This is the third time that British artist A.A. Williams, a leading figure in the Gothic revival movement, has visited Barcelona, following her successful appearance at AMFest 2022 (she had previously performed at BAM in 2020).
After a rousing start with powerful songs such as ‘Golden‘ and the somewhat dramatic ‘Just a Shadow‘, Williams reveals his best (and coldest) side in the middle of the set with calm moments such as the latest single ‘Wolves‘, the lengthy ‘Pristine‘ (with those Beach House-style riffs) and the confessional ‘Dirt‘ (featuring Tom Fleming‘s voice from Wild Beasts on the album, with that unmistakable Radiohead vibe), which sweeten her offering and distance her from the pigeonholing that accompanies her insistence on a gothic aesthetic, as well as the somewhat hackneyed use of contrasts between languor and intensity, which contribute very little nowadays..
AA Williams, Sala La Nau Barcelona 2026 – Photo taken by Jake Owens taken from the social media profile of Primavera Tours
Accompanied by Matthew Daly on guitar and Wayne Proctor on drums, the London-born singer replicated the calm and excitement of her repertoire with efficiency and proverbial coolness. It’s a shame she didn’t perform any encores; many of us were hoping to hear some of her celebrated covers of songs by artists such as Pixies, The Cure and Nick Cave.
Before Williams took to the stage, the opening act Spotlights warmed up the crowd with their New York post-metal sound, led by Mario Quintero (vocals and guitar), Sarah Quintero (bass and vocals) and Chris Enriquez, a drummer with tremendous power and versatility. The Quinteros develop some very good instrumental passages on him, which, although they do not avoid the eternal cliché of the contrast between calm and intensity, fulfil the quota of violence and headbanging that the genre seems to demand. During their first visit to Barcelona, they performed their now distant LP Tidals (Crowquill, 2016) in its entirety, as well as two more recent tracks from their LP Alchemy for the Dead (Ipecac, 2023), which was released on Mike Patton‘s label (apparently on the recommendation of Chino Moreno from Deftones). These were “Algorithmic”, which has an extensive atmospheric intro until the sonic storm arrives, and “Sunset Burial”, which has a much clearer melody, more closer to the indie side than metal.
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