For its 10e Birthday, islandsoniq struck a real circuit on Saturday. The festival held the busiest day in its history, and overall, it plans to know one of the two most fruitful editions of its existence.
The preliminary figures for the weekend, which will be called upon to grow by the end of the festival: 43,000 tickets sold for Saturday, 31,000 for Sunday.
With a total of 74,000 planned admissions, only the 2019 edition, which had featured Marshmello, Bad Bunny and Alesso, had done better, with 78,000 tickets sold over two days.
We have the best lineup we have ever had and [presque] The best sales. It’s an edition [presque] record in all directions.
Évelyne Côté, programming director, concerts and events at Evenko
If only heard the I wanna be where you are Sung up with the crowd, in symbiosis with the flagship title of the American headliner John Summit, it was easy to believe it on Saturday evening.
Exceed expectations
The Montreal electronic music festival, which was not initially designed to last over time, can get a tape in the back.
Photo Édouard Desroches, the press
Évelyne Côté, programming director, concerts and events at Evenko
“We were not certain, at the beginning in 2014, of the possible longevity for islandsoniq. We were pleasantly surprised by the adoption of this festival by the Montreal scene, and even Canadian, ”says Overlyne Côté, who oversees the event.
“We would have bet on a festival which would have lasted six, seven, eight years in our wildest dreams. It’s like unexpected, ”she smiles, when we talk to her in the media area on Saturday.
Today, even if the majority of the crowd is Quebecois, many Canadians also flock to Ontario, the West and the Maritimes. In lesser proportions, visitors to the United States, Europe and Latin America follow in lesser proportions.
As for the distribution of ages, if we see a few groups of young people from 18 to 20 years old, a good part of the festival -goers seem in the twenties or the thirties. Some in the forties.
Photo Édouard Desroches, the press
The crowd during the black tiger sex machine show show
“Islands is made maturity. At first, we were in a more commercial setting to make our place. Now, we make programming choices assumed in sharp styles, explains Évelyne Côté. We have the credibility and audacity to want to include these genres. »»
Saturday, these are names like Steve Aoki, Kaskade, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Bunt and LP Giobbi who took turns at the turntables, each inviting the public to enter their universe.
Electro bubble
Festival -goers here have their hearts at the party, the release or the relaxation. They come here for the night atmosphere that even hovers, and perhaps to forget about everyday worries.
In terms of clothing, Îlesoniq builds its own world. Light outfits – whether practical to face heat or simply long planned, regardless of the weather -, stylized sunglasses, bright colors, fans, brilliant make -up, harmonized costumes as a couple or group of friends. Each element is recognizable. Everyone is part of a whole, attesting that it is a celebration of electronic music that we are witnessing.
The mercury having reached 31 ° C on Saturday, Evenko distributed free bottles of water at the entrance and installed several foggers in order to refresh site visitors.
In front of the Double scene Oasis, Antre Principal of the show, the hill was more clear than Osheaga, a week earlier. The slightest magnitude of islandsoniq ensures more fluid circulation and thus allows festival -goers to create a slightly larger personal bubble.
Photo Édouard Desroches, the press
The crowd at the Festival Îlesoniq, Saturday
The neon scene, a few minutes away from the main hill, wanted a kind of lair between the trees where an atmosphere chill et groovy was there. Hosted by House melodies, sometimes taken from the 1990s or 2000s, the space was ideal for signing up without a press and without complex. A light, natural dance, carried by the rhythm of the notes.
There were no instructions displayed in this regard, and yet we would have thought that the occupants of the neon space had gave themselves the word for, all together, display a large smile and savor the moment.
However, that does not mean that it was relaxed for everyone: the more we advanced to the DJ, the more we stuck to a mass which energetically swung the front head at the back, which jumped, which raised our arms, which cried and which, essentially, was drawn by an immense wave of energy.
This Sunday, it is illenium, Sara Landry, Chase & Status, Alesso, Deep Dish, Mau P and Max Styler that will have to be seen and heard. Again, be it dubstep, drum and bass, EDM, house, funk … There will be something for everyone, among the sub-genres of electro.
What about next year? “I will not give names, but we have sent a few offers to people with whom we have had discussions for years,” says Overlyne on the side.
