Sonar 2009

Dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip / Photo by M. McCabeBY: MARK MC CABE

Editors note: Mark McCabe, special contributor to Style Wylde, is a British writer currently residing in Auckland, New Zealand.

Barcelona's International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art, Sonar, is held in the heart of the city for three days every June.  The day time hosts four stages, a professional demo area and an exhibition space. The extensive musical range has something for everyone so you can sit back in the sun enjoying a beer or you can get up and dance. The night time hosts three stages and is a different level. Running from about 11.00pm to whenever it finishes, which is often 7.00 or 8.00am with the sun rising.

When Sonar announced one of the headline acts for 2009 would be the reformed Orbital I was stunned. What would I do? I now live in New Zealand so it was a big task but then again it’s not every day that Orbital  play their first live show in five years.  I called my friend Keith.   Then I called the airlines, we were going.

Thursday was an easy afternoon with only a Sonar by Day session, plenty of time to enjoy the sun and relax.

Friday was greeted with great anticipation. This was it, Sonar for real, two 18 hour long days of music. We attended a professional seminar (there is a serious side to the festival) and then sitting in the sun we looked at the ‘menu’ and decided our plan, who we’d see and when. From live acts like the Scottish hip-hop boy band Young Fathers and one of the rising stars La Roux to lesser known acts and DJs from around the world such as The Bomb Squad, and Mike Slott . A great start to the weekend proper.

Friday night I gave Grace Jone s a wide berth, just not my cup of tea. Not to worry, there was plenty more. The BBC Radio 1 stage hosted a dubstep night and then finished off with Erol Alkan. I spent most of my time at one of the other stages where Little Boots played a great set to an appreciative audience followed by Late of the Pier who impressed. The highlight of the night for me was Buraka Som Sistema, an African/South American influenced act who’ve recently released on the Fabric label in the UK. They were outstanding, fast and loud and the crowd loved it. At one point they got 50 girls up on the stage and it went off.

And so to Saturday. The daytime was a bit more subdued than Friday but that was a good thing, we had a big night coming. James Pants took out the prize for best act of the day and it even included some impromptu karaoke.

Sonar by Night kicked off in style with Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, a British act that you really should check out. They were amazing, working the crowd, building them up and then sending them on their way. Next up we headed over to see Animal Collective and straight after that was Beardy Man, a British beatboxer who blows you away.

When Orbital finally took the stage, they played to around 30,000 for almost two hours. All the favourites came out and more; Impact, Chime, Belfast, Satan, Lush, Way Out, Nothing Left and ending on Doctor Who. The sound was amazing and the lights/show supported perfectly. It was worth the trip over, All 24,000 miles of it.

The next Sonar will take place June 17^th- 19^th 2010. See you there.