Martin Garrix, Lost Frequencies, Alesso, The Chainsmokers… the eighth edition of the ÎleSoniq festival, Montreal’s celebration of electronic music, is considered by the organization to be the “second best” of its existence. And she needed it.
“Thank you so much for making me feel at home tonight!” On Sunday, in front of a monster crowd, Martin Garrix demonstrated with energy and confidence why he is one of the best DJs on the planet.
Mastering almost perfectly the art of crescendo to beat drop, the 27-year-old Dutchman has chained successes and offered quite flattering remixes to several songs by well-known artists: Lewis Capaldi, Alesso, One Republic, The Weeknd, Avicii or Nico
Not only was there his outstanding work, but the production went all out in terms of special effects to close out the weekend. She played with jets of flames and lights, as well as fireworks that aesthetically overhung the main stage.
“Last year was not that easy, confided Évelyne Côté, director, programming, concerts and events, at evenko, in an interview with La Presse. We expected it to be stratospheric, it was correct. »
The 2023 results are much more encouraging: 65,000 people crossed the fences in two days, about half on Saturday and the other half on Sunday. After the record year of 2019, this is the best edition of ÎleSoniq in terms of the number of tickets sold.
Visibly proud, Évelyne Côté complimented the festival-goers who braved the rain on Saturday to stay on site. “I’m thrilled to work with an audience like that. There is a particular engagement [with electronic music], a conviction to be part of something. »
“We needed that after COVID,” she says. We needed this edition. »
On Sunday afternoon, Becky Hill delivered one of the only live performances of the weekend (as most artists are DJs). His voice carried as the festival-goers settled quietly on the hill. Lost Frequencies also offered a good show at the start of the evening, to then give way to the British group Above
In the space of three weekends, Parc Jean-Drapeau must get a makeover to please three different audiences: first, Osheaga, then ÎleSoniq, and next week, the country baby of the family, Lasso. All this on a site with the capacity to receive a large number of different festival-goers in a unique environment.
According to Évelyne Côté, it was “clarity in the programming vision” that allowed ÎleSoniq to be successful this summer.
In the center, the Oasis stage offered a selection of mainstream artists “without compromising the musical quality” sought. Further on, the Neon stage was a delight for house and techno lovers, while those who preferred dubstep found what they were looking for on the Mirage stage.
Thus, the spectators were encouraged to move according to the desired level of production sound. They were free to experiment with different “gradations” of musical genre, and satisfied the “human need to come together”.
Normally, the ÎleSoniq crowd is expected to be quite young. That under the typical festival clothes, we find people from 18 to 30 years old, or around. This year, we were thinking outside the box.
“This is our edition where there is the most demographics. At the Neon stage, there are people aged 45-50, at the bass stage, the world is 16-18, in front of the main stage, it goes from one to the other, rejoiced Mrs. Side. In Montreal, we are lucky to have a culture that welcomes this niche music in the daytime – so during the day, not on the fringes during the night. »
We can say it with certainty: ÎleSoniq weathered the storm, and the choice to return to the original two-day format paid off. His fans were there, and the artists were up to it.
