29 August 2013 (gig)
29 August 2013
End Of Summer Session in Novalja
We've seen more shuffling than a Michael Flatley reunion tour, parties on pirate ships, sessions in stadiums, been battered by epic thunderstorms and similarly biblical ATM exchange rates, interviewed happy DJs, hungover DJs, DJs on boats, DJs on tour and even DJs on the matter of facial hair so by the time Music-News arrived into Novalja for Sonus Festival, We knew for a fact that no conception apart from an immaculate one was off the cards.
Sonus festival is held on Zrce Beach, Novalja. Proclaimed by many a sweatily drunk journo to be 'The Ibiza of East Europe' yet you don't need a bottle of Belvedere or a girlfriend that looks like Rita Ora to understand why: Four presence-punctuating open air superclubs lie on a stretch of pebble beach some 300m long, with pre-game semi colons provided by a two further bars between the main venues. Two of these, Croatian monster Papaya and tropical paradise Kalypso provided the muscle behind the sleek outfit that was the first installment of Sonus.
Crowd
From dinner parties to dubstep raves: it’s the crowd that’ll make or break the event. Here Sonus is onto a winner. A mixture of leggy Italians, affluent East Europeans, focussed-on-fun Germans and a few Lost Brits: a group of whom Music News runs into beach bar Noa at the end of the beach. Strobes on the sea, mainstream house playing (Noa's not part of Sonus, incidentally) and conversation peppered by the screams of people now wishing mid-air they hadn't bungee jumped toward the sea in the pitch dark. What do they make of Sonus? "It's like an amazing secret. There are hardly any Brits here!" Interestingly though: it’s often majority crowds that cause problems. Without delving into stereotypes, too much of just one nation’s attendance is never a good thing. At Sonus the 4/4 might have been consistent but the crowd were wonderfully varied.
Vibe
At midnight, stepping onto the purple-light drenched sand of the playground that is Zrce beach, you couldn't fail to be hit by the vibe of this place: Sonus Festival exudes mellow. Not the slightly self-conscious escapism of some 'laid back' festivals, but a straight up air of professional nightlife. The lights, the sound, the bars are slick without being showy, a late summer wind comes off the beach knocking into clubbers in sync with rolling kick drums and sunrise starts making its way up over the beach and gradually the mostly-Italian dominated dancefloor makes its way onto crammed, disarmingly relaxed buses back to Novalja, ready for the boat party, for the pre-drinks, or the next big set in just a few hours time.
Overall
Love Novalja? Love Croatia but fancy something a bit different than the known-name festivals out here? Sonus is for you.
