b-seen Music
Sónar 2019
Strange days
Another edition of Sónar, Barcelona’s stand-out festival of “advanced music”, comes to an end with 20,000 attendees fewer than the year before, a figure that the organisers considered very acceptable taking into account all the problems they had to face with this edition, including: 1) The change of date, due to an international textile fair the Fira Gran Vía (Barcelona’s Trade Fair precinct) was not available on the usual dates, mid June, so it moved to between July 18th till the 20th (with the unavoidable rise in temperatures that goes with the second half of July in Barcelona), 2) the riggers strike, which kept the festival in suspense until the last moment and resulted in a court ruling that recognises the right to strike and which will have consequences for all trade unions, not just Sónar’s backstage crews, and 3) the arrest of A$AP Rocky in Sweden on charges of committing a violent crime, and one that at the time of writing has not been resolved and sees the artist still in prison. In spite of all this, and putting second tier artists up as the headliners, the overall balance has been very positive. Below we look at some of the artists that impressed us the most.
ARCA: “Sal de mi cuerpo”.
Regarding ARCA we have to give a little more background info because she was performing a “Work in progress” which is the only way to describe it: an individual who is currently in the process of gender transition, from a man to woman, a body and a show under transformation, Alejandra in mutation, changing in front of our very eyes on a physical and musical level and her catharsis is on full display. On stage, she presented her latest personalities and songs: the glamorous sadomasochistic persona for the first part where she played the songs from her previous album, and her multifaceted ‘id’ with a more reggaetone sound at the end of the show. It was a long one and took time to get into its rhythm, which prompted part of the public to leave without staying for the more dance music finale, but Alejandra didn’t seem to mind. Lots of surprises in a very interesting show, which would be even better if it were slightly shorter.
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Arca, Sónar Hall 2019 ©Nerea Coll
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Arca, Sónar Hall 2019 ©Nerea Coll
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Arca, Sónar Hall 2019
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Arca, Sónar Hall 2019
Bad Bunny: The trapero becomes a revolutionary
Anyone underestimating this artist was in for a big surprise: the king of Latin trap has been scoring hit after hit lately, and has a faithful crowd that follows him around; he was actually on the point of cancelling because along with Ricky Martin and Residente he’s one of the faces of the massive protest that took place over two weeks in Puerto Rico demanding the resignation of Governor Ricky Roselló, highly questioned after the release of private chat transcripts where his macho, homophobic and a racist character were hacked. But "Bad Rabbit" took a break from the protests, and explained to festival goers why exactly he was angry and struggling, tired of all the corruption and his wishes for a decent government in his native island. If the governor finally resigns, Bad Bunny’s name will go down with other great Latin American social fighters from music like Victor Jara, Silvio Rodriguez and Gilberto Gil and no, I'm not exaggerating.
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Bad Bunny, Sónar Club 2019 @ Sergio Albert
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Bad Bunny, Sónar Club 2019 @ Nerea Coll
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Bad Bunny, Sónar Club 2019 @ Nerea Coll
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Bad Bunny, Sónar Club 2019 @ Nerea Coll
Body & Soul: a refined cocktail of house
Body & Soul, the brand, came about in 1996 when the legendary François K. organised the homonymous sessions at the Vinyl Club in NYC together with John Davis. The idea was to set up an inclusive space where all lovers, colours and shapes were welcome, united by the sound of disco and house, a brand that continues to organise parties to this day in its hometown and around the world. For this occasion in Barcelona, François came accompanied by Joe Claussell and Danny Kirvit, each one a legend in themselves and who all fell in love with the disco scene at Sónar Car with its futuristic retro sound. Everything was on offer, the hits and darker tracks, classic and current themes, Jon & Vangelis and Chic mutating into tracks produced by the Glitterbox label, among other wonders. Hopefully this is not the only chance to catch Body & Soul in Barcelona, we are looking forward to more!
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Body & Soul, Sónar Car 2019, ©Ariel Martini
Underworld: superstars that can cope with anything
I can’t think of anything more classic than Rick Smith and Karl Hyde at the Sónar Club on a Friday night. These veterans can always be relied upon and never disappoint. Despite certain technical problems, no one can beat them. They have the hits, they have the energy and a devastating sound. They presented their new album "Drift", but they could just as easily have done a show of their old songs that always feel fresh. Others could learn a lot form them.
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Underworld, Sónar Club 2019 ©Nerea Coll
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Underworld, Sónar Club 2019 ©Nerea Coll
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Underworld, Sónar Club 2019 ©Nerea Coll
Stormzy: Muscle and Grime.
Called upon at the very last moment to replace A$AP Rocky, this English rapper of imposing physique has a muscle filled upper body and sound. He’s evolved from being Grime's first black artist to lead the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage, a resounding success and it was easy to see why: he’s very talented and his sound is like a steamroller, as well as bringing a strongly political message dealing with state repression against youth of colour, Brexit, the brand new prime minister Boris Johnson as well as other hot topics. Really interesting artist.
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Stormzy, Sónar Club 2019 ©Ariel Martini
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Stormzy, Sónar Club 2019 ©Ariel Martini
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Stormzy, Sónar Club 2019 ©Carlota Figueras
Louie Vega & Honey Dijon:
The festival finale on Saturday was a highlight: two of our favourite house Djs together, two legends on the decks and the best Stevie Wonder inspired house anyone could imagine. Some opted for the explosive Amelie Lens, or the always reliable Dixon, but these two living wonders closed the edition and we can’t wait for 2020, when the festival returns on its usual dates. See you next year!
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Louie Vega & Honey Dijon
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Louie Vega & Honey Dijon, Sónar by Night 2019 © Sergio Albert
