A true shame that the weekend I was most looking forward to in Barcelona fell just as the weather turned and hit my immune system at its weakest. Although I missed Mostra‘s opening ceremony at Casa Montjuic and Friday’s Vall d’Hebron launch, I heard from fellow witnesses that the first gigs were found to be something close to ethereal, cleansing and, as for the rest of the festival, if mesmerising doesn’t land as a good enough word, prodigious might just about do it for me.
Dania & Rupert Clerveaux did the honours by officially cutting Mostra’s ribbon in front of a restless crowd who didn’t quite know how to dampen down the excitement of the festival’s arrival. The time it took to hypnotise this public into a state of enchantment was exceptionally short, however. The pair’s ambient music, combining languid drone, layered vocals, haunting flute loops and string samples—that quite literally defied all laws of genre categorisation—managed to lead the listeners somewhere far from the present moment and deep into many strains of wondrous thought.
This sorcerous performance was followed by The Transcendence Orchestra, known for wearing ceremonial attire in dungeon-like undertones, delivering their deeply immersive navigation through time and space. Having started as a way to investigate the effect of tone on consciousness, the duo always round out their improvised performances with such fluidity that the holy presence they’ve insinuated in their repertoire becomes all too real.
It is important to point out that, out of a programme in which every gig I managed to see completely amazed me, were I not to have missed what was widely considered the weekend’s highlight (which, fell on the Friday I did not attend), my conclusion would not have been any different. In fact, it widened any sort of limited horizons I might not have identified in the first place.
Friday included the opening slot of Melina Serser‘s experimental and electronic textures, which no doubt reflected her obsession with intricate sound—you can see for yourself on her ongoing live radio online (in case you fancy checking it out). Elsewhere, sets from Upsammy, Rachael, ABSIS and Estrato Aurora‘s live performance were among those repeatedly cited as standouts alongside Angel Molina, who, after a brief encounter on the dancefloor, described Mostra as simply “necessary”.
What became evident after the next few days was thatAngel Molina’s previous statement was entirely true. Beyond the Olympic Pavilion’s efficient setting—dancefloor in the central bowl, hangout areas on the auditorium stairs, and the panned-out terrace above the seats where different labels and crews were promoting their projects with laid-out synths, cassettes, printed vinyl, production books, and you name it—the musical passion stayed close at hand throughout the successive sets, and the sound quality, together with the remarkable musical selections coming from behind the booth, kept dragging me to the front row of the dancefloor.
If it wasn’t for TOÉ’s hypnotic, warp‑laden breaks, immersive textures, and dub‑tinged rhythmic pulses, I might not have bounced onto another obsessive rampage down the psychedelic hole in techno this past week. It was also Timnah’s fractured, subterranean rhythms that kept that same energy on the floor, a feel that wove into the shadowy interplay of the Aerae B2B Presha set. Both their selections flickered between textured grooves and unexpected swells that just warped so deeply they hit many spots.
Before Russell’s immersive mastery anchored it all with his dense pulses, leaving the floor suspended in a collective trance on Sunday, Surgeon really proved his Birmingham legacy the night before. With a sound that now almost inadvertently foreshadows his defining UK techno influence in the 90’s, the crowd was well aware of what they were currently witnessing, and were too far gone in the zone to inhibit any genuine dance moves.
A UK nostalgia that panged heavily when Al Blayney rolled in with the atmospheric gems and deep textures that really did serve as a palette cleanser for those of us returning to the bowl on Sunday morning. By the time XDB took the reins for the grand finale, the room had shifted into its most sophisticated gear. With a beautiful precision and an unmatched ear for groove, he tied the weekend’s diverse threads together, leaving us puppets on the floor all too aware that it was Monday’s eve and had to eventually call it a night.
Ultimately, if this piece hasn’t proved its words worthy, Mostra 2026 confirmed what many of us already suspected every time the festival announces its returning presence every year. This being the fifth edition of the event, you can observe how both attendees and artists have an affectionate relationship with the space. Returning to this hub in the scene which allows artistic freedom in electronic music as well as the nurturing of frequent acquaintances, a genuine optimism that Gilles Wasserman reflects on quite accurately on his blog, breathes clear as day.
In other words, not only is this an essential portal to bring electronic music to the right ears, it’s a perfectly curated playground for the sonically obsessed introverts.