ÎleSoniq | An ode to electro

The ninth edition of the ÎleSoniq festival, which took place Saturday and Sunday on Île Sainte-Hélène, was a gamble. Whether it was in terms of reorganizing the stages or the choices in the programming, evenko says: mission accomplished.

“We keep it that way, Montreal, this energy is crazy!” This phrase, thrown out by DJ Joe De Pace, of Loud Luxury, under the clouds of Montreal early Sunday evening, says everything you need to know.

Otherwise, take it from Zedd. “I don’t come here often, but every time I come, I get so much love! Thank you and I love you so much, thank you!” the German DJ chanted at the end of his set.

In front of the main stage, erected as a sort of altar in front of the thousands of festival-goers facing it, we witnessed a sort of communion. It was impossible to sweep the audience with your gaze without encountering a sea of ​​arms in the air.

There is also this particularity, in this musical style, of a crowd that is highly reactive, particularly to the first notes of a piece that it recognizes or when the artist on stage directly calls out to it. Completely immersed in the moment, it finds a place there to let off steam.

And it is impossible, through the jets of smoke, the flames and the occasional fireworks, not to feel carried away by the presentation. Especially when you listen to the hits of the different artists, who also draw from the repertoire of hits in recent years to improve their numbers.

It’s hard to reproduce it in another context: the crescendo of electro, during a live performance, is enough to give you chills. Almost as if you were part of something bigger than yourself.

Bet won

For its ninth edition, ÎleSoniq had to deal with the lack of availability of big names, who had gone to play on European stages in Ibiza or Croatia.

DJ Snake and GIMS on Saturday, Tiësto, Zedd, Loud Luxury and Timmy Trumpet on Sunday. In the end, they were the ones we mainly called upon. And if the above description sounds like a success, it’s because it is.

“In programming, are all our plans A, B, C? No, but we have to be creative. We book artists who play for the public and not on the public so that something is created in the moment,” boasts Évelyne Côté, director, programming, concerts and events, at evenko.

“In electro, it’s often sets “pre-programmed, but here in Montreal, artists like to try things on. We are able to cultivate the comfort of letting go,” she adds.

Despite a drop of about 10% in ticket sales compared to last year’s 65,000 admissions over 2 days, evenko is not panicking. Rather, 2023 was the second most important year of ÎleSoniq’s existence in this regard, while this edition represents a return to normal.

One might also believe that the remains of the storm Debbywhich hit Quebec hard on Friday, would have had a negative impact on the festival. And yet, on the contrary, 3,000 tickets were sold on Saturday.

Community effect

ÎleSoniq certainly doesn’t cast the net as wide as its big brother Osheaga, which is also held at Parc Jean-Drapeau, but the electronic music festival serves as a gathering place for a tight-knit community.

There to party without complexes while wearing their most colorful – even daring – clothes, the ÎleSoniq crowd took advantage of the weekend to allow themselves to be themselves, surrounded by people who share the same passion.

“They go there to express themselves. That’s what unites them,” says Évelyne Côté. “They feel able to be themselves in a festive environment: that’s the key to connection. Yes, it’s a party, but it also provides a space through music for people to escape from their daily routine, which they can’t do at work or school.”

The main stage, the Oasis, is certainly the most wild of the three. But the Mirage and Neon stages, offering house and melodic techno respectively, also have their audiences.

” With [la scène] Mirage, we took the risk of bringing house, a more underground type of music, to a bigger stage. It worked really well, I couldn’t believe how much! », rejoices the director.

Again this year, to follow this logic, we noticed a varied demographic. Of course, young people of 18 or 19 years old, but also thirty-somethings or forty-somethings, who coexisted in a harmony punctuated by ecstasy.

In the end, what was apprehension turned into success. A result that makes evenko smile as much as the thousands of festival-goers who took part in this edition.