Bido Lito!

Day 1 - the joy and The Rapture

One day in to Optimus Primavera Sound 2012 and the setting of Parca da Cidade on Porto's Atlantic coast already feels like home. The sister festival of Barcelona's Primavera Sound, this is the first year of Optimus, and Porto has been awash with seasoned festivaleers who, like us, have come to take in the great line-up of artists on show over the next four days. We'll be keeping you informed of the highs and lows from the festival over the coming few days, as well as updating you on the goings on at our weird but wonderful Moroccan-themed guesthouse.

After navigating Porto's hilly streets (and struggling with the Portuguese word for two), we got in to the festival site just in time to see Bradford Cox take to the Primavera Stage. The Deerhunter man looks like he spends a lot of his time indoors tinkering with his effects pedals, and while theis may not be great for his complexion, it is great for his music. As ATLAS SOUND he's produced four top quality solo records, and tonight he gave a masterclass in looping and layering sounds to create the perfect soundtrack to the early evening. Armed with guitar and harmonica, plus an impressive bank of delay and loop pedals, Cox began with a croaky cover of Your Cheating Heart, and went on to hold the audience's attention for 45 minutes. A great way to get the ball rolling.

Only two stages were open on the first day, the crowds alternating between the adjacent Primavera and Optimus stages. Once the sangria started to flow we were thankful for not having to traipse across the site, so we stayed put to catch YANN TIERSEN (French cinematic disco synthy stuff), and the nostalgia fest brought on by SUEDE's set. Brett Anderson's slinky stage antics and Brendan Butler's slinky guitar lines looked a bit dated but you can't argue with the poptasticness of Animal Nitrate and Beautiful Ones.

THE DRUMS are perfect for summer festivals with their slightly surfy, sun-drenched feel-good vibe. The biggest crowd of the night was lapping it all up, and frontman Jonathan Pierce was basking in it all as he channelled Morrissey in every sinew of his flailing limbs. But it was THE RAPTURE who provided the highlight and send off, blasting it out at 2am and showing why they're still a force to be reckoned with. The New York three-piece struggle to completely encapsulate their sound and feel on record, so it's recommended that you catch them live if you're still struggling to get it. If it wasn't for the fact that we were knackered and swaying from the sun and Super Bock overload then we'd have been screaming for them to continue long past their 3am finish. Ah well, can't have it all.

Tonight there are two more stages opening, so we've got double the excitement to look forward to. Though it's a head-scratcher to choose between Tennis and The War On Drugs at 7.30pm - it's a tough life isn't it?

Back tomorrow with some more musings, and we'll hopefully catch up with Forest Swords and the guys from Screenadelica for a chat too - bumped in to them last night, it was like being on Bold Street. Except in a park with nice weather. It was nothing like Bold Street actually. But you get the idea.

Adeus! x