Under the last warm summer rays in Buenos Aires and the call-to-rave issued by Hernan Cattaneo, the sun and stars aligned on Saturday, March 3rd, 2023 for a truly breathtaking day as a cross-generational crowd made its way to the Ciudad Universitaria, a large campus situated by the city outskirts. Completely transformed into a gigantic summer fair by the creative minds at BUENA Productora, the post-modern bleak installations came alive under the ever-evolving sounds of progressive house.
Photo Credit: Gonzalo López / Estaban Salino
With an absolutely impeccable organization, BUENA Productora and Hernan took it to the upper echelons, ensuring swift and secure access, a cashless system (with VIPs having the option of recharging their cards right there on the dancefloor), cooling stands, fruit and candy plates, massage booths, makeup stations, and more.
The opening hours saw the multi-talented Paula OS setting the tone with her captivating take on post-rock electronica. An artist in constant evolution, Paula has made her way through the ranks with a velvet-laced and highly emotional live set, which finds her in complete control of every detail possible. With a unique proposal, the Chilean artist has already joined Hernan on stage in several opportunities and seems to be a perfect fit, providing a wide array of emotions while keeping the left field of electronic rock alive.
With a new edition of Sunsetstrip Buenos Aires in full swing, the female artist gave way to the sounds of Egyptian duo Husa & Zeyada, who recently released ‘Love Is Coming Back’ in collaboration with Hernan himself. Engulfed in Arabic overtones and exotic sounds, the pair navigated through drawn-out vocals, organic motifs, and hypnotic waves as they carried everyone through the rising temperatures with absolute style.
Now, more than a genre, progressive house has been best described by Hernan as a way of mixing and blending sounds in favor of creating an engaging storyline and El Maestro just happens to be one of the best raconteurs around. From a cinematic entrance to organic percussions, iridescent pads, glistening synths, and on to raving stabs, a myriad of rocking edits, all-time classics (Moby’s ‘Go’, anyone?) and future anthems, Hernan’s 6-hour birthday set brought together past and present for a deeply immersive journey.
From 6 PM and on to past midnight, the progressive selector became one with the surroundings, forging a natural connection with the sun as it went below the horizon while planes soared high above over 30,000 souls in a view to behold. With the moon starting to rise, Hernan switched gears and amped the visuals to 11 (swirling currents, forests, deserts, and even dragons provided by Sergio Lacroix), leaving the more organic sounds in favor of unbridled cuts as he channeled those legendary Moonpark nights. With the crowd in complete ecstasy, the legendary tastemaker commandeered his diamond starship and blazed through Radiohead, Bob Moses, New Order, Primal Scream, and Depeche Mode edits for a raving finale.
The last time Buenos Aires was able to enjoy the talents of its musical ambassador, a pandemic had not yet transpired, Argentina had not been crowned Copa América 2021 champions, and the idea of streaming sets was a one-off thing artists did every now and again. A much-awaited return, Cattaneo’s Sunsetstrip was a complete success as a sea of dancers basked in complete communion under the sun and the moon once again as they celebrated the gift of life.
Certainly, a birthday we know Hernan Cattaneo will never forget.
