It was Carlos, our photographer, who said it to me: "Uri, man, Sónar has a special smell. A smell of Sónar and only Sónar." And he was right, because you enter Sónar and suddenly you are intoxicated by a fragrance that combines the freshness of euphoria and the sweetness of marijuana. Aromas that hypnotize your senses, transporting you to a state of mind of perpetual good vibes during the three days that Sónar lasts, both day and night, but especially during the day.
Sónar has a special smell, like the secret formula cologne used by all those people who are funnily different, interestingly eccentric (because Sónar is a festival of advanced music but also of colours and trends), diverse, tolerant, open and respectful. Yes, Carlos said that to me, and he was right, Sónar has a special smell. But because Sónar, even though the beers are outrageously expensive (one of the very few things to criticize in a festival that is almost flawless in its organization), is a special festival.
Meeting Richie Hawtin, falling in love with Marina Herlop
Sónar is a special festival. Carlos didn't say that to me, but I'm sure he thinks it. It's special, because only in a festival like Sónar can it happen that just by going through the door you come across one of the main headliners of this 2023 (of this 2023 and of almost all its editions), that being Richie Hawtin. The legendary Canadian DJ was hiding in a corner, all by himself, behind a desk, showing the Bullfrogs. You approached him wondering if it was really him. And yes, it was. And as he saw you curious, he explained to you that the Bullfrogs are the synthesizers he has created together with Erica Synths with the idea of bringing electronic music into schools.
Sónar is a special festival, because in a single afternoon you can see so many different things but with the common denominator of creative restlessness, such as Black Coffee closing the day with a recital of his balsamic Afrohouse or the Catalan Kyne opening the day with her torrid reggaeton. In between them Kitty110's drill-drenched rap, the thrall of Manuka Honey, the contagious effervescence of Bradley Zero and Moxie's luminous house and the sonic experimentation of a majestic Oneohtrix Point Never.
And in the middle of all of them, you are mesmerized by Marina Herlop, who we've been talking about for some time now, at Revers. What this Barcelonina is doing is beginning to get very serious. It is evidenced by the many concerts she has given in Europe this 2023, all well received by the public and the press. And this is confirmed by the performance she gave yesterday at Sónar, accompanied by a band in which the presence of Tarta Relena's vocals stood out. Somewhere near to where the paths of Björk (her influence both musically and aesthetically is palpable), the sounds of baroque, seventies prog rock and the Japanese tradition converge, that's where you'll find Marina Herlop. A special artist, like the smell of Sónar.