Primavera Sound 2025’s Powerpuff Girls reviewed: Charli xcx, Sabrina and Chappell
Primavera Sound cemented itself as the destination for those in search of Main Pop Girl energy, so naturally we had to catch a flight to witness this summit of icons first-hand
By Gary Grimes
The announcement of Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan descending on Barcelona to headline Primavera Sound 2025 sparked pandemonium in the queer community like we’ve rarely seen. Dubbed the festival’s very own ‘Powerpuff Girls’, their booking cemented the festival as the place to be for those in search of Main Pop Girl energy this summer, so naturally we had to catch a flight to witness first-hand this historic meeting of icons, and adjudicate the raw power of these girls for ourselves.
Charli xcx and Troye Sivan
Kicking the festival off on Thursday night was everyone’s favourite party girl Charli xcx, returning to the festival this time with BFF Troye Sivan in tow for the European debut of their Sweat Tour, which the pair brought across the US last year. The excitement was rife to see what Charli and Troye would deliver, which turned out to be the same setlist that US audiences enjoyed – not that anyone was complaining. Opening the show was Sivan, on his 30th birthday no less, who set the mood with his euphoric, ‘Shooting Stars’-sampling hit ‘Got Me Started’, the standout from his most recent album Something To Give Each Other.
He danced his way through another couple of tunes, including Bloom lead single ‘My! My! My!’, before giving way to his host Charli who ramped things up nicely with a selection of bangers including recent singles ‘Von dutch’ and ‘360’. From there on out, the pair alternated roughly every three songs, with Charli delivering a consistently high-octane, brat heavy set, frequently taken down a notch by Sivan’s moodier, mid-tempo numbers. Formiddable a performer as he is, the constantly wavering pace of both star’s sets did begin to feel a little at odds with each other as the show went on. Troye’s ascending main pop girl energy simply could not compete, at times, with the exhiliration of Charli classics like ‘Unlock It’, ‘Girl, so confusing’ and ‘I Love It’, and, to be transparent, we eventually began to grow a little irked at the Troye Sivan concert which kept interrupting our Charli xcx concert.
On the contrary, a very welcome interruption came in the form of Chappell Roan who made a surprise appearance ahead of her Saturday night headline slot to star as Charli’s featured ‘Apple’ dancer. Filmed live from the festival’s VIP area, with Charli and the Estrella Damm main stage in the background, Roan nailed the famed TikTok routine before letting loose and shaking her ass, a cheeky reminder of the effervesvent charm that originally made us fall for this increasingly self serious pop starlet.
The show closed with Sivan’s recent biggest smash to date, the hedonistic and bona fide gay anthem ‘Rush’, before he was joined by his bestie for a joint performance of their remix of Charli’s brat cut ‘Talk talk’. Whilst both stars certainly delivered highly compelling shows, Charli’s raw charisma and stage presence simply transcended everything else around her, including Troye. She did, undeniably, miss a trick by not tacking on her recent viral smash ‘party 4 u’ in what surely would have been another emotionally cathartic moment to rival that of ‘Track 10’.
Sabrina Carpenter
To witness a pop princess perform at the height of her powers is a true privilege, as any pop aficianado will tell you, and that was certainly the sentiment in the air as we awaited the arrival of Miss Sabrina Lynn Carpenter who took to the Revolut stage on Friday night. Arriving fashionably late, just a touch after midnight, Carpenter’s show was a testament to her scholarly approach to pop stardom. The star’s 1950s-inspired set and babydoll look felt reminiscent of idol and mentor Christina Aguilera’s Back To Basics era, whilst the show’s kitschy video interludes evoked the cheeky humour of Madonna circa Hanky Panky (as well as being the perfect vehicle for Carpenter’s dorkish charm as she gushed about her excitement for being in “Barthelona”.)
The ‘Feather’ singer’s sharp rise to main pop girl status in the preceding 12 months (punctuated by a triumphant BRIT Awards performance) was palpable throughout her polished set, as album tracks like ‘Juno’, ‘Bed Chem’ and ‘Good Graces’ popped off just as hard as international number ones ‘Please, Please, Please’ and ‘Taste’. Of course, the climax of the show was Carpenter’s starmaking smash ‘Espresso’, but a lively cover of The Weather Girls’ ‘It’s Raining Men’ and older hits like ‘Nonsense’ and ‘Feather’ helped to sustain the energy throughout the night.
In fact, the only lulls came in the form of the singer’s long, protracted periods of chatting somewhat aimlessly to the crowd in between songs, and perhaps the live debut of new single ‘Manchild’ which didn’t make much of an impact with the crowd. Regardless, after the final notes of ‘Espresso’ faded, we were left with no doubt that we had witnessed something special from a pop star who will most certainly be wowing crowds at festivals around the world for many years to come.
Chappell Roan
In comparison to Sabrina, Chappell kept the crowd interaction to the bare minimum. She didn’t require any chit chat to connect with the audience however, as her astonishingly note perfect vocals and electrifying stage presence truly did all the talking. Taking to the stage at 10pm on the festival’s closing night, Roan delighted fans with a whistle stop tour of her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, where, like Carpenter, album tracks like ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ and even the unreleased song ‘The Subway’ were received as though they were at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks.
Roan rattled through her impressive arsenal of modern classics, sending the decidedly queer and femme crowd into a frenzy with songs like ‘Naked In Manhattan’, ‘HOTTOGO!’ and ‘Femininomenon’. A cover of Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ provided a moment of respite for the audience to chat, whilst a succession of ballads like ‘Picture You’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’ allowed things to simmer nicely before she ramped back up for an victorious home run, starting with her recent country pop lark ‘The Giver’, followed by the woozy but rambunctious ‘Red Wine Supernova’.
We can’t help but feel her committment to live instrumentation held some of the more synth-driven songs back from reaching their full potential. Having said that, the rush of hearing Roan’s almighty wail of ‘I told you so!’ on ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ – our Top LGBTQ+ Song of 2024 – before a crowd of over 50,000 people was every bit as powerful as we hoped. Roan closed the show with the therapeutic release of ‘My Kink Is Karma’, followed by her now signature song ‘Pink Pony Club’, complete with a heartwarming shout out to her mother watching the set.
Powered by the theatrics and pomp of a Born This Way-era Gaga and the kinetic sexual energy of Prince, Roan has established herself as an unmissable live act. Immersed in a crowd of fervent queer fans, it was not hard to see why the on-stage experience has been such an essential element of this singular pop star’s sharp ascent to the top.