After landing at 10pm, I took a bus and a short ride to my AirBnb. They welcomed me and explained all about my staying while I was checking the clock, so I make sure I don’t miss a thing at Sonar. I arrived on Friday, therefore I already skipped two days of huge headliners and all the conferences – It still hurts!
Either way, I headed to the location of Sonar By Night, which was at Fira Gran Via de L’Hospitalet, met a crazy fashion Spanish designer on my way there and finally met with my friend at the entrance of Sonar. First we checked the biggest stage SonarClub, then we headed to the outdoor venue – SonarPub by Thunder Bitch before it started crowding up because Nicolas Jaar was preparing for a live show after his new album release Sirens. It was a very pleasant vibe under the stars with Jaar on stage with the piano and his silhouette projected on a big screen. After a very good balance between acoustic and synthetic, hypnotic noises and calming silences Derrick Carter swayed the dancefloor with some sick tunes. I have to admit – I was thrilled to hear him live! All the way from Chicago he brought only the best – house, dance, some classic jazzy beats and pure energy on stage.
Afterwards I went on the main stage to see what Dubfire has to offer. Rigid sound frequencies were clashing into the full front part of the stage and someone was giving away some cool fake tattoos of his logo, which I was happy to stick on my leg after having so many Estrella beers. The heat inside was slightly unbearable so I went back to the Thunder Bitch to see Nina Kraviz. She approached heavy and aggressive, exactly how people needed it at that moment.
The ending was legendary – all the people were sitting outside the Sonar By Night venues and covered every single grassy surface that existed. I strongly believe Sonar could work on some minor things for the next edition, especially because they will be celebrating a 25 year anniversary next year. Firstly the queues for drinks, which were hard to cope with after you really need hydration with the high temperatures inside. Also, the music volume was a bar too high – let’s not forget that festivals are about meeting people and networking with same minded souls, so I have to emphasize that communication was almost impossible.
See you at Sonar 2018!
Featured Image: Fernando Schlaepfer for Sonar
