Espaço das Américas, São Paulo

Sónar last visited São Paulo in 2012, showcasing the likes of John Talabot, Four Tet, Modeselektor, Mogwai, Justice and Bjork.

So it was with slight disappointment that its return to Sao Paulo offered a much slimmer line-up across just a single night. However, ‘Sonar-lite’ still delivered and lived up to the hype.

The gig was held in Espaço das Américas, an enormity of a building that, inside, feels like you are in some kind of vast black hole. On first arrival it was dubious whether or not we were going be able to get in, as we were greeted with a huge cacophony of people striving to enter, and with no inkling of a queuing system we were thankful to have our press passes and miss the crowds. Inside was just as a disorganised – in classic Brazilian fashion we had to join three other lines before we even had a drink in our hand. But as is the Paulista way, we just went with the flow and joined the queues.

We arrived just in time to catch the irrepressibly forward thinking dance music of Evian Christ. The Ellesmere Port born teacher-turned-producer belted out his futuristic take on 90s trance and left the assembled throng in a daze of thoroughly modern nostalgia.

The Chemical Brothers were up next and the atmosphere was palpable. A mixed crowd of glittered-up neo-hippies, super-chic socialites and jumpsuited, spangle-eared tropicanas crushed in together to await their set.

  • © Lourenço Barsi-Gomes

The slow teasing build up of Hey Girl got the set off to a frenzied start. The visuals were incredible – a striped dancer leading the way for the crowd to stomp their booty, psychedelic visuals accompanying the equally sporadic I’ll See You There – and the Aphex Twin-esque VR trip through blueprints for a cathedral played over Believe. There was little let-up in the 2-hour set, with a mix of old and new, all equally lapped up by the crowd. The lush hedonism of Star Guitar gave way to the paranoiac beeping of Sometimes I Feel so Deserted, while the mind-swirling Setting Sun and It Doesn’t Matter artfully melded into the bass groove of Saturate.  

Sunshine Underground swiftly changed the mood down-tempo for a well-needed breather. The crowd were as breathless as we were, and the huge scale of the hall infused a certain gravity to the night.

And then, as if to emphasise this, two gigantic robots rose dramatically out of the smoke for Under the Influence their bulky retro-inspired design fitting a cheesy 1980s dystopian vision (they’ve even got lasers shooting out of the eyes).  Finally, Block Rockin’ Beats treated the crowd to one last onslaught of lights, noise and sweat. An impressive show.

When the music stopped, the surge of crowds fell into chaos again – at one point it felt that the smoking area was about to turn into a national tragedy, and with all the acts playing on only one stage there wasn’t really much else to do but wait around. However, this didn’t last too long, with Paulista-based Zopelar taking the decks and playing his brand of stripped back techno and electronica.

  • © Lourenço Barsi-Gomes

Without the pomp and circumstance of Chemical Brothers, Hot Chip entered to a huge noise of yelps and cheering, even if it looked like the crowd had thinned out somewhat by 3:30am. They kept the crowd buzzing along to classics old and new, and highlights included Over and Over and One Night Stand. The huge laser-eyed robots were replaced with Alexis Taylor donning some funky red specs during Ready for the Floor. And the closer, an incredibly fun romp of LCD’s All of My Friends mixed into Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark kept the crowd asking for more.

Finally, as the night started to draw to a close and the floor began to thin out even more, Spanish DJ, Pional, slowly lured people back for his hypnotic, deep tech-house vibe, keeping the tempo low-key and perfect for a 6am finish.

Disregarding the initial gripes spouted on social media about the slightly thin line-up for a Sonar event, this was no doubt an enjoyable night, and it was great to see Sónar’s return to São Paulo. Hopefully, after the success of this night, we can expect a more robust festival in the pipe-line for next year.