New Pornographers Celebrate Love for Barcelona and Pixies at Primavera Sound

If you're on the festival circuit this summer and hear the New Pornographers' Carl Newman declare that day's gig his "favourite city on Earth," then don't let Barcelona know.

The Canadian power pop outfit kicked off a formidable line-up on Primavera Sounds 2010's main stage on Friday -- with Spoon, Wilco and the Pixies following -- with a mix 'n' match trawl through their five albums, leaning most heavily on this year's 'Together.'

With the overcast Barcelona skies burning off with the early evening sun, Newman grew poetic. "I know this might sound like a lie, because bands tell miles all the time, but this is my favourite city in the world," he said. The crowd, of course, went mad.

Newman wasn't finished. Remarking on the bill the New Pornographers found themselves on, he said, "The Pixies are pretty much the reason I started playing a band. It's so amazing to be here."

A somewhat undeserved reputation for po-faced indieness was leavened with a one-second song Newman declared, with faux seriousness, 'Jazz Odyssey/Jazz Experiment.'

The Barcelona Tourist Board will now love them. Let's hope the rest of the planet gets with the programme.