guy who would do that). So if you don’t see Radiohead in the official announcement, don’t rule them out entirely.

Chance The Rapper: 8/1

At only 22-years-old, Chance has taken the hip-hop world by storm. His collaborative 2015 album, Surf, is a highly experimental project fusing elements of rap, trip hop, and jazz.

Chance has the kind of fresh new sound that Primavera loves. Given the success of previous hip-hop acts like Kendrick Lamar and Run The Jewels, he would be a great choice for 2016.

LCD Soundsystem: 11/1

After a dramatic disbanding and an emotional final show in 2010, LCD Soundsystem recently announced they were getting back together. And what better way to reunite than to go back to the festival that helped them explode into the mainstream?

However, the band just announced that they were performing at Bonnaroo, which starts a couple of days after Primavera wraps up. Hopefully James Murphy is feeling energetic.

El Vy: 25/2

El Vy is the side project of The National frontman Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf of Menomena. Both The National and Menomena have performed at Primavera, and El Vy is a great fusion of both their sounds.

Though still relatively unknown, El Vy have performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and before President Obama’s final State of the Union address. Primavera may be their chance to really shine.

Sufjan Stevens: 18/1

Though Sufjan has publicly expressed his distaste for music festivals, he has played at Primavera in the past and, by all accounts, it went very well.

Lately he has been branching out and working on a few collaborative projects. Primavera would be a great place to showcase it to the world.

(Photo credit: Bill Ebbesen [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)