Sonar 2006

– the legendary and probably the most famous summer festival of electronic music. This year it turns no less than 13 years old. In that time Sonar has become a living legend. All progressive musicians and fans of current electronic pop music strive to get there. Strictly speaking, Sonar isn't a music festival but a forum of contemporary art. Besides the concerts and discos, there are film and video screenings and much else with the 'art' prefix. But of course the main thing at Sonar is still the music. The festival is divided into two parts: Sonar by Day — daytime concerts, for the most part by little-known groups — and Sonar by Night, nighttime raves featuring the most celebrated DJs and acts. People go to Sonar by Day for fresh sensations and new names, and to Sonar by Night to let loose. On top of that, Sonar has something like a professional exhibition called Pro. This year the 44100 Hz portal is taking part in it for the first time.

June 15–17

Barcelona. Sonar by Day takes place in the building complex of the Santa Monica Centre of Contemporary Art (3 stages). Sonar by Night at the Fira Gran Via M2 complex (4 stages).

As is usual at Sonar, on the first days a multitude of Spanish artists and DJs perform here. On the first Sonar by Day they're diluted by the Japanese Kanta Horio and Marina Yanagisawa and a couple of little-known English acts. As the main star of the first day — the wildly popular Swedish duo The Knife. There's no Sonar by Night on the first day of the festival. On the second day, among the well-known acts, the Spaniards Tape perform, as do the radicals Pole and Lairs. After them, Senior Coconaut and his orchestra will pacify the crowd.
Sonar by Night this time is diverse and very dense: in a single night, at different stages, the techno purist Jeff Mills, the eclectic Laurent Garnier, the glamorous Tiga and the meaningful DJ Shadow will all perform. Closing the night on every dancefloor will be the mainstream moguls Satoshi Tomiie, Sasha and Kenny Dope. It's clear that few will be able to go to the daytime show after that. So the third Sonar by Day is all newcomers or conceptualists like Schneider TM. But the last Sonar by Night is a real feast for the techno fan. A large landing party from Berlin's Bipitch Control will be swept aside by grandees like Miss Kittin and Dave Clark, and the festival will conclude with a jam performance by Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos.

Tickets get pricier year on year and will now cost a rather considerable sum.
A General Pass — a ticket to all Sonar events — will run to 130 euros. A ticket to a single Sonar by Day is 25, and to a Sonar by Night 35 euros.

A Spanish tourist visa is fairly easy to obtain. True, you need documents from work, a hotel booking and insurance. The consular fee is 35 euros. Russian travel agencies offer to arrange a Spanish visa for 115–150 euros.

It's high season in Barcelona right now, so hotels are quite expensive: for a double room in a decent four-star hotel like the Front Martinum you'll have to pay around 120 euros a night. The city has plenty of inexpensive hotels and guesthouses with rates from 60 euros for two, for example the Lloret hotel or Hostal San Medin.

A non-stop Aeroflot flight Moscow–Barcelona round trip will cost 700 USD.

Sonar!