Sonar 2012: te amamos, or How We Love You.

Sonar is a unique and large-scale festival with a many-year history. Every June in Barcelona this event brings together several tens of thousands of fans of electronic music and contemporary art from all over the world. Year after year the line-up surprises guests with a large number of new names and live performances. The special programme SonarPro, for all those who are interested in creating music, draws to Barcelona not only music lovers but also professional producers. Sonar is a magnificent opportunity for the exchange of information in the music industry. Face to face. Person to person. Here the roads cross of all those who have at least some relation to the world of contemporary culture and a sincere, inexhaustible interest in what is happening on the electronic scene.

We visited the 19th Sonar festival, lived through three rich and interesting days in Barcelona, and now we are ready to share with our friends just how, exactly, it all was and what has remained in our memory and our heart.

The daytime programme of Sonar took place in the old district of the city, on the grounds of the centre of contemporary culture (MACBA and CCCB). The exhibition of the museum of contemporary art was open to the festival's guests; in the halls of the centre the exhibition part of the SonarPro programme unfolded, as well as SonarHall. Outdoors were the main stage, SonarVillage, and the dance-floor tent from Red Bull Music Academy - SonarDome. Fifty steps from the main venues an experimental dance floor, SonarComplex, was organised.

On the first, as indeed on the subsequent days, the programme was opened by the most interesting local artists: Microfeel performed hypnotic dub in the inner courtyard, while in SonarHall the musician D.Forma gave preference to experimental techno and noise. The greater part of the line-up was filled with the names of producers writing bass music: a live performance by Flying Lotus, lapalux, DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad, and a DJ-set from Kutmah, Doc Daneeka. We were impressed by the unusual and vivid Daedelus Archimedes Show. Later its creator, a true gentleman, Alfred Darlington, shared his impressions with us:

"Barcelona is a wonderful city in itself, cultured, stylish. But Sonar is something completely different, special. Sonar is one of the most important music festivals in the world. It won't sound strange if I say that I am very happy to play here. For me it is a great honour to perform before such an emotional audience today. The Spanish, as I've noticed, are generally rather relaxed people, and at the same time they take a great deal of energy from you, giving themselves fully to your music. It's magic. And I also see a lot of tourists here. I think everything happening today plays a big role for the development of electronic music as a whole."

We returned to SonarHall... and it was so unexpected to discover a full-fledged live band, sounding very well-rehearsed, professional and emotional! The creative collective Mostly Robot struck a chord with us. The company Native Instruments initially gathered the most talented musicians together in order to create a promo project demonstrating all the capabilities of their products. In fact Mostly Robot turned out to be a most powerful outfit, worthy of performing on the largest festival stages. We would be happy to one day see Mostly Robot in Russia too.

The adornment of the main stage on the first day was the mysterious and youthful Briton Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The young man's outrageous appearance and his love for techno music clearly found a response in the hearts of the audience.

The vinyl set by the charming Eltron John could not fail to be memorable for us; the whole Red Bull Music Academy dance floor was positively going wild!

The Brazilian school of techno presented a new name - Ricardo Donoso - the unhurried, deep sound of his set resounded under the vaults of the SonarComplex church.

In the evening, in conclusion of the programme, we had the chance to listen to When Saints Go Machine and to reminisce nostalgically about last Moscow autumn.

The second day seemed to us calmer and more relaxed. It was hot, everyone was enjoying the wonderful weather and music. Having chatted with visitors to the festival, we remained satisfied: the current generation understands the main protagonists of the electronic scene rather well! The absolute majority of guests were delighted by John Talabot and patiently awaited the evening live performance by Nina Kraviz. It was pleasant to meet professional musicians amid the many-faced crowd of the festival: Space Dimension Controller, Die Antwoord, When Saints Go Machine, Alfred Darlington and other figures of the electronic scene openly and amicably communicated with fans, gave autographs to their most attentive fans and, on par with ordinary guests, languished under the scorching sun of Barcelona.

We were full of pride and delight after Nina Kraviz's performance! The emotional, powerful music and stunning, artistic delivery evoked stormy emotions in the listeners! The RBMA dance floor was packed to capacity.

The night programme Sonar by Night was opened with his set by Eduardo de la Calle; we were very glad to get to know Eduardo personally the next day. Besides the fact that he is a wonderful person and DJ, right now Eduardo is actively engaged in the development of electronic music in Spain and is creating a film about the world techno scene.

Then on the main venue Amon Tobin performed - an astonishing show, watch it and see for yourself how it was! The ideal combination of visual effects with complex music plunged the crowd into a state of trance. We watched one of the most complex and unusual performances of the festival.

SonarPub and SonarLab (wonderful open-air venues) competed with each other: at 23:30 Nicolas Jaar (live) began his performance, and at 23:45 the violins struck up and Lana Del Rey sang. The 44100 team split in opinions and taste preferences: the boys to the right, the girls to the left. We met, as it happened, at the left speaker. Moving about the space of the nighttime Sonar, we stopped each time in the lights of the mini-dance-floor SonarCar (where you could both grab a bite and ride electric cars). An excellent alternative, it must be said, to the powerful sound and the stuffy crowd!

Richie Hawtin in SonarClub lifted the curtain a little on the mystery of his summer parties ENTER. on Ibiza. Friendly Fires blew up the SonarPub dance floor from their very first songs. The charge of energy received was picked up by James Murphy, combining in his set classic techno hits and novelties from young producers. The most long-awaited performance for many guests was that of Fatboy Slim. Here is who a good hundred contemporary young artists should take an example from.

Of course we again wanted to listen to Nina Kraviz, this time with a DJ set, and this night ended to the shimmering of techno and house music in a many-thousand crowd. Tired but satisfied, we set off home.

The third and final day of the festival turned out to be rich and vivid. Besides live performances and DJ sets, we dropped in on the presentation of Twitter DJ by Richie Hawtin, and got stuck there, having chatted with Richie after the master class.

The sweet Spanish girl Logical Nonsense conquered the public from the very start with her invigorating set; from midday merry dances reigned at SonarVillage, then Discodromo took over the baton, diluting house with disco samples.

And again a pleasant discovery - a trio from Canada: drums, bass guitar and synths... The audience was in euphoria, dancing to edits of hits by MGMT, Jay Z, MIA and the musicians' own tracks, by Keys N Krates.

Expected, and at the same time mysterious, was the performance of the project Darkside. The duo of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington. Friends, like-minded people. The music sent shivers down the spine and carried you off into cosmic space.

All the free space of the SonarHall stage was given over to Salyu x Salyu, a collective from Japan. The musicians used a colossal quantity of instruments and devices, from an iPhone to a harp. The mastery of singing of the miniature Japanese women conquered the whole hall.

The daytime programme on the RBMA stage was closed by the legendary DJ Harvey, who demonstrated old-school mastery in all its glory.

The night programme was no less packed and captivating. From ten in the evening, that is, from the very opening of the nighttime space, on the SonarPub stage The 2 Bears set things ablaze (there's hardly another way to put it), gathering in the first minutes a couple of dozen fans in bear hats. And although their performance was designated as a DJ-set, the duo performed the hit The Bear Hug live and with this finally sent the grateful fans into a state of euphoria.

It was simply impossible to leave the SonarPub dance floor; right after The 2 Bears the stylish fashionistas The Roots appeared on stage. A real gang, if you like, "swag" in the most correct and good sense of this word.

Meanwhile, on the main dance floor, the heated fans of Die Antwoord awaited their favourites. They waited, it seems, a little over 25 minutes. It was amusing to watch how young girls with ears a la DeadMau5 in the front row turned around disappointed and went off into the foyer to while away another two hours until their idol's performance (scheduled for 3 a.m.). Finally, the lights went out, the voices in the crowd of spectators died down and the expressive South African collective slowly but surely stepped onto the stage. First, of course, appeared the mysterious DJ Hi-Tek, and after a long and sumptuous beat little Yo-Landi and her faithful Ninja came before the public. Die Antwoord performed with extreme self-irony, professionally; a couple of times Ninja gave himself to the crowd in the literal sense of the word, that is, he jumped into the thick of the hands of the front rows. Photographers, fans and even the security looked very happy and satisfied.

A top-class show was put on, of course, by Hot Chip - and perhaps the best decision would have been to organise their performance precisely on the main stage, and not on the "pass-through" SonarLab. The enormous number of Hot Chip fans barely fit on the venue. In this battle for the viewer Die Antwoord (their show ran in parallel with the Hot Chip concert), with their overflowing energy, we must admit, suffered a fiasco.

The Hyperdub showcase (Cooly G, Kode 9, Dva) got rather lost somewhere between the merry dances in the SonarCar space, the complex but memento-and-champagne-generous live performance by the Berliners Modeselektor on the SonarPub venue and the Magnificent Mouse DeadMau5, who ruled for a couple of hours straight over the bodies of thousands of people writhing in dance. Of course, no one wanted to leave the space of Sonar By Night, and by early morning everyone achieved what they wanted. By the performance of Laurent Garnier the front rows of listeners were replenished with talkative and excited Frenchmen, the greater part of the public moved to the main dance floor. In the dim stage light Luciano ruled the ball. The faces of many, many young people radiated sincere admiration for what was happening. It seemed that this ideal morning afterparty of Sonar would be endless...

But of course, all good things come to an end. And here it is already Sunday morning, an airplane to Moscow with a 4-hour layover in a French port town awaits us. The tired but satisfied foreign guests of the festival are probably also hurrying home... with the exception of that part of the eternal party-goers who, after Luciano, headed to the beach, and then dived deeper into the whirlpool of Barcelona's discotheques. From which it is not easy, of course, to get out.

The Sonar festival in this sense appears as a unique event, allowing you not so much to spend all your energy on dancing or consuming, as to learn the new names of young producers who - you'll see - will set the tone for the coming music season. The chance to see the most talented artists from all over the world, to meet an idol in a crowd of visitors just like you, with multicoloured bracelets. To pass through the madness of the exhibition works of creative students of the local art institutes, to enlighten yourself, combining the pleasant with the useful. To get acquainted with the slightly naive but on the whole very good-natured locals, well-versed in music. Or to meet compatriots, as usual, in a 50-50 ratio: one person lazy, sleepy, and one - having caught a star, and because of this all the more demanding of attention and respect for himself. Which, from the outside, looks very amusing, of course. Everyone feels good at Sonar. Your soul has room, your eyes are pleased, your ears are joyful.

Sonar is growing up, becoming more serious and "mature" from year to year. The status Electronic is changing to Advanced, the SonarPro programme expands and is replenished with an even greater number of complex master classes and presentations. Sonar traditionally opens for thousands of tourists and locals a summer programme of fun, new acquaintances and fresh music. And combined with the amazing hospitality of the Spanish people and the pleasant relaxed atmosphere of Barcelona, this festival makes newcomers fall in love with it and once again finds a little place in the heart of the regular guests who come here every June.

And we, of course, love Sonar.

Photo gallery Sonar 2012