hi there,

has anyone on here ever been to Sonar in Barcelona? I was chatting to a guy on the campsite in benicassim about it, as he'd been on the way down there. I'm thinking of next year maybe doing Sonar in barca, then down to benicassim and onto the rhythms of peace in morocco.

....so i thought i'd better start researching and planning now cos it'll take at least a year to save up the cash to fund me anyway!!

http://www.sonar.es/portal/eng/home.cfm

Sonar is like two completely different festivals, Sonar de Dia which takes place inside the grounds of the Barcelona Contempory Art Museum (MACBA) and has a similar vibe the Summer Sundae in Leicester. Musicwise it is very eclectic, last year it had everything from avant garde rappers, math rockers and mininimlist techno artists to out and out girlie house and disco DJs. The Scissor Sisters opened the Friday on a small stage without being on the line up.

Sonar de Noche is four warehouse raves taking place next to each other at the same time with dodgems. The line last year was amazing amongst others Sasha, Ricardo Villalobos and Richie Hawtin, Tiga, Miss Kittin, DJ Shadow, Satoshi Tomiie, Laurent Garnier, Hot Chip, Dave Clarke and Jeff Mills (who played the loudest set I've ever heard, the joints in my knees were vibrating). Dancing to Ricardo Villalobos and Richie Hawtin on the Sunday morning as the sun was rising was something special.

There are also hundreds of other club nights and parties going on in Barcelona at the same time, I went to one at The Loft which was about twelve euros and 2ManyDJs, Boys Noize, Felix Da Housecat and James Holden played the same night. http://www.kate-wax.com/the_loft_sonar_2006.jpg

Then there are the post Sonar beach parties which are a nice way to come down.

One word of advice, try to collect your tickets a day or two before the start of the festival otherwise expect to queue for a couple of hours in the heat.

Any ideas if and when a line up is released and when tickets go on sale?

Thanks for all the info, st00ka!!

I like the randomness of it all, will still have a think about it... and the beach parties, of course - yAy!! how many festies can i manage in one year, i wonder? (*thinks about spanish festie work*)

Can't find any line-up info atm, maybe it will appear soon now we're in the new year - will keep an eye on the site

I bought my tickets early in May last year, I think the line up came out not long before. There are actually two types of ticket a bog standard one which gets you into the festival and a professional one which allows you into a VIP area with a where you can schmooze with artists, promoters and record labels.

Last year you were allowed to take your own alcohol and food into the festival by day which was definately a bonus.

In 2006 I managed three Spanish festivals Summercase, Benicassim and Sonar. Sonar was definately my favourite.

That's interesting... they're the three I'm thinking about! Already got my Benik tickets Thanks for the feedback!

Hey, I REAAAAAAAAAAAAALLY really want to go to Sonar but I can't find out how to get tickets at ALL, do any of you guys know the secret? Had the same plan of going down to Morocco but I've heard that Sonar's pretty much sold out now grr!

very good question about the tickets!! i can't find anything about tickets on the sonar site, and a google search brings up no more than old info (last year and before)...

meanwhile, i really doubt i'll make it to this now - what with moving to spain, my bank balance is quite empty now and with beni tickets already bought and summercase only up the road from me they'll be my main festies i think.... i'm still holding out for dragon festival if i can make it next month and i've emailed some people today to bug them for updates on rhythms of peace cos their website's got nothing new on it.

good luck with finding tix, i guess they'll just come out later on... i'll be looking for reports back on how this goes - maybe it'll be a go-er for next year?!

The tickets haven't gone on sale yet?? They tend to go on sale end of April beginning of May.

You buy them through http://ticktackticket.com

Excellent! I'm gonna have to throttle the person who told me the tix had sold out, thanks for the info!

Any info on who might be playing yet? I might be in Barcelona around that time!

Agh I am in Barcelona but its the week before.

Does anyone know of any gigs the week before. maybe the 8/9th

Line up so far:

CONFIRMED ARTISTS

CONCERTS AND DJ'S

ALEXANDER'S ANNEXE feat. MIRA CALIX (UK)
ALTERN8 (UK)
BEASTIE BOYS (US)
BLACK AFFAIR (UK)
CLARK (UK)
CORNELIUS (JP)
CHARLES HAYWARD (UK)
DAVE CLARKE (UK)
DEVO (US)
DIGITALISM (DE)
DIZZEE RASCAL (UK)
DJ NU-MARK (US)
DORIAN (ES)
EMANON (US)
FACTO DELAFÉ Y LAS FLORES AZULES (ES)
FANGORIA (ES)
FIBLANDA (ES)
HASWELL & HECKER (UK / DE)
JEFF MILLS (US)
JUNIOR BOYS (CA)
KHAN FROM FINLAND (FI)
KTL (US / AT)
MALA RODRIGUEZ (ES)
MATTHEW DEAR LIVE BAND (US)
MIRA CALIX (UK)
MISS KITTIN (FR)
MOGWAI (UK)
NAROD NIKI (DE)
NETTLE (US / ES)
NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB (UK)
PLANNINGTOROCK (UK)
RADIO SLAVE (UK)
RAHZEL & DJ JS-ONE (US)
ROMANTICA (JP)
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO (UK)
TIMO MAAS (DE)
TRISTANO + MURCOF (LUX/MX)
VARIOUS PRODUCTION (UK)
WOLF EYES (US)


CONFIRMED SHOWCASES


BEIJING WAVES
FM3 BUDDHA MACHINE (CN) live
718 (CN) live
WHITE (CN) live

BBC RADIO 1 PRESENTS:
MARY ANNE HOBBS (UK) dj
KODE 9 & THE SPACEAPE (UK) live
ORIS JAY (UK) dj
SKREAM (UK) live
hosted by Mary Anne Hobbs

ED BANGER RECORDS
DJ MEHDI (FR) dj
UFFIE feat. FEADZ (US / FR) live
JUSTICE (FR) dj

Hot as HEL
NICOLE WILLIS & THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS (FI) live
THE EXECUTIVES (FI) dj
ACCU (FI) live
TUOMAS TOIVONEN (FI) live

INNERVISIONS
DIXON (DE) dj
CHATEAU FLIGHT (FR) live
AME (DE) dj

LO RECORDINGS
BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB (FR) live
JON TYE (UK) dj
CURSOR MINER (UK) live

NOBLE LABEL
KAZUMASA HASHIMOTO (JP) live
JUNJI KUBO (JP) dj
PIANA (JP) live

ONANDON RECORDS & FRENCH MUSIC EXPORT OFFICE
C2C (FR) live
HOCUS POCUS (FR) live

RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY
SPACEK + BENJI B (UK) dj
AS ONE (UK) live

STATION 55
NIGHT OF THE BRAIN (ES) live
JOE ROBINSON (UK) dj
BURBUJA (ES) live

Does anyone know when a comprehensive day-by-day line up split will be released ? I don't think I'm going to get a full weekend ticket as the other half is quite eager to spend a lot of time around the city...Although I know I'm definitly going to see Chris Clark (Thursday Day),and Mogwai (Saturday night) it would be useful if i knew on what day everyone else was playing . . .Although I have a feeling I shouldn't hold my breath (?)

Secondly, obviously we have flights and hotel booked, but I was wondering, am I correct in thinking Sonar dosn't sell out and it will be possible to get tickets on the door if needs be? I realize the queues can be quite long....cheers.

I think the complete programme was announced around the middle of May last year. The full festival tickets were sold by a couple of weeks before and Saturday night tickets a couple of days before. If you decide not to go for the full festival tickets there are a load of parties going on around and about in the city.

Looking at the Mogwai website it says that they are playing at 8.00pm on the Saturday, this is more likely to be part of the day festival, it's in Spain remember and the real partying doesn't kick off till (well) after midnight.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I do realize it runs through the night.... Exactly why my G/F is a bit worried about time restrictions on our holiday...Plus, we get back on the Tuesday and I'm off to Glasto on the Wednesday . . . OOF

Hi all

Could anyone tell me how strict they are when enforcing the Sonar by Night over 18s rule. I'll be 17 when I go this year and it'd suck if I can't get into any of the warehouse raves. Anyone help me out?

Cheers