Dont Party’s Road to Sonar :: Barcelona

For those of you who don’t know, I’m Dont Party’s eyes in the Far East, inaccurately dubbed “The Man in Japan”.

I left for Barcelona via Amsterdam from a vinyl toy factory in Mainland China. These were the events that transpired:

Sat-Sun 11/12 June (HONG KONG >> AMSTERDAM)
I caught the last boat back to my now native Hong Kong, nearly missing it by a narrow 3 minutes. Thank God for my lunatic Chinese driver. After a last minute dim sum dinner, I’m en-route to Amsterdam. At 4:30 am South African time I arrive at Amsterdam airport.

Customs Official: “What is the main purpose of your visit sir?”

Me: “Pleasure.”

Customs Official: “Welcome to Amsterdam, enjoy your stay.”

Missed my train stop and on a train headed for the city of Utrecht – SHIT!

7:15 I get picked up by my host who hasn’t slept yet… Outstanding.

After a quick powernap I head out with my host and his buddies to Revolution909 festival to see Umek, Ramon Tapia and Gregor Treshor Dj sets. We manage to get backstage with my host’s crazy mate who keeps flashing his fake police ID. Afterwards we mission proper EU style, with a twenty km bike ride, two accidents later we arrive home. Tomorrow is going to hurt.

Mon 13 June (AMSTERDAM)

I had to do some touristy stuff today, so hit up the coffee shops in the red light district We then stayed in town until the night time, and even though it’s not like I ever do this, checked out a titty bar (when in Amsterdam…), eventually we ended up at a drum&bass party called cheeky mondays. Good times.

Tuesday 14 June (AMSTERDAM >> BARCELONA)

Wake up to the mayhem caused by 2 of our crew missing their flight from London to Barcelona – causing us to nearly lose our apartment for the week. Finally we all arrive in Barcelona! What a gorgeous city, beautiful, well dressed people, and such a laidback way of life. Ahhhhhh, I don’t want to ever leave. After all the crazy missions we have made to get here (1 flight from Hong Kong via Amsterdam, one from San Francisco, two from London and two from Cape Town), it’s inevitable that you need to get loose and crack open a cold beer. I can’t say much about our first night out besides that it was extremely messy – involving one tussle, one near arrest and one noise complaint. Oh dear, what kind of week are we in for…

Wed 15 June (BARCELONA)

Today we hit up a Cava bar for some €2 bottles of Catalonian sparkling wine and serano ham. Sooooo good. Then headed to the beach for mojitos and convinced our mate to get a tattoo of a donkey making sweet love to a bull (a symbol of the province of Catalonia’s dominance over Spain). Pics below. Being the more techno and house oriented member of Dont Party, I was particularly geared towards the Sonar Off, the unofficial parties that take place over this week. So tonight we then headed out to a Mobilee records party with Pan-Pot and Martin Landsky, and found ourselves staggering home with the sun high above the Gothic buildings surrounding our neighbourhood.

Thu 16 June (BARCELONA)

Woke up to vodka Redbull – prolonging the imminent hangover by a few more hours. We head to the Resident Advisor rooftop at Hotel Diagonal to see Claude Von Stroke and Josh Wink play with the backdrop of Barcelona behind them, . Once we arrive home everyone else is getting going to see the Bloody Beetroots at Razzmatazz. I only made it for the last tracks of their set, but holy hell, what an insane club complex. Tom managed to see the whole thing, so get the full scoop on this night in his post, coming soon.

Fri 17 June (BARCELONA)

Today I got extremely lost trying to find official Sonar, but eventually got my press accreditation. Soon after we are headed for a secret villa party to hear the best Heidi, Seth Troxler, Soul Clap and Tiefschwartz have to offer, followed a MENTAL line up at Sonar by night. We got to the venue outside of the city, it is 5 massive halls (some indoor and some outdoor) with literally tens of thousands of people. Tonight was literally one of the most phenomenal experiences I have ever had involving 4 parties in a row, more live acts and dj sets from the biggest artists in the world than I can begin to comprehend, and ending up with a massive riot. Watch out for all the saucy details, coming in our next feature in a day or two.