Barcelona’s Sónar music festival set to start, with eclectic line-up and ambitious tech event
The 22nd edition of Barcelona’s Sónar festival – one of Europe's most well-known electronic music events – is about to kick off, taking place between the 18th and 20th of June. This year, Sónar's activities are divided into two main locations: Sónar by Day and Sónar+D (the professional event on digital creative industries) will be held in Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuic venue, with Sónar by Night taking place at the Fira GranVia L'Hospitalet venue. The festival features 147 concerts (morning, afternoon and night sessions) in addition to 120 activities related to Sónar+D, which this year makes an ambitious leap forward in comparison to previous editions. The eclectic 2015 line-up includes several internationally renowned artists. Among the most famous ones appearing on stage will be: The Chemical Brothers, Autechre, Skrillex, Hot Chip, Die Antwoord, Flying Lotus, Jamie XX, Arca and Duran Duran.
Barcelona (ACN).-The 22nd edition of Barcelona’s Sónar festival – one of Europe's most well-known electronic music events – is about to kick off, taking place between the 18th and 20th of June. This year, Sónar's activities are divided into two main locations: Sónar by Day and Sónar+D (the professional event on digital creative industries) will be held in Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuic venue, with Sónar by Night taking place at the Fira de GranVia L'Hospitalet venue. The festival features 147 concerts (morning, afternoon and night sessions) in addition to 120 activities related to Sónar+D, which this year makes an ambitious leap forward in comparison to previous editions. The eclectic 2015 line-up includes several internationally renowned artists. Among the most famous ones appearing on stage will be: The Chemical Brothers, Autechre, Skrillex, Hot Chip, Die Antwoord, Flying Lotus, Jamie XX, Arca and Duran Duran.
Created in 1994 as a pioneering cultural event, this prestigious festival combines the newest trends in dance and electronic music with the latest technological developments. Musicians, producers and cooperative projects from all over the world participate, with concerts and dj sets, showcases and talks following one after another for three consecutive days.
The Chemical Brothers and Autechre among this year's highlights
This year, the festival presents a top-quality line-up with some interesting highlights. In particular, The Chemical Brothers will premiere a spectacular show, conceived in collaboration with filmmaker Adam Smith in a performance that "promises to be an overwhelmingly ecstatic cinematic and sound experience", the festival's press release says. In addition, Autechre – the famous electronic music duo from Greater Manchester – will also return to Sónar, with a show testifying to their fundamental contribution to IDM (Intelligent Dance Music).
As in previous editions, the event will not only focus on electronica, leaving room for other genres as well: for example, pop and black music with New Zealand band Fat Freddy's Drop and pop-funk from Kindness, the solo project of British singer Adam Bainbridge. An audiovisual live show by English producer William Philips – known by his stage name Tourist – will also take place.
From the national electronic scene, three internationally representative artists have been selected to play: the Barcelona-based Spanish collective PXXR GVNG, described on Sónar's website as "the new national trap music heroes", together with Niño – a Barcelona-based producer from Valladolid – and Mans O, a 19-year-old producer from Barcelona.
Sonar+D to host 4,000 professionals and 2,000 companies from all over the world
Aside from the concerts and dj sets, Sonar+D – a parallel event on creativity and technological innovation – will be held. Conceived as an international professional conference and now in its 3rd edition, it brings together international experts and presents cutting-edge initiatives and tools in the fields of music, visuals, and interactive content and transmedia platforms. For three consecutive days, 4,000 professionals and 2,000 companies from all over the world will take part in the event, a remarkable leap forward on last year's figures. Sónar+D 2015 (formerly known as SonarPro) will be divided into four official areas: Congress, Exhibitions, Live Performance and Networking. Each one of them will host a range of different activities such as talks and workshops, a MarketLab on new generation technologies, installations and various MeetUp events.
Many of Sónar 2015 concerts will be streamed live
In partnership with the festival, Culturebox (the French national television streaming platform) will broadcast more than 35 Sónar 2015 concerts live, also providing content via Video On Demand after the festival. The live stream will be available worldwide through Culturebox's website, Sónar's website and several of the festival's main media partners. The online station iCat.cat will also broadcast the best live performances of Sónar 2015, including more than 50 concerts and dj sets, both from Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night. Several of the most important talks at Sónar+D will be broadcast live on the Sónar+D website.
In addition to the Barcelona event, Sónar also organises festivals each year in other cities throughout the world. In previous years, it has made pit stops in Reykjavik, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, New York, London, Cape Town, Frankfurt, Seoul, Lisbon, Lyon, Hamburg, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Oakland, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Osaka, among other destinations.