Sónar Chicago kicks off

Chicago (ACN).- Sónar Chicago opened its doors this Thursday with performances by musician and producer Jimmy Edgar, the scratch-rock band The Slew with Kid Koala, and the Dutch DJ Martyn. The inaugural show also brought Catalans Bradien and Faraón to the stage. The performances took place in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion within Chicago’s emblematic Millennium Park. Enric Palau, co-director of Sónar, told ACN that he was thrilled about the project and called the North-American edition a “presentation letter”. “We want to grow and establish ourselves in Chicago in a natural way”, he said. Concerts will continue on Friday and Saturday in the Chicago Cultural Center.

The programme for the 10th and 11th of September will include a show from Ben Frost, one of the most acclaimed sound experimenters of the moment, the New Yorker Lesley Flanigan, the Californian Nosaj Thing, the Catalan musician bRUNA and the German experimental musician Oval.

Enric Palau explained that in order to adapt the festival for the North-American market, “we had to work more towards artistic transversality, on more visual and experimental aspects”. Palau is convinced that the success of the adventure has just begun: “Chicago is possibly one of the most European and innovative cities in the United States, with influential musical currents that are international referents, from post-rock to vanguard jazz”.

The objective is to bring the philosophy of the Barcelona festival to Chicago. The elements that have made Sónar a world referent include its ambitious programme full of electronic experimentation performed in unique spaces.

It is not the first time that the festival has been held outside of Catalonia. Over the last 8 years, it has been hosted in 24 cities that pay testimony to the innovative and experimental philosophy of Sónar Barcelona. Since its first international edition in London (2002-2005, 2009-2010), the festival “is almost an annual event in the city now and a true warm up for Sónar Barcelona.” The festival has also taken place in Tokyo (2002,2004,2006), Rome (2003), Sao Paulo (2004), Buenos Aires (2006), Seoul (2006) and Frankfurt (2007).

Last year Sónar was held both in New York City and Washington, D.C.  as part of the ‘Catalan Days’ conferences put on by the Institut Ramon Llull. The Chicago edition is supported by the Institute as well as the Delegation of the Catalan Government in the United States.