I knew what to expect when I got there, as I’d attended last year’s festival. But for those new to the experience, the Sonar by Night venue really is an overwhelmingly large space.

Thousands of people can fit inside, with two indoor stages and one equally massive outdoor stage, and thankfully a separate press entrance to avoid the huge queues filing in like cattle through steel caged corridors.

People negotiating the entrance of Sonar by Night

It was only possible to catch glimpses of the tops of the Chemical Brothers heads, but the sound enveloped us to full effect, pumping from a massive speaker system set up, with hundreds of high-tech lights scanning and illuminating the sea of people in front of us.

It’s all super-sized entertainment, and not for the faint-hearted. For a further buzz, people can even ride on Bumper Cars located inside the Sonar Club, a regular inclusion in the night time venue for some years now.

The Chemical Brothers played a cross section of their hits over the years, peaking with a live rendition of ‘Galvanise’ which drove the crowd wild. I was quite disappointed by the visuals projected on several large screens on either side of the stage, harking back to some kind of early 90’s rave aesthetic of multicoloured patterns and a human head spinning in space. Overall, the visuals on show at Sonar by Night were lacklustre, with a lot of quite boring geometry and shapes shifting about, like moving 90’s style wallpaper. It would be nice to see a bigger selection of VJs featured, instead of the three or so VJs that dominated the program.

We crossed through the crowds and outside to hear James Murphy of DFA Records play a DJ set in the outdoor setting of the Sonar Pub. Mr LCD Soundsystem himself played a smooth selection of disco and tech-punk tracks, grinning all the while like a kid in a candy shop. Added entertainment was supplied by his white-suited friend whose purpose on stage seemed to be the ‘groover’, and an occasional appearance by a striking blonde woman (the current Mrs Murphy?) who looked like she came straight out of the social pages of New York’s Vanity Fair Magazine. I suspected they were having a rather nice party somewhere behind the stage. Where was my backstage pass when I needed it?

I’d heard only good things about Jamie Lidell’s live show so we strode into the Sonar Park venue ahead of time and got a nice position not too far from the front. The stage was set up like a strange kind of science lab, with keyboards and all kinds of equipment, and two or three assistants running around Lidell filming him and twiddling knobs and generally looking busy. Lidell gave his performance 200%, beat boxing into a microphone, sampling it, twisting it, and adding soul-inspired vocals and scratchy beats with a style and sophistication that our other sampling hobbyist Herbert could only dream of. Granted, they sit worlds apart in their intent, but Lidell actually gives something memorable and special to the audience, in one long and crazy freeform symphony, which has you tapping your feet and unable to take your eyes off this high energy one-man extravaganza. Half way through the show, Mocky came on stage to add some guitars and vocals to the show.

Soul brother from space Jamie Lidell and Mocky

Next up were my festival favourites Le Tigre, playing at 3.15am in the Sonar Park. Knowing most of their songs obviously enhanced my enjoyment of their show, which was fun, frivolous inde-pop with a political charge. The accompanying visuals were somehow cheesy and amateur but seemed to fit perfectly with the ‘we don’t give a damn’ attitude of the band. I really admired JD Samson’s performance, as she bounced around like a rubber band in her shiny red hot pants singing street-tough lyrics with her strong American accent.

Le Tigre

An executive decision was made to head home before the crowds did, meaning we would miss The Soft Pink Truth. Looking back I wish I had held out a little longer, as I always enjoy this one man electro-trash show, and by all reports the next day it was super-fun and one of the highlights of the night.

Saturday at Sonar by Day provided a diverse selection of established and upcoming artists, including Munk, To Rococo Rot, General Electrics, Mocky and Hot Chip.

I stole some time before hand to check out what was happening at Sonorama, down at the Centre d’Art Santa Monica at the other end of Las Ramblas. Unluckily for me the program was between performances, so I had a quick look at the interactive exhibition upstairs, entitled ‘Messa Di Voce’ by Golan Levin, Zachary Lieberman – Jaap Blonk and Joan La Barbara.

Standing in front of a microphone and a series of movement sensors, and you could manipulate in real time the behaviour a rotating selection of graphic elements projected on the screen. It was fun to interact with, and I wanted to spend a good 10 minutes exploring the piece, no matter how stupid I sounded while making funny noises into the microphone or waving my arms about as if I was directing a plane on the tarmac.