What's On Festival Blog

The What's On festival blog aims to keep you up-to-date with the latest UK and European festival news, as well as providing an insight into what our team are up to during the festival season.

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Sónar Festival 2016 Review

Having attended Sónar Barcelona for the past three consecutive years, I knew exactly what to expect from their 2016 edition – a mature and unique festival which boasts not only a top class musical line-up, but a weekend of the some of the finest production I’ve been lucky enough to witness and enjoy.

Sónar is a three-day electronic and advanced music festival. It was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero and has since held events in twenty-three cities throughout the world including São Paulo, Tokyo and Reykjavík.

The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception - Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night. Sónar by Day is held at the stunning Fira Montjuïc and from 10pm onwards festival-goers can make the short journey over to Fira Gran Via L'Hospitalet to dance the night away at the four stages on offer.

Thursday saw some brilliant performances; The Spanish Dub Invasion feat. Mad Professor, Sr. Wilson, Lasai & George Palmer, the UK’s Jamie Woon and Nicola Cruz, to name a few.

Acid Arab – a duo comprising Parisians Guido Minisky and Herve Carvalho - gave a totally unique performance. Their sound can be described as an intense and sharp techno and house mix seamlessly blended with melodies, harmonies, chants and Arabic sounds. They helped create the perfect festival vibe and had the smiley, sun-kissed crowd dancing around throughout.

Another Thursday highlight was Birmingham’s own Lady Leshurr. The super fresh English MC has become a phenomenon with her rapid-fire freestyle raps fused with self produced grime and hip-hop in collaboration with newcomers like Show & Prove, Krunchie and Z Dot. Her performance was loud, energetic and a worthwhile addition this year’s outstanding line-up.

Friday night saw the world premiere of electronic music pioneer and legend Jean-Michel Jarre’s new and highly anticipated live show. Jarre was the first to invent and create the multimedia concert experience as we know it today, mapping buildings of cities around the world before anyone, lighting the skies with beams and pyrotechnics, offering his audience the ultimate, total immersion, sound and vision experience, which today is the ambition of every international festival.?

Jarre’s performance was by far the highlight of my weekend. He opened his set with Automatic, Pt. 2, one of my personal favourites. Stardust, Oxygene, Pt. 4 (another personal favourite), These Creatures and Brick England all featured within his faultless performance.

Techno legend Richie Hawtin also chose to showcase his debut performance of his new show at Sónar. As usual, he excelled in creating a fool proof festival atmosphere and had the packed-out Sónar Club audience dancing from start to finish.

The night also saw a fantastic live performance from Kölsch and a blinding closing set from Dystopian’s DVS1 & Rødhåd.

New Order kicked off proceedings on the Saturday night, opening the Sónar club stage at 10.30pm. The Salford band belted through a set full of classics - including plenty from their most recent album Music Complete. Crowd favourites included a cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart and the infamous Blue Monday, the song with which they chose to close with.

German house duo Booka Shade also ripped through their repertoire of classics – Like Jarre and Hawtin, they too were presenting the world premiere of their new show. 'Movements 10' is described as ‘a jaw dropping production’ that includes lasers, cutting edge light design and visuals crafted especially for the show, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of their era-defining LP 'Movements'. It most certainly lived up to its description.

Bringing the festival to a close were Jackmaster, Paco Osuna and a Sónar debut from yet another techno legend, Ben Klock. Being a massive fan of both Osuna and Klock, I was naturally disappointed of the clash but saw half of each performance – both were outstanding and perfect choices for the 5am-7am slots.

One of the greatest things about Sónar is due to its prestigious reputation, every artist to grace a stage gives a performance of no less than 100% - exactly how it should be. Some of the best and memorable performances I’ve ever witnessed have come out of the Sónar venues.

I cannot recommend this incredible festival enough, a piece of my heart belongs there and I’m already counting down the days to Sónar 2017.

Acid Arab - Sónar By Day

Lady Leshurr - Sónar By Day

Jean-Michel Jarre - Sónar By Night

New Order - Sónar By Night

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Henrik Schwarz & Metropole Orkest to open Amsterdam Dance Event

This year’s Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) will open with ‘Scripted Orkestra’, a collaboration between the acclaimed producer/composer/performer Henrik Schwarz and the world’s leading non-classical orchestra Metropole Orkest. The event will take place in the Melkweg on October 19th and will mark the musical opening of ADE 2016. Tickets go on sale on Saturday 23 April. Although this is the first time Metropole Orkest will perform at ADE, they are no strangers to creating symbioses between orchestral and dance music. In the past they’ve worked with Basement Jaxx, Junkie XL and more recently with Squarepusher. Schwarz on the other hand, is an ADE regular. Over the past few years he has taken the stage at the Concertgebouw, Q&A'd at the Sonos Studio and performed at the Muziekgebouw with Dan Berglund and Bugge Wesseltoft. Henrik Schwarz has worked with orchestras before, but he expects this particular experience to be very different. “So far I have only worked with ensembles who mostly play classical music. Metropole Orkest plays jazz and pop and I am sure they will also be able to play techno and electronic-inspired music,” he says. “It’s important that the musicians are experienced at playing music that is syncopated.” Henrik Schwarz will be composing an hour of new music for the project. Metropole Orkest chief conductor Jules Buckley will be his right hand man, helping Schwarz to realize this musical vision through proper orchestral scoring and detailed feedback. “Our first meeting was in a coffee bar in Berlin,” Buckley said. “And we were mainly looking to see if there was common ground to do something cool together. We had not met before but I know his music pretty well. His album ‘Instruments’, created an awareness amongst a very broad audience and the buzz from that drew me in further.” Schwarz adds: “The sources for Instruments were electronic tracks that I had made over the years. This time it will be all new music written just for this project. Jules has encouraged me to really challenge the orchestra, and he is open to everything. He has full understanding of how an orchestra works, but also knows a lot about dance music, and where I come from.” The end result will be a true collaboration instead of just an orchestra playing dance music. Henrik: “If you listen to what Metropole Orkest has done before you can hear an open-mindedness that is absolutely necessary when you want to create something new.” Jules adds: “Both Henrik and the Metropole Orkest are fully committed to pushing boundaries in everything we do. We are excited to work with Henrik, his forthright and open approach to making new music makes this the perfect match.”

The Amsterdam Dance Event takes place from the 19th to 23rd of October, 2016. For more information about ADE: www.a-d-e.nl

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Amsterdam Dance Event announces 2016 dates

The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the world’s largest club-based festival and conference for electronic music, will take place this year from the 19th to 23rd of October. The organisers are expecting around 375,000 national and international visitors for the 21st edition. Dance Culture Over the last 20 years ADE, an initiative of Buma, has become the leading platform for the international dance scene. It is the place 'par excellence' to identify the latest business practices and the freshest musical trends, ranging from emerging talents through to the most recent work of electronic music's pioneers and superstars. The event continues to grow and develop each year, with last year’s anniversary edition featuring 2289 artists performing in 100 venues and more than 500 speakers taking part in the nine different conference streams. The extensive film, art, and audiovisual program has also been expanding each year, and the organisers are committed to growing the day and nighttime activities once again in 2016. “ADE has developed into a platform where every aspect of the global phenomenon that is dance music culture comes together. It is fantastic to see that Amsterdam has become a global destination for both music lovers and the music industry,” says ADE Director Richard Zijlma. The Amsterdam Dance Event takes place from the 19th to 23rd of October, 2016. For more information about ADE: www.a-d-e.nl

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Marc Houle for OFF Sónar

Canadian producer Marc Houle is a true techno veteran. His productions on Hawtin’s Minus and his own label Items & Things defined the minimal sound of the mid 2000’s. Most recently he contributed his own spin on a Claude VonStroke classic on the remix compilation “Who’s Afraid of Detroit Remixes”, which will be released just before his gigs in Barcelona. 

Opportunities to experience his impressive live sets are at the FMLY party at Culture Club on Thursday and the Fact Music Pool Series on Sunday.

We can’t wait!

Tickets for both shows available here:

https://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?830074&utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5345-351615-Global+Artists+at+Sonar

https://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?803275&utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5345-351615-Global+Artists+at+Sonar

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Festival Forte announces new performances for 2016

Located in sunny Portugal, Festival Forte is organised by Soniculture - an agency capable of bringing the most cutting edge electronic music available around the world.

Line-up below:

Tickets available here https://soniculture.bol.pt/Comprar/Bilhetes/30884-festival_forte_2016_passe_geral-montemor_o_velho/?lang=en

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Jean-Michel Jarre and Edward Snowden collaborate on a track from the French artists' forthcoming second album, which will receive its worldwide premiere at Sónar 2016

Today marks the announcement of the momentous collaboration between Edward Snowden and Jean-Michel Jarre on the track 'Exit', from the French producer's forthcoming 'Electronica Vol. 2: The Heart of Noise'. Jarre travelled to Moscow to conduct the interview with the North American activist. The finished track places the words from this interview over a driving, techno production. The legendary French producers' new record will receive its worldwide premiere at Sónar Barcelona on Friday 17 of June which will follow a talk on his use of technology in the staging of his shows through the years, to which professional accreditation holders will have priority access, on the 16 June. Listen to the Jean-Michel Jarre and Edward Snowden track here.

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Get your tickets now for Sónar Barcelona now before it’s too late: https://www.sonartickets.com/

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Sónar completes its music program

Underground Resistance presents Timeline and other high profile names have been added to this year’s bill, including Mad Professor, Booka Shade, the new show from singer Niño de Elche, and the return to the stage of El Guincho.

With the latest 38 additions to the line-up, the festival completes its list of national artists including the most important producers and djs in Spain today, such as Alizzz,Coyu, Strand, Cauto, and duos bRUNA & Wooky. The festival’s completed music program consists of more than 150 performances including shows from Jean-Michel Jarre, Anohni, James Blake, New Order,Oneohtrix Point Never, Santigold, Fatboy Slim, Four Tet 7 hours set, Jackmaster,Flume, A-Trak, Kerri Chandler, Kenny Dope, Jamie Woon, John Grant, John Talabot, Kelela, Ben UFO b2b Helena Hauff, King Midas Sound + Fennesz, Kode9 x Lawrence Lek, Laurent Garnier 7 hours set, Matias Aguayo, Richie Hawtin,Roots Manuva and Skepta, among many others.

Full line-up below:

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Sonar add more acts to line-up

The festival sees 36 new artists added to the bill including Santigold, James Rhodes, A-Trak, Kaytranada, Yung Lean, Paco Osuna, Lady Leshurr, Nicola Cruz, Ata Kak and the new show by Richie Hawtin.

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Resident Advisor take over SonarLab on Friday 18 June.

Whilst The Warehouse Project take over on Saturday 18 June.

We can’t wait to see Ben Klock grace a Sonar stage for the first time.

Tickets: https://sonar.es/en/pg/tickets

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Sonar Barcelona line-up so far

Feast your eyes on this line-up (so far!) Sónar 2016 is going to be as fantastic as ever.

Get your tickets here: https://sonar.es/en/pg/tickets

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BoomTown Fair announce 2016 line-up

WOW! Another spectacular line-up from BoomTown Fair.

BoomTown Fair has announced the first batch of headline artists for Chapter 8 of the fully immersive, genre-spanning festival. The headliners include three acts who have been at the top of the BoomTown wish list since day one and represent the musical foundations of the trailblazing independent festival: UK ska powerhouse Madness, reggae royalty Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley and New Zealand 7-piece dub specialists Fat Freddy’s Drop.

Get your tickets quick! http://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/tickets

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Marc Houle to perform debut film score at ADE

Marc Houle is set to perform his debut film score live at the Amsterdam Dance Event. The techno producer's original score for 1920s silent Japanese film A Page of Madness will make its premiere as part of the Films @ ADE programme presented by Cineville, Melkweg and DJ Broadcast.

Originally created in the 1920s, A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippeiji) was long believed lost until the creator, Teinosuke Kinugasa, rediscovered it hidden deep in his garden shed. A masterpiece of Japanese silent cinema, Kinugasa uses a striking array of expressionist and surrealist filmmaking techniques to evoke the inner thoughts and feelings of patients in a mental hospital. A jazz soundtrack was later added to the film when it was first rediscovered in the 1970s.

On seeing the film, Houle immediately felt a connection with it but felt the jazz soundtrack did not reflect the dark and eerie mood that Kinugasa had conveyed through the visuals. With this in mind, he set out to create an original score to bring the film to life, syncing the music and sound effects with the film to enhance the overall cinematic experience.

Houle’s composition will premiere with a screening and live performance on Thursday 15 October at the Amsterdam Dance Event.

Watch the trailer https://youtu.be/tTNOMTBZSTw

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The ADE Festival Program is Complete

The nighttime program of the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is now finalised. Between the 14 - 18 of October more than 2000 artists will be appearing at over 340 events across the 100 clubs and spaces that are participating with ADE.

During the upcoming anniversary year, Amsterdam will be in the international spotlight with over 400 visiting journalists and media, more than 5.000 professionals and an expected 365.000 festival-goers who flock to the city from around the world.

Over the last 20 years, the Amsterdam Dance Event, an initiative of Buma, has developed into the world’s largest club-based festival. The five-day long ADE Festival features a unique range of the most diverse styles of electronic music. And, in addition to an extensive night program, ADE offers music lovers a wide range of daytime activities in the form of lectures, masterclasses, workshops, film screenings and art ex-hibitions spread across various locations in the city.

About ADE

In the past twenty years ADE has grown into a globally renowned platform for the international dance and electronic music scene.

The festival is the perfect place to spot the latest musical trends and emerging talents, as well as hearing the most recent work of both electronic music pioneers and current superstar acts.

In addition to the extensive live line-up of the ADE Festival, the ADE Playground offers music enthusiasts a large and varied daytime program including exhibitions, in-store promotions, pop-up stores and film screenings all over the city center.

The business aspect of the event (ADE Conference) is recognised as the most important of its kind, presenting a broad range of conferences and networking opportunities that focus on music and technology, VJs & visuals, sustainability, dance & brands, harder dance styles, new talent and the education of students.

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Timetable for Awakenings presents Drumcode ADE event as the legendary Gashouder, Amsterdam.

Limited tickets still available here: http://www.awakenings.nl/tickets/2015/10/awakenings-presents-drumcode/203359/

This WILL sell out!

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We can’t wait until the ENTER. Closing Fiesta, which is taking place in 3 weeks time at Space, Ibiza.

Advance tickets available here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?706868

Don’t miss out, this is going to be special!

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BoomTown 2015

Having been to BoomTown in both 2013 and 2014, I knew exactly what to expect, a mind-blowing weekend in ‘the maddest city in the UK’, and that’s certainly what I got... For those that don’t know, BoomTown Fair is an arts festival that celebrates reggae, dub, ska, swing, folk as well as roots and bass culture. With winding streets and eccentric venues to explore, BoomTown is an actual town created by an ever expanding network of artists, craftsmen and imaginative minds.

There are twelve districts and twenty-two stages to enjoy and although music being the main focus, there are many other elements to the festival that make it the magical place it is. There’s cabaret, comedy, spoken word and a range of anarchist theatre performances to watch; as well as circus acts, fairground rides, oversized photo booths and of course the elaborate fancy dress that flows throughout the entire festival site. You can’t turn your head without seeing some crazy, obscure outfit made to absolute perfection. All the above contribute to making BoomTown a cut above the rest.

Headliners, Flogging Molly (pictured), an American seven-piece Celtic punk band from California and led by Irish vocalist Dave King, were the highlight for me. Their fast-paced and lyrically brilliant songs had the crowd dancing, jumping throughout the entirety of their set.

Dub and reggae act Stephen Marley, son of Bob and Rita Marley was the first act of the weekend, opening The Lion’s Den stage at midday on the Friday. He played a selection of his own songs, including Break Us Apart and Jah Army, as well as a few Bob classics...a perfect start to the festival.

The Skints, John Bulter Trio, Infected Mushroom & Less Than Jake were also amongst my weekend highlights.

All-in-all BoomTown Fair is an incredible blend of fun, madness and surrealism topped off by a fantastic, well thought-out musical line-up. You can really feel the passion that has gone into making the festival the unique and wonderful few days it is.

If I could live there, I would and I’ll be back next year without a shadow of a doubt.