We traveled to Catalunya’s capital city to experience this year’s Sónar that took place on June 14th-16th.
126.000 people from all over the world, 150 performances, more than 230 activities, conferences, workshop, and shows. Sónar had a music program which reunited different artists such as Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Black Coffee, Alva Noto&Ryuchi Sakamoto, Laurent Garnier, Diplo, Lorenzo Senni, Bonobo, GoldLink among many others.
At this festival, creativity’s future was explored by the technology, the knowledge and networks, and moreover, the music. More than 5000 professionals from over 65 countries were reunited.
On Thursday, June 14th, the festival’s 25th edition began. The program was focused on Sónar de Día at Fira Montjuic; in the different stages, Sónar Village, Sonar Hall, Sónar Dome Red Bull Music, Despacio, Sónar Complex y Sónar XS and moreover, the spaces of Sónar Calling, Sónar 360 and Sónar +D.
The big star of Thursday night was Laurent Garnier as he showed the pure expertise of a restless artist in a constant search. Hits like ‘Man with the Red Face’, ‘Sound of the Big Babou’ where played with a more minimalistic and futuristic sound.
Yaeji was without a doubt one of the most relevant artists. She performed at the Sónar Village and it gave us a full Dj session with an open mic, in which she mixed different genres such as trap, pop, house and acid. Her hit ‘Raingurl’ was an audience’s success.
Other outstanding performers were Violet X Photonz. They performed at Sónar Dome Red Bull Music showing a full techno set combined with melodic house vibes.
Red Bull Music was in charge of The Sonar Dome program. Artists like Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement created a techno experimental atmosphere, taking the nature’s sound to a next level.
One of the most expected shows was Gorillaz. The virtual rock band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett was a complete success. A full display of the senses made the SònarClub one of the most crowded areas with everyone in total bliss from the first “Hello!”.
One of the things we love the most about Sònar are the new acts and trends. One of the most magical moments of this year’s edition was Jamz Supernova. To us, it was the explosion of stars all over the Sónar Village with hip-hop, bass-house, kuduro and gqom. You can see it in the video below on the minute 1:19:15. With the purest energy, Jamz Supernova performed various notable tracks, ending with this message to the public:“This is my favorite fucking song! I need you to go fucking crazy!”.
As the temperature kept rising as well as the intensity of the shows we came across the Destruction Boyz’s performance which was guided by Diplo. They gave us an outburst of house, kwaito and gqom. Diplo was in charge of a special showcase in which we could see many of his favorite African music: Dj Kampire, the South African duo Distruction Boyz and the Nigerian crooner, Mr. Eazi.
Black Coffee gave us an emotional set, a fusion of house, African percussions, jazz, afro-funk and groovy.
Alva Noto, the one who collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto in the soundtrack of ‘The Revenant’, the movie directed by Alejandro González-Iñárritu, and also the responsible of the luxury closure of Sònar at the Teatre Grec, where she presented her new project UNIEQAV, a fascinating exploration of sounds full of lights in every way.
¡And this was one of our favorite performances! Mumdance, who performed along with Dj Stingray, and it was a complete discovery for us. Dubstep, grime, techno, dancehall, hip-hop made this the best show of Sònar 2018!
We expected that Tokimontsa would be a highlight. Once again we were right and the beats made impossible to stop dancing. Watch the full video below.
2ManyDjs, Steven, and David Dewaele gave us a dreamy party closure at Sònar Día, they even mixed ‘Pump up the Jam’ for the 90’s enthusiasts. And by night at Sonar Lab by Resident Advisor with an unbelievable program: JASSS, Lanark Artefax, Errorsmith, Octo Octa, Ben Klock b2b DJ Nobu and Motor City Drum Ensemble b2b Jeremy Underground.
They ended the Sònar 2018 letting us the biggest desire to return to future editions and, of course, celebrate many birthdays like this one.
