Light and sound, party and relaxation came together on the first day of Sónar, which opened its doors yesterday Thursday, later than usual and with the main stage, the SonarVillage, completely covered, precautions so that the first visitors do not end up melted by the stinging heat in the afternoon, during the start of the event that will host 250 performances in three days.
It was Sergi Botella, a producer from Egar, who was in charge of inaugurating this 30th edition using his vinyls at the warm start of a day where audiovisual shows had their share of prominence with proposals by Nosaj Thing, Kode9 and Oneohtrix Point Never. Although the icing on the cake was put by Black Coffee, the well-known South African DJ at Ibiza nights, who closed the day by making all the attendees dance. The DJ, who only plays with his right arm (an intentional hit-and-run reduced the mobility of his left), offered his danceable deep house rhythms that he mixed with amapiano and other African rhythms. Mixes that have made him one of the most in-demand artists on the scene, who has collaborated with names like Usher, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta, and above all he has made those in front of him dance, as the packed Village was able to see last night.
Before this triumphant closing, sounds for all tastes could be heard at the Montjuïc venue, such as the Afro-Caribbean of Chica Acosta, cumbia and reggaeton that the English Manuka Honey also works to show that Latin is also in the clubs. Meanwhile, in the SonarHall, the Barcelonan Kyne was mixing R
To continue with the female presence, the trio Kitty110, LaBlackie and L’Beel landed, three women, three different characters who alternated on stage to interpret post-pandemic street stories through rap, drill and dancehall.
After the dance there was room for experimentation by the hand of Marina Herlop, a singer, composer and producer trained in classical music who has opted for electronic music. She arrives at Sónar with Pripyat, the third album by the Catalan, where she uses an invented language just like Sigur Rós. Produced by Pan, the label of the Venezuelan Arca, its sound has been compared to that of Björk. Piera’s appeared on stage accompanied by the Tarta Relena, a trio of flutists and a percussionist, and wearing showy false pigtails to show her dreamy and introspective music to the curiosity of SonarHall.
It was in the same space –and with great expectation– that Daniel Lopatin, known as Oneohtrix Point Never, presented Rebuilds, an audiovisual show where images melt between beams of light to the rhythm of synthesized music that transforms its textures into a journey through all the emotions that left more than one surprised, eager to dance more and contemplate less. A proposal very different from that of Tohji, the Japanese rapper who, after a long intro by his dj, satisfied the public with his rhythmic mix of styles, seasoned with video game music.
To continue investigating, you had to squeeze into the packed Stage D, where the American Nosaj Thing presented his new work, Continua, with the elegant tone that has made him famous in Los Angeles, and which he presented in an audiovisual show in collaboration with Japanese Daito Manabe. Soft and enveloping rhythms accompanied by images that invite calm. Opposite emotions to the rupture proposed by Kode9 in Escapology, with which the Scotsman abducted the audience of the auditorium (Complex D) with an audiovisual epic of cerebral and disruptive sound, at times cacophonous, in which he recounted the separation of Scotland from England for go in search of the stars
It was past nine and the lawn of the Village was abuzz with Charlotte Adigéry
