Thursday morning, Barcelona's Barrio Raval was host to masses of music fans, traders of all descriptions and thumping bass as Sonar 2012 came alive. And as always, there is a lot to write home about. With the festival essentially split in two, Sonar by Day and Sonar by Night, the vibe from Day to Night was quite different, tweaked by surprises in talent (both good and bad), re-inventions of visual formats (and those struggling to keep up), sonic and visual experiments (amongst others) and an eager festival audience.
Circling the Raval area, excitement and confusion was in all directions as festival goers from all corners of Europe crowded in the streets to get access to the venue and the British and Irish contingent were in powerful effect this year with Glastonbury taking one of it's intermittent years off. Simultaneously, the cancelation of The Big Chill and Sonisphere appears to have left a lot of people at odds with summer plans. Sonar, of course, offers blistering heat and value for money so it was no surprise to see freckles and t-shirt tans lining the streets. But more than just the public and press were there to represent the small islands, New Order, Fatboy Slim, Mary Anne Hobbs and Anne Mac from Dublin were just a few of the highly anticipated acts at the festival to exhibit our proud culture of electronica.
The festival opened with an array of different shows throughout Thursday afternoon, some artistic, some cinematic, some fun, some dark and others downright intense. Daedelus Archimedes Show in the late afternoon appeared to get out of hand from the beginning as thousands of fans pushed and shoved their way into Sonar Hall to catch a glimpse of Daedelus's highly reputed and spectacularly impressive mirror machine and visual spectacle that has been compared to Amon Tobin's cubic and geometric visual work. Powering the Daedelus visuals was an intense hardcore sound which, for a brief moment, blew the electrics in the Hall to the massive appeasement of the crowed. As intense a trip this was, the real Thursday treat was found on the green at the Sonar Village.
Brainfeeder acts dominated the Sonar Village from 3:00pm, battling their way through poor sound quality from the stage. Regardless, there was still much to enjoy. Thundercat was recieved with some perplexion as some of his live style incorporated a strong jazz element. Nevertheless, he donned the stage with his bass guitar and a sound smooth enough to charm snakes but was met by a relatively restrained crowd, subdued in the most part. This said, he still saw some movement on the green and mesmerised the entire village as he slapped his way through a gnarly bass-fueled set. Special mention, however, needs to be made for Californian DJ Flying Lotus who played again on Friday at the Sonar Dome. Following a set that reminded us all that music festivals are supposes to be fun, he played a 45 minutes on Thursday's set which ended all too quick. Following which, he was seen several times in the crowd enjoying the festival with the public.
Putting their best foot forward, Thursday's day event was the perfect opener to the festival and although Friday and Saturday's afternoon shows maintained a charm of their own, they never matched that first day feeling. Sold out by Day, Friday proved to be a more experimental endeavor which bred some funny discussions among some younger audience members: “it's fusion”, “this bit is funk”, “no this bit has glitch...” was a conversation between two teens during Psilosamples at the Village (a Brazilian artist who blends traditional Brazilian sound with modern electronics). The unique sound of Psilosamples records however, was not the overtone of his set this day, but on show was a more conservative assembly in consideration of the festival mass, but still never a dull a moment. Experimentation continued to flow down in the Sonar Hall as Supersilent were graced with the appearance of John Paul Jones, a superstar guitarist in the heavy rock genre and ex-bassist of Led Zeppelin with a hand for darkwave; perfect match-up for Norwegian improvisationalists Supersilent. Difficult to follow in parts with delicately definable heavy tones drivinging synth odysseys. This intense darkness left the mind in search of the proverbial tunneled light.
Surprises were found at the Dome on Friday, Flying Lotus made his second appearance and consecutively maxed out capacity at the Dome, no surprise there, but, some hardcore Lotus fans mentioned feeling cheated, suggesting it was more of a DJ set than a live one. Biggest shocks came from the act preceding Flying Lotus, Nightwave. If you don't know her, get learning! A solid producer from the LuckyMe collective who, for some reason, has yet to be fully recognised for what talent she has, and what a talent she has. Neither was there a foot was not tapping nor a head not nodding as she leveled the Dome on Friday afternoon. Arguably, this could have been the event that left some of those unimpressed at the Lotus show.
By Saturday, the day show was getting slower to start up as several of the pubic were still reeling from the two days before. But in festival fortitude we soldiered on. Spirits were getting higher as the afternoon progressed when Sonar Hall was host to Cornelius presenting Salyu x Salyu, who have been aptly described as beautiful noise. Comprised of musicians at the back, and four female singers in the front pouring their lungs out to a hypnotised audience, sublimely developing into a fun set with light funkadelics and coy sexuality. In the mean time, the Sonar Village was graced by Darkside, the New York based multi-genre experimental ensemble. Mixing jazz and rock with dub and psychedelia, completed with the Spanish sunshine and the beer on the green, the craving for the Sonar by Night session was starting to creep in.
The Days of Sonar offered intensity, enjoyment and even relaxation at times but nothing during those days could have prepared anyone for the onslaught of what was to come at Sonar by Night. On Friday, as tens of thousands descended upon the Fira Gran Via on the outskirts of the city, the air of anticipation was palpable. It was a strange feeling, like we were all awaiting some natural disaster but wanted front row seats. Sonar by Night encompassed all things 'night', all things provocative and occasionally horrific, the things parents tell their children to scare them from going out at night.
We were in our element.
Taking an early slot at 11pm, cubics and geometrics took centre stage at the Sonar Club for Amon Tobin's awe-inspiring piece of audio/visual technology. By now you'll have heard of “ISAM”, Tobin's 2011 album with visuals as far out as his music, albeit, a scene that's definitely not one for everyone. Drawing on influences of minimalism, monolithic soundscapes, industrial rock and metal, this live set is a glowing example of where we can expect visual art in music to be going. Truly extraordinary! Starting 45 minutes later at the Sonar Pub, Lana Del Rey made both her Spanish and festival debut. With a charm exceeded only by her voice, jaws were dropped to the floor as “Blue Jeans”, “Million Dollar Man” and of course “Video Games” pierced the night.
As Friday night progressed in renowned chemical messiness, the night saw some ups and downs with the British acts taking the lead. Famed for his Ibiza contributions, Richie Hawtin powered through an hour and a half set, rising and falling in his unrelenting techno style, taking his audience past dizzying hights to a confetti finale. The power of his set was not lost on the following act, Untold, whose less than progressive visuals couldn't quite follow Hawtin and the Sonar Club saw a mass exodus. Tough break for the Dutch DJ who turned out a rhythmic set of varied tempos. Squarepusher followed Untold at the Club but his quirky experimental style also never seemed to draw the crowd back. Although, 4:30 in the morning may not be the best time to unleash the bewildering and progressive idiosyncrasies of this Essex lad.
Simultaneously filling his venue at the Sonar Pub was ex-Housemartin and electronic pioneer, Fatboy Slim. Very little can prepare the mind or body for a Fatboy Slim set of unbridled chaos both on stage and in the crowd. Fast and melodic, rhythmic and hedonistic with a light show nostalgic of club life in the 90's, something Cook himself was a defining contributor. Sampling some of his own personal classics, Rockafeller Skank, Praise You and Bird of Pray saw the night peak with little left to do but go to our respective homes and recharge for the next day.
Crowds massed once again on the Gran Via for Sonar's closing evening. There were early sing-a-longs from The Roots at Sonar Pub and New Order at Sonar Club which gave the start of the night a welcome boost of energy. New Order played through all their classics, nothing very new but that's not what they were here for. This was a special experience, but a predictable show from the Manchester boys. The Roots, a band full of show men, were a festival highlight. Funky beats from two percussionists, a deep brass section with a tuba, melodic guitars and hip-hop vocals were accompanied by their usual clowning antics and even a rendition of Sweet Child of Mine. The night continued to go from strength to strength and later at the Sonar Pub, London based Hot Chip took the stage to blow minds left, right and centre. Much debate has followed the band since their inception, questioning their innovation against derivation but such arguments were made redundant by their powerful live show. After banging out some old classics with Over and Over and Ready for the Floor, there wasn't a dry t-shirt in the venue.
Directly following at the Pub was Mary Anne Hobbs back to back with Blawan for an hour long DJ set to which Blawan dominated to a stronger degree. Hobbs playing heavy on the bass but somewhat cautiously in comparison to Blawan who drew on experiments from RnB to heavy techno. At 3am in the Sonar Club, we were spectators of dance music's most eery piece of head-gear, Deadmau5. The site of the over-sized, mouse-shaped, led covered mask is hardly done justice by photographs. Baring witness to this spectacle is the only way to ensure nothing will be lost in your transfixion. The whole set was an electronic master-piece, complementing intelligent production with a well timed light show, top marks for the Canadian.
On the other side of the complex, Modeselektor were taking the stage at the Sonar Pub. In classic German efficiency, the duo were quick to get the crowd on side with a massive response from their TTC collaboration “2000007”, alongside the original animated monkey visuals, which are genius alone in their simplicity. Their characteristic brand of electronic hip-hop and multilayered techno commenced after some efforts with the Spanish language. Their presence, humour and music capped the whole weekend.
Sonar 2012 was more than just a music festival, but an experience. Tremendous efforts on all fronts from organisation to the artists and the public, making it ever clearer why more and more British and Irish music lovers are choosing foreign festivals. And as the sun came up over Laurent Garnier and his new band L.B.S on sunday morning, the incandescence of Sonar 2012 went dimmer and burned out for one more year.
Published on 22 June 2012 by shanefennelly
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