I know it was last month now, but I do have a very good excuse. I’ve been on holiday pretty much since then, lapping it up in the Mediterranean sunshine (still reading?). In fact, then location of this festival must account for part of its success. I’ll explain…
As a punter, the fact that you can fly to Spain cheaper than the cost of a cab home across London, is a big draw. Then the fact that, although I can be spoilt for choice with superstar international DJs and bands at home, I almost certainly can’t watch them in 30 degree heat with a nice COLD beer (and one that costs less then £3). The result of this feel good factor? I spent the whole long weekend with a huge smile on my face before I even heard a single beat! So by the time the music started thumping, it was like our own clubbers’ paradise.
Thursday, Sonar by Day. An essential meeting point if you hope to find anyone sober and having slept the night before. I was very impressed with the space they put together there, and the two outdoor sound stages didn’t clash at all. From the chilled electronic funk of Little Dragon, to the grimier hip hop beats of Chacos Brodas, this was perfect sunshine listening. As the evening drew in, Bass Clef put on a fantastic show, epitomising Sonar’s theme of genre bending by fusing his bass, beats and breaks with a, erm… live trombone! It worked though, and you can find some decent video clips knocking around t’interweb of all these guys.
Friday night saw the enormous Fira Gran Via complex opened up to host a whole wealth of talent. A live show from Madness kicked the party of to a great start, plenty of silly dancing to Baggy Trousers and the like, and then it was on to catch some of BC & JC vs DE. Jamie’s energy was fantastic; it was great to watch someone have so much fun performing, and completely lose himself in the music… to the point that I started thinking Darren had slipped something in his drink! You could see the kind of live improvisation that you get with The Bays, and the whole ensemble built the tension very well, and the end of their set came all too soon. And so it was on to Diplo, again a perfect example of the cross-genre fusing. Sometimes Hip Hop, sometimes fidgety Switch-esque beats, sometimes booty bass (whatever that is), and sometimes indescribable, but always the kind of tunes that strike a raw chord and make you get up and shake a leg. Following form that, Justice and their usual industrial French funk were great at times, although sometimes it was just too much. A lot of people enjoyed the variation of Diplo, and the dance-ability of his tunes, and some of the flow was lost when you were met with a wall of white noise and distorted guitar loops.
This didn’t disappoint me too much, as in the next arena was one of my personal favourites, Roisin Murphy. Having seen her live a couple of times now, I knew a few tracks from the last album, but still enjoyed the show she put on, and the rest of the band was on fine form too. After a snack break, it was outside for a good couple of hours of the Minus collective. Troy Pierce kept a good groove going, but for me Magda let it down. I know this kind of set is meant to be very subtle and the simple breaks and drops make it, but she hardly ever let a track actually drop, annoyingly fiddling with the EQs. Richie Hawtin was much more up my street, chunkier beats, rolling basslines and tracks that invited you to get your head down and jack your body along. The crowd, being a mix of English and Spanish, were absolutely loving it, both countries currently enjoying a trend of records and DJs of this ilk. Finally, around 5am and pretty exhausted, we thought a round on the bumper cars (!) and a few piano house classics from the legendary Frankie Knuckles would pick us up, and so it did. Nothing like getting the bus home humming ‘Where Love Lives’.
Saturday night started by meeting up with some DJ & producer friends for a dip in the pool and then on to dinner. My main focus at Sonar By Night was to be Freerange Records, pioneers of UK deep house. Arrinving early, I had a bit of time to check out French DJ, Chloe. Although there was some great melodic stuff going on, it was far too laid back for me, and too slow for a night time vibe I thought. So I went to see Yazoo for a short while. Having refoprmed after 25 years, maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe we are so used to the way that music production has moved on since, but the songs didn’t do it for me, bar ‘’. Maybe I was just fidgety and waiting for the Freerange guys to start. Cue Jimpster back outside to give my night a kick up the arse. Still deep and lush, but with a real chunky groove and a definite ‘sound of now’, I knew what to expect, but it still delights me everytime I hear it. Jimpster passed the baton to Milton Jackson, with a live show of his forthcoming album tracks, and the time flew by.
Tonight, I had to leave around 3am to head over to the OM Records party at La Terrazza. Unfortunately this means I didn’t get to stick around for Jeff Mills and his Rings of Saturn experiance. That’s the thing with the whole sonar weekend – there’s barely a chance to see all the acts at the official shindigs, without the endless offerings of other parties, beach gatherings and label clubnights! On the plus side, I arrived at OM to the last couple of Mike Monday tracks, and then Jesse Rose jumped on and destroyed the place. Every tune was driving along with just the right amount of funk, pinned together with squelching beats and an Unhealthy dose of bass. Closing the party would be Justin Martin, all the way from San Fran, and yet more house music of the highest pedigree. After that, well, let’s just say it was one of those special afterparties that you don’t always get to hear about 
There are certain things you can do in Barcelona that you can’t get away with at most UK festivals; dance on the beach with friends and muchos sangria; dine on amazing seafood paella and wine opposite the festival and spend just £8; Too hot at Sonar by day? Go dip in the Sea, just 15 mins walk away. As I said, this makes for such a different atmosphere to English festivals, but I also realise that they have the absolute cream of European and US artists, and seeing any one of about 25 headliners is special in it’s own right. Combined with some fantastic home-grown talent (and the ice cold beer), it’s easy to see why Sonar is such a success every year. I know I’ll certainly be back.
(pls note, the sonar by night pics are from the official website // www.sonar.es)
Lee Jarvis.
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