ÎleSoniq: Successful Edition! | The Journal of Montreal

After a two-year hiatus, ÎleSoniq returns this weekend to the delight of electronic music, house and hip-hop fans. Presented under the banner of warmth, the event brought together around 85,000 festival-goers eager to party.

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Electronic music lovers enjoyed three full days of festivities unlike previous editions at Parc Jean Drapeau this weekend.

“It’s been a goal for a few years, but we had to find the ideal program to do it. Without this programming, it wouldn’t have given us anything to stretch the weekend. When we saw that Swedish House Mafia had matching dates last Thursday and Friday in New York and Toronto, the stars kind of aligned.” said Evelyn Cote, Island Sonic’s director of programming, happily.

“It’s unbelievable, I’ve wanted to have these highlights for six years,” she explains. First, Eric Pridge, Illenium and Excision, who represent a bit more of the underground, play together somewhere in the world, and this is where it happened, and the Swedish house mafia, who are world famous for house music,” she continues. .

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These highlights partly explain the event’s success this year with 85,000 festival-goers, a number equaling 2019’s record.

“Swedish House Mafia doesn’t play festivals anywhere in the world except Coachella. People came from Detroit and Brazil to see them in the background, not off and on the field. The same goes for Illenium B2B Excision, a happening planet for grassroots fans,” she adds.

Thus, there was a 10 to 15% increase in international origin at ÎleSoniq this weekend, unlike Osheaga where the opposite happened last week and the Quebecers compensated in terms of entries.

A monumental sight

To increase its presence on the international stage, the festival got a monumental platform. With 2.5 times more space than the previous edition, ÎleSoniq is one of the largest mobile stages in North America.

The massive Oasis main stage left no one indifferent. “She’s amazing, testified Andrean in the company of her friends in front of the neon stage. And the sound is really good.

Except for the rain on Sunday evening, the festival weather was splendid.

Sunscreen and a hat or hat are in order, especially on a Saturday, where the festival site has high exposure to sunlight and very little shade. Festival goers were pounding and obviously, we needed to hydrate!

“We often went to festivals where there were signs on big screens reminding us to hydrate and the presence of several water points,” recalls Evelyn Cote, adding that logistics were also important so people wouldn’t wait. Take a long time at the water stations and change your mind to get a show. A reminder to stay hydrated is also sent to the festival’s cellular app. A few cases of heatstroke were reported, but these were managed well with paramedics on site. But, overall, people think about hydrating themselves and know how to take responsibility,” says the director.

In fact, many festival-goers have a backpack and an integrated hydration bag with which they can quench their thirst using an oral tube. Like Samuel who accompanied Elise for three days, especially Woolley or Matthew, Oliver and Emmanuel. Finding the facilities well ventilated and the new stage incredible, Simon and Oliver also ensured that we could easily drink 7 to 8 bottles of water.

Marcus Schulz

Shortly before 5 p.m., a crowd of festival-goers made their way onto the neon stage. The floor is packed for veteran Marcus Schulz. Accustomed to performing at sunset, the veteran delivered his set before the day ended with the sky covered in clouds.

Obviously, the German DJ is very happy, constantly smiling, raising one or two hands like a crowd, he is very skilled at raising more than his round. Moving head lights let themselves go as the audience dances to trance remixes of Eurythmics channeled in quadruple fashion or Cola’s Sweet Dreams by Camelphat & Elderbrook.

Simon Doty

A rising star in the progressive house scene, Simon Doty comes to dive into his soundscapes. Dressed in a casual white and black shirt, the Albertan got people dancing to his unique universe, where a variety of musical genres from house to yes, melodic, GroovyMelody and techno, especially.

DDT

Dressed in a tiny neon green sweater, a popular artist from the Montreal scene performed mid-afternoon on the Neon Stage.

With her new project, TDJ, Genevieve Ryan Martel wants to explore and enjoy, TDJ is an acronym for Terrain de Jeux. Naturally, with a smile on her lips, the producer, singer and DJ known for bringing Eurodance up to date was having fun.

His performance ended in a light refreshing shower before the blazing sun returned.

– Marie-Eve Blanchard, special contribution