Sonar 2009

I got back from Sonar 2009 last week: it's taken me until know to be able to get my thoughts about the festival into a coherent whole.

There are things that make this festival really great - the almost-guaranteed sunshine throughout being the obvious one, going back to your apartment to sleep in a clean bed, and have a warm shower the next morning being another - but I think what I really enjoy about Sonar is that it still has a genuine rebel spirit coursing through it's veins.

The sponsorship and endorsements are low-key (and actually pretty cool - the adidas-sponsored record bag being a favourite merchandise purchase of almost everyone out there), and it feels like a mega-party put on by a couple of people for a bunch of their mates. I know that this isn't ever going to be true, but it's cool that it still manages to have that vibe running throughout the festival.

Musically, the highlights for me were the Jeff Mills 80's hip hop set, which was phenomanal, as was Richie Hawtin's set on the Friday night. On Saturday night, top marks have to go to Orbital for playing everything you'd expect them to play, and for it to still be able to take your breath away and inspire you (and still, in some cases, surprise you). I was also pretty impressed by the Young Fathers who really rocked the crowd, and were perfect for dancing around in the sun with a mojito in your hand.

Lowlights were Deadmau5, although this might have been because I as on various missions to collect people we had mislaid throughout the night, and the weird Colombian DJ who seemed to be playing feedback for about an hour. He did wear an elephant mask though, to try and take your mind off of how dreadful he was. (Actually, both of these people wear masks to perform - I wonder if my general fear and distrust of "wacky" is subsconciously affecting how I rate the peformance).