According to official data, 46,000 people visited this year’s edition of Sónar by day and 59,000 to Sónar by night with 52% national attendees and 48% international.
Great dialogues with science, discoveries of physics, music ranging from grime, cumbia, world, acid, industrial, experimental, melodic, sci.fi, afrotrap, deep techno, house NY, psychedelia and much more was what we lived during the 18th, 19th and 20th of July in Barcelona, at Sònar+D, Sònar de Día and Sònar de Noche.
Many acts captivated us starting with Daito Manabe and his collaboration with Kamitani Lab Dissonant Imaginary. His performance endorsed how science and technology are key to new forms of creation and that we’re not too far from the idea of creating music through mind reading based on Artificial Intelligence.
Another presentation that captivated us was the powerful, human, sincere, concert by Arca. Thanks to his creativity, courage and absolute freedom, he generated a memorable emotional tsunami among the audience.
In addition to Arca, we were eagerly expecting to see Max Cooper, Actress, Underworld, Paul Kalkbrenner, Floating Points, Dixon, The Matthew Herbert Brexit Big Band, Dj Krush, Nicola Cruz, Stormzy, among many others.
A great surprise was Micah Davis, better known as Masego, who flooded the SònarVillage with trap/house/jazz and good vibes while ‘blessing’ us, the meaning of his name in Twasana (Botswana language).
Also on that day, MURLO aka Chris Pell from the UK, who are the representatives of Conceptual Clubbing broke the mold at SònarLAB Red Advisor. With his audiovisual compositions, the artists immersed us in a fantastic universe fusing hypercolored melodies and elastic deep basses, something that we found to be rewardingly unique.
On the next day, Kelly Moran from the United States – John Cage’s disciple who graduated from the University of Michigan in Sound Engineering and Composition – led the piano while showcasing powerful visuals mesmerizing the crowd at SònarComplex.
The Red Bull Music Academy in collaboration with Sònar, brought to the SònarDôme stage a wide variety of sets. We want to highlight J. Colleran, the young Irish producer and classical pianist, who with great skill knew how to reconvert to the purest clubber style. On the same stage, although on a different day, we discovered Wasted Fates along with LAO, founder of the collective N.A.A.F.I, both from Mexico City. They delivered a powerful show full of rhythms with their own denomination, tribals fused with acid, breaks, and large doses of Latin folk.
Other performances at The Red Bull Music Academy worth mentioning are Cherrie. With great charisma and sometimes romantic the Swedish artist seduced the audience from the beginning.
At SònarVillage, Dengue Dengue Dengue Dengue, whose expression in Lima means that you want to party, delivered quite a show. Another big star was Red Axes, who conquered the stage with world music, acid, and experimental sounds.
Other tops acts were DJ and producer Erol Alkan who blended rock, acid, techno, and house. A true favorite among the crowd!
We cannot fail to mention Ouchhh+Za!, presented in SònarComplex. An unprecedented collaboration between the creative studio of Istanbul and the geniuses Edi Pou and Pau Rodríguez, also known as ZA, who showed on a large screen the activity and neural waves that were created in their brain in real time.
This year it was demonstrated that Sònar is expanding more than ever! And proof of this is the bet on the electronic scene from South Africa, Sho Madjozi. In her concert at SònarLAB Resident Advisor, the artist exhibited her enormous energy and overflowing charisma.
Neon Chambers, a new experimental project by Kangding Ray and Sigha, also performed in the same area. Explorers of future techno, his analogical show at times with a certain dystopic aurea, gave us suitable for the dance floor sounds.
Sonar 2019 closed its 26th edition opening up to new genres. As it has been doing since 1994, they have once again demonstrated their commitment to avant-garde music, new artistic proposals and the combination of science, music and technology.
The next edition of the festival returns to its usual dates and will be held in Barcelona on 18th, 19th and 20th in June 2020.
