35 cities and 20 countries later, it was the turn of Sónar Lisboa and it was a huge success: 27,000 people from all over Europe enjoyed 3 days of music, art, conferences, and everything in between.
Friday
On Friday the doors of the Hub Criativo do Beato opened to kickstart the biggest Sónar+D hosted outside of Barcelona to date, with more than 30 activities over the whole weekend revolving around every aspect of music, art and technology, and especially Artificial Intelligence (AI).
While the conversations were flowing, thousands of attendees visited what was probably the highlight of Sonar+D, “Nati Infiniti”: a massive 4-stores installation by Alessandro Cortini built within an abandoned flour factory, with different sound frequencies on each floor that could only be combined from the last one.
Image: © Sónar Festival
Our musical journey started around midnight at Centro de Congressos de Lisboa, where the first thing that stroke us was the gigantic led screen behind the DJ booth and the size of the venue. The welcoming gig was by the hand of Imogen and her rave sounds got us into the right mood to enjoy one of the most expected shows of the festival: Stingray 313 LIVE. Stingray doesn’t need any introduction, he is a son of the Detroit techno scene of the 80s, a living legend. And as such he was able to surprise us with 1h of experimental music, full of broken rhythms and industrial sounds. Not everybody among the public liked it, but kudos to both Stingray and Sónar to bring such avant-garde to the main stage of a major festival at 1AM!
Speaking of living legends… Right after Stingray 313, Richie Hawtin got onto the stage to “duel” vinyl on vinyl “against” Héctor Oaks. The curiosity and waiting for this particular gig were very high: Hawtin, one of the most innovative and tech-savvy DJs on the scene, is “going back” to play vinyls with a vinyl master such as Héctor Oaks!
The setup itself was something one doesn’t see every day: the two DJs facing each other, with a mixer and 3 technics each, mixing one on top of the other everything from groovy techno, to acid, minimal.. What a show!
Image: © Sónar Festival
Although the energy was going through the roof and Charlotte de Witte was about to take over, it was time for us to make a move and to reach the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes for the closing act of our first night: Dixon b2b Trikk. The two put up an amazing musical journey during the following 2 hours, with the crowd at their feet dancing non-stop to their (darker thank usual) melodic techno sounds.
Saturday
Saturday’s schedule was long and intense, we have more than 12 hours of festival ahead and we decided to kickstart them with the Dj Set of The Blaze. We entered the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes around 17 and we couldn’t believe the amount of people ready to see The Blaze starting their act. That’s what you call a full house! The following hour and a half were filled with their own successes (Heaven, She, Juvenile) alternated with other famous (and sometimes a bit too heard) tunes. We were a bit disappointed with the narrative of the set, as well as the technical aspect of it, but we definitely can’t wait to see their LIVE act at Sónar Barcelona.
Moments later Time to Dance by The Shoes marked the end of the DJ Set of The Blaze, the Ecuadorian Nicola Cruz got on the stage of SonarHall and surprised everyone with a LIVE show characterized by higher BPMs and acid/electro notes, rather than his classic (old?) tribal and hypnotic sound.
As soon as the well-deserved standing ovation for Nicola Cruz was over, it was time to run to the outdoor area of the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes where India Jordan was setting the SonarVillage on fire! Starting with more of a house vibe, her set ended up resembling a proper rave, filled with breaks and an always-appreciated trance vibe.
Image: © Sónar Festival
We couldn’t ask for a better way to conclude our afternoon at Sónar by Day and we couldn’t wait to move from one amazing venue to another: as a matter of fact, the SonarPub stage of Sónar by Night was going to be held at the stunning Coliseu dos Recreios, a rounded theatre in the art of Lisbon that left each and every one of the attendees speechless.
If we had to make a ranking among the different stages of the festival, SonarPub would get away with the crown… The opening duties were given to Helena Guedes who left a Coliseu on its way to get filled to Leon Vynehall, whose LIVE performance was definitely one of the highlights of the festival (as well as him playing for 1 hour on his knees!).
Image: © Sónar Festival
When Chloé Robinson took over, we didn’t know what to expect, but it only took 2 tracks to get in love with her.. The dancefloor answered with great energy to her incredible set and the vibe was then maintained all night by both rRoxymore live (although much more introspective) and Floating Points (playing harder than what he used us to in the past).
If the night would end at this moment, we would have already been enthusiastic about it… But the best was yet to come and when Bicep got on stage, the Coliseu was ready to blow up. The Irish duo was able, once again, to put up an impressive performance and the combo of their music, the light show, and the uniqueness of the venue made it a really unforgettable experience… When the final notes of Apricots signed the end of the show, the crowd couldn’t believe what they had just experienced and stood still for several minutes hoping for more!
Image: © Sónar Festival
Sunday
On Sunday the afternoon at Pavilhão Carlos Lopes had all the traits to be a great one, with shows, among others, from Polo & Pan LIVE, Evan Baggs, Jayda G, and Overmono dj.
Unfortunately, though, our flight schedule was changed last minute and we were due for an early ending of this first, amazing, Portuguese edition of Sónar Festival.
We will be back next year for more, mark the dates: 31st of March to 2nd of April!
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