ALY MCHUGH

What’s your favourite aspect of summer? Is it the realisation that the long awaited shorts weather has arrived? Is it time to say goodbye to the all-black work day-to-day outfit and time to blow off the dust on your vintage Levi’s and flaunt your brand new luscious bikinis? Or perhaps it’s the stomach clenching thought of an endless celebration of delicious food and mouth-watering cocktails shared with your best friends? For me, it is Sónar Festival! After months of waiting – a time I thought that I would never see – the summer finally comes around, and I feel exhilaration and bliss. Maybe a slight over exaggeration, but my point is, everyone and anyone must go to Sónar Festival at least once in their lives. I met some friends out in Barcelona in 2015, and they have been to the popular festival over six times, and have made the visit a yearly tradition. Now that is dedication. This year’s statistics recorded that 115,000 visitors from 101 different countries attended the like-minded festival. That is absolutely incredible and the organisers should be proud and ecstatic over the victory from such a successful event they manage to preserve year after year. There is a copious amount of culture, age and nationalities with a difference in music taste, but as many festivals manage to do, Sónar brings all these people together in music, and it is certainly fantastic.

We begin with Thursday day all the way through until Sunday night, and there is nothing better than raving under the blazing sun in the Spanish heat, filled with joy and vitality, great music and even better vibes. Sónar is becoming larger and more dynamic each year, and was rated number one festival in Europe by Resident Adviser. It is a fantastic opportunity to discover the sheer beauty of Barcelona, taste the authentic Spanish food and sip on traditional sangria before the madness of Sónar unveils.

On the first day of the festival we are raring to go. Now with a large group of 8, this was a proven challenge. Somebody exclaims “I want to see Jamie Woon!” when someone else utters “But I really wanted to see Lady Leshurr” and then it goes round in circles, over and over again and you can see how it becomes the problem. Or the typical, “Hang on a sec, I’m just going to the toilet and I’ll be right back!” and you pretty much never see them again until the very end. Festival problems. Despite this, the first day was an amazing start. Trailing around from stage to stage, observing the properly thought about decor, put together with major detail of embellishment. Grabbing each other tightly and running towards iconic artists we thought we only had one chance to see.

A few vodka lemonades bought and drank in the highly populated arena we were all set to see our next favourite artist, The amazing and glorious, Black Madonna. It was the perfect evening set to begin our night of wonder. As per usual, The Black Madonna was unbelievable. Her tracks brought a luminous glow into the air whilst we danced non stop into the sunset. The sky darkened into a beautiful deep indigo, a perfect setting as she brought back the feel good sensation. An absolute Queen as she passionately mixed house and disco in unison.

There is nothing better than day gigs. If you have the opportunity to experience your favourite music in the gorgeous sunshine, surrounded with the elegance of culture and high spirit, then grab it and make it yours! As I scattered into the busy crowd, finding Sónar Village, I was desperately trying to find the perfect spot when the sound of percussion and a deep bass guitar fills the whole stage. Congo Natty began their set, producing sounds of harmony and love in the warm Spanish air. Everybody around me was singing along and dancing to such an alluring moment, and when they played a rework of Bob Marley “Is this Love” you could really say, it was love.

Across the long weekend, the night’s blend into one, surrounded by enchantment and a spell binding aura. As we stumble into the venue that held Sónar by Night, the heavy, booming bass penetrates our hearts. The night was ours and this was our chance to run free in the music. We follow the crowds to a hyperactive set at Sónar Lab brought by DJ EZ. A dirty mash up of garage reaches our ears and everybody around us is nonstop skanking. Arms are flying about, fist pumps in sight, our hearts in the air as the garage speaks to our soul. We are on a musical high.

Sónar really delivered this year. Prominent artists from all over the world come together to share their gift with the eager music lovers of Sónar, and they really gift us with the opportunity to appreciate such talent. The one and only Four Tet played a 7 hour set on Friday night in the extraordinary Sónar Car, followed by the infamous Laurent Garnier who played on the Saturday. An accomplished change to the festival this year. As you enter the stage, you are greeted by intergalactic surroundings. Four Tet’s unique sound relinquishes a cosmic techno, flowing in its grace. With the occasional collision in his tracks, the crowd is treated with a beat so heavy it shatters the crowd in wonder taking us away with that pulsating techno.

Looking back, Sónar really was an experience of wonder and liberty. The festival escorts us away from our bland, busy, ordinary lives into a world of culture, fascination and magic. By the time we say our goodbyes to a perfect weekend, we leave different people. We meet friends for life, we are whisked away to music that speaks to our hearts and each and every one of us promise that we will be back again. Sónar imprints a personal memory into our hearts that cannot be relived, but they get better each year, time and time again.

My first Boom Town Fair experience I can honestly say was one of the most exhilarating and magical encounters I have ever had in my entire life. The beautiful mixture of culture, the variation of sound, alongside the vitality of colour that enhanced the festival’s authenticity was what made the festival one of a kind. Iconic artists such as the renowned and glorious Damian Marley headlined the stage, alongside key names such as Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Mouse Outfit, The Skints, Shadow Child, Jackmaster and many more performed at this divergent festival. I was one of the many thousands at the festival who felt a spiritual longing towards the elucidation this particular unique genre of music depicts. There was almost a romantic connection between myself and the other 60,000 attendees through the passionate energy which surrounded us in the cosmic air between the enchanted hills of Boom Town which sent us in an electrified frenzy. The young were released from the chains that had locked us down for so long where we could express our true desire for music. Boom Town Fair Chapter 8 was the Revolution.

The first day of Boom Town was a stressful start to say the least. As soon as we reached Winchester myself and my friends were jumping up and down in our car seats unable to contain our excitement. Our eagerness to start the weekend’s festivities were short lived once we hit the grid-lock traffic in the scorching thirty degree heat. To make matters worse, once we eventually entered the festival site, we had to carry about a ton of campsite equipment, four days worth of food and alcohol, and a gazebo to a campsite which was miles away. However, this gloom-ridden start did not stop us from getting our magical weekend started.

As we trailed through the mystical Psychedelic Forest, the bright neon flashing lights spoke to our hearts, in synchronisation with a trance beat, it was almost like this moment was building up to an even spectacular destiny for each of us. We paraded through the Wild West, where the rural, dusty setting portrayed a western culture of the courageous persona of the town’s protectors, which coincided with the desolate memory of it’s rivals. The historic, vintage saloons and the traditional live music gigs was another special edition to the Boom Town experience. The amount of detail which preserved the authenticity of this time period flowed beautifully with the music margin of the festival.

More was to be discovered as the weekend followed. I found one of the most admiring areas of the festival was the Tangled Roots. Here, was a music lock down. Those from all kinds of backgrounds and variation in music taste came together here to express their passion for music through dance. There was a collaboration of reggae, hip hop and dub genres where we would show our appreciation and delight by dancing, skanking, dropping, call it whatever you want, underneath the blazing sun shining through the spectacular tropical rain forest scenery. We as a collective, were finally letting go of all our responsibilities and worries and becoming free in music. Incredible artists took the stage, including Lade Black who brought back the origin of reggae and dub, presenting a mashup of Sister Nancy and the legendary Bob Marley. It was all but love in the air. We were on such a spiritual high where nothing could ruin this miraculous moment. Once they performed “It’s a Pity” everyone rose their hands in their air, swaying and singing every word in serenity with the artists. It was a sensational moment and we were all blessed with breathtaking vibes. Peace and tranquility at last.

Saturday, the third day of the festival was what shone out in it’s eminence from the weekend. You would think by this time we would be rather run down and lifeless from the first two nights, but if anything it was the opposite. With crucial artists such as Skream, My Nu Leng and Enei across many of the main stages, we felt an electronic wave spread beyond our glistening eyes, through the enchanted site. Not much of a drum and bass fan myself, I am surprisingly and extremely ecstatic to admit I have been converted. A special highlight of the night was Banghai Palace. This stage had its special individuality and character through the fine detail of an affluent state. Presented at the luxurious gates of the drum and bass stage, we shuffled through the busy crowds, and when we finally managed to find a spot, we stood in awe, as a lowly citizen through the crowd, it was truly fascinating. As the bass of the speakers shattered our bodies, our hearts shot through our bodies back and forth, whilst our limbs were brought to life with the urge to keep raving, keep dancing, keep jumping. The dazzling colours reflected off our wide eyes, almost glimmering into our souls as we stood there in wonder staring the animation on the screen in front of us.

We scattered off to Sector Six, another main stage which exhibited its magnificence. And here is where the crowd profoundly let loose. As My Nu Leng took the stage modestly entering into the position of greatness, the crowd went wild. The music steadily took our hearts whilst they built up a bass line drop, whilst we were all yearning to dance off the vibrations in our body and rave. The lights simultaneously reacted with the dirty drops, shooting a spectre of ambience into the audience. I felt a sense of euphoria. Boom Town still had yet to pull out more surprises to stimulate our experience. As the dazzling lights intensified, we hear the crowd cheer as we are all skanking, and suddenly blazing fire shoots from the stage. There was no stopping us. The revolution starts now.