Benicassim 2011 in pictures

Benicassim took place over the weekend (July 14 – 17) with The Streets, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and Arcade Fire leading a packed bill. Head to our Benicassim Festival page for all the latest news, reviews and video. Alex Turner and co. brought much of ‘Suck It And See’ to Valencia on Saturday night.

Arctic Monkeys opened their headline set at Benicassim with ‘Library Pictures’ and ‘Brianstorm’ before playing the likes of ‘Brick By Brick’, ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and ending on ‘505’.

Arcade Fire closed Benicassim 2011 with a late night set featuring the likes of ‘Ready To Start’ and ‘Keep The Car Running’. The Montreal legends, who headlined their biggest ever UK show last month at London’s Hyde Park, played a mixture of hits from all three of their albums ‘The Suburbs’, ‘Neon Bible’ and ‘Funeral’.

Arcade Fire indulge in some serious drum abuse during their Benicassim set.

Benicassim runs on a somewhat later schedule than most other festivals, which meant Arcade Fire headlined at 1.15am and things didn’t wrap up properly until 6am each night.

Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. The band treated Benicassim to a full run through of ‘Screamadelica’ during their set.

Bobby Gillespie mid twirl. Primal Scream joined Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and hundreds of other bands in the Spanish sun over the weekend.

Arcade Fire’s Benicassim set saw the band incorporate visuals from their new film as play hits from all three of their albums, ‘The Suburbs’, ‘Neon Bible’ and ‘Funeral’.

Spanish festival goers hit up the Air Guitar Contest at Benicassim. Unsuccessfully it would seem.

Noah And The Whale played material from all three of their albums ‘Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down’, ‘The First Days Of Spring’ and ‘Last Night On Earth’ to the Maravillas Stage.

Noah & The Whale arrived suited and booted in the hot Spanish sunshine to screaming fans and an unusual brass band version of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ playing over the PA system.

Portishead, fresh from playing Serbia’s Exit Festival and Super Bock Super Rock in Portugal, performed ‘Silence’, ‘Hunter’ and ‘We Carry On’ to warm fans up ready for headliners Arcade Fire.

Portishead help bring Benicassim to a close on Sunday night (July 17). Read a full report from the weekend online now.

Professor Green plays Benicassim 2011. For full coverage of the weekend, including news, reviews, photos and video, check our special festival section.

Professor Green listens to the crowd reaction at Benicassim 2011.

Yes, they’re still going. The Go! Team – who first played Benicassim in 2007 – made their return this weekend, for a high energy set in the Spanish sun.

The Go! Team at Benicassim 2011. We were onsite all weekend speaking to all the top bands, so check out our video section for interviews, walk-ons and more.

Punters crowded by the main stage waiting for Arcade Fire’s headline set. Wikipedia describes the weekender thus: “The event is considered a true celebration of freedom and the application of any restrictive and coercive measures is suspended during its celebration.” Amen to that.

The Joy Formidable played a selection of tunes from their recent album ‘The Big Roar’

The band are set to join the Foo Fighters for their US tour in November.

The lucky punters who stayed in a hotel not a scorching tent, cool down in the pool.

Because of the overpowering heat, very few acts take to the stage before 9pm, and the headliners aren’t on until after 1am.

For many the festival serves as a summer holiday for music fans. Three campsites open four days early to allow people to extend their break.

Tame Impala play Benicassim 2011. Their psych jams were well received by the crowds.

While crowds at Latitude and Lovebox wallowed in mud and drizzle, Benicassim’s happy punters roasted under a Spanish sun.

Tame Impala run through much of their 2010 album ‘Innerspeaker’ during their Benicassim set.

Night time crowds greet The Strokes on Day Two of the Spanish bash.

Mumford And Sons brought two new songs to Benicassim this weekend: ‘Hopeless Wanderer’ and ‘Lover Of The Night’. Head to our Benicassim Festival page for all the latest news, reviews and video.

Crowds gathered at Benicassim. The event takes place on a large asphalt car park on the east coast of Spain.

Mumford & Sons brought old hits ‘Little Lion Man’, ‘White Blank Page’ and ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ to an appreciative audience, as well as new tracks ‘Hopeless Wanderer’ and ‘Lover Of The Light’.

Before taking to the stage, The Strokes rubbished rumours of tensions within the band by indulging in a group hug, before heading out to the stage with a stunning rendition of early favourite ‘New York City Cops’.

Elbow, who recently launched their own range of beer, play Benicassim. Join us as we walk onto the stage with the band.

Elbow had to pause to move the crowd back during their Benicassim set. Bassist Pete Turner spoke to the band ahead of their show and revealed their new album is going to be “heavier” and more guitar driven.

James Murphy took the festival into the night with a two-hour DJ set.

Friendly Fires brought the live music to a close at 3am.

Brandon Flowers mixed tracks from his solo album ‘Flamingo’ with favourites from The Killers catalogue, including ‘Read My Mind’, ‘Losing Touch’ and a raved-up version of ‘Mr Brightside’.

Bombay Bicycle Club previewed tracks from their forthcoming album ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’ which comes out on August 29.

The band recorded their third album in London, Hamburg and Atlanta where they worked with Animal Collective collaborator Ben Allen.

The band said the new album would be “a big deal”.

Bands who’ve played in previous years include Radiohead, Kraftwerk, The Stone Roses, Brian Wilson, Blur, Lou Reed and Oasis.

Plan B played the festival, the singer is set to return to his rap roots on forthcoming album ‘The Ballad of Belmarsh.’

Mike Skinner continued his Streets farewell tour with a set at Benicassim.

The Streets final album ‘Computers And Blues’ was released earlier this year.

That guy dressed as a bank robber is Pendulum’s Rob Swire, bringing his howl to the front row.

2011’s festival marked the 11th annual one.

Anna Calvi has a busy summer. As well as Benicassim she played Latitude this weekend along with Field Day and the Reading & Leeds festivals later in the year.

The singer is known to cover Elvis Presley’s ‘Surrender’ in her live sets.

In 2009 a fire near the site meant that bands like Kings of Leon and Maximo Park couldn’t perform their sets.

Spain’s Crystal Fighters played a set filled with songs from their 2010 album ‘Star Of Love’.

Legend has it that the band took their name from the unfinished opera vocalist Laure wrote before he took his life.

Some typical festival grub at one of the hotels near the site.

Around 150,000 music fans showed up for the festival.

The festival is know to many as ‘Glastonbury-on-Sea’, or ‘Glasto del Sol’, more music fans are expected in 2012, when Glastonbury is having an off year.

In 2010 Lily Allen’s Sunday set was canceled due to illness and Ellie Goulding was moved up to replace her.