Sonus Festival successfully celebrated its ninth edition with 78 shows in the iconic Zrce Beach clubs separated into day and night sets.
Sonus festival returned to Zrce Beach after the pandemic period to celebrate its ninth edition on its famous beach. Held in one of the most touristic and paradisiacal places in Croatia, it combines parties and daytime activities to the delight of the attendees, such as boat parties.
After the pandemic period, it was one of the most anticipated events on the European scene. It is not a typical festival in which huge tents are erected. Sonus festival It takes place in a paradisiacal place, specifically on Zrce Beach. The distribution of the shows in 5 days in their clubs plus an opening party is a claim for European ravers. In our opinion, it is a plus to be able to see your favorite artists without overlapping schedules. At the same time, being able to give yourself a break between sets of your favorite artists sitting on the seashore is something unique. We do not doubt that many more techno lovers share our idea.
On Sunday the 21st and the first day of the event, we were in Zadar, a city we had arrived the night before from Spain. The best option to travel to Novalja the closest town to the festival area is by bus. Already at the station, the festive atmosphere and the desire of the ravers to listen to good techno in all its variants was appreciated.
After checking-in the accommodation we went to Papaya Club about 20:30 p.m. to begin our journey with the German Chris Liebing. A regular of Sonus festival which would offer us 2 sets on the same day closing at Noa Club. He delighted us with a hard-hitting techno set to which he is accustomed without stopping to cheer, in such a way that it seems that he was enjoying himself even more than us.
At 10 we moved to Noah Club where we would stay until late at night. It was the turn of Monika Kruse. It's been a long time since we've seen her at the decks and she didn't disappoint. She combined melodic tracks creating a spectacular atmosphere, leaving the audience totally devoted, closing the set with the mythical track. "Jaguar" to his great friend Carl Cox.
Therefore, the main course of the first day arrived for us, the great Carl Cox. We were far-sighted and went earlier to Noah Club. During this set the doors had to be closed due to the great influx to see the great techno star. The Briton presented us with a set in his darkest version, alternating with more techno-house tracks, doing what he wants with the music to the listening delight of those of us who luckily were able to be there at the time. In addition, his words could not be missed "Oh Yes! Oh Yes!" features in explosive moments in several of the songs that were playing.
To end the first day we moved to Aquarius Club to end with Dixon listening to some fresh techno-house to see the sunrise and lower the bpm of Noah Club.
After a crazy first day, we woke up at noon and hardly had time to visit Novalja beach a bit and eat before going back to Zrce Beach. was added Kalypso Club to the other 3 clubs to complete the quartet on this second day.
Contrary to the previous day, we went to the Papaya Club in the afternoon session to see the 3-hour live Reinier Zonneveld. The Dutch DJ has been proclaimed as one of the most influential in the current techno scene thanks to his unique Acid style and his collaborations with other greats in the sector.
Reinier on decks it's a show, their live sets are pure magic. He gave us a brutal session mixing his classic songs and his most recent collaborations like «Fist On Acid» with angerfist. Such is the energy that it gives off that not a soul in the club moved. The artist stayed almost half an hour more closing a session to remember as one of the top performers of the festival.
After finishing exhausted from the set we took a break to go home, have dinner and recover strength. We returned around 11:30 to Kalypso where we would stay until dawn after seeing ANNA, Enrico Sangiuliano y PAN-POT.
We start the night session with the Brazilian ANNA one of our favorite djs in terms of underground techno. Then it would be the turn of Enrico Sangiuliano which offered us the vinyl tracks of his new label NINETO ZERO as "Future Dust".
The culminating moment of the set came with the well-known and remixed in all its versions of the song «Age of Love» together with your partner Charlotte de Witte. The Belgian DJ was there and they staged an impromptu B2B in the booth to the surprise of all the ravers. Enrico He left us an impeccable set showing why he is in the top DJs today.
We finished the second day with the duo PAN-POT. True to form Tassilo and Thomas pounded us with their thumping kick drum hard until dawn.
Almost without realizing it, we find ourselves on the third day of the event and the fatigue of staying up all night is weighing on us, so we decide to rest on the beach during the afternoon and go to Zrce Beach at night for the big boss show. Richie Hawtin. He is historically considered one of the creators and considered one of the greatest exponents of electronic music. Always serious and focused on the decks, he scored a set in true Berlin style.
We agree with the set of Michael Bibi which we really wanted to see but we opted for Richie. In order to continue, we decided to change the registry and moved to Kalypso Club to dance until dawn with the best techno-house at the hands of Loco Dice. The 2 and a half hour set went by in the blink of an eye closing with the theme "Abra Cadabra" de «Sfera Ebbasta» on his techno remix.
We left wanting more and went to the open stage Octopus that continues every day after the festival for ravers who want to continue burning sneakers.
The fourth day we take it off to be able to go the last day with the maximum possible energy. We returned to the apartment well into the morning and we need a little relaxation in order to be able to enjoy the fifth day of the festival fully recovered since we intended to be there until the end to close in Aquarius Club with the Italian techno kingpin Joseph Capriati.
To round it off, on the fifth day we started at 22:XNUMX p.m. Papaya Club with the set of the Belgian duo Joyhauser. Collaborators of Drumcode They offered us a set in the purest style of the label, playing several of the new ids of the season.
We continue with Amelie Lens, the energetic Belgian as always relentless on the decks was true to her style Acid. As a last show we moved to Aquarius Club to end with Joseph Capriati. The Italian delighted us with mixes of classic songs like «The Rhythm Of The Night» with vocals that made the closing of the festival unbeatable.
In summary, Sonus festival It is a magnificent experience for all lovers of good techno. As we discussed at the beginning the combination of beach and good techno seems simply wonderful and the distribution of the sets in 5 days and the sound quality of the Clubs leave us wanting to return next year. In 2023 it will be the tenth anniversary so if you have not been able to attend it will still be your year.
