The eleventh edition of the Sonic Acts Festival was held from Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th February 2006 in the Paradiso and De Balie in Amsterdam.

The eleventh edition of the Sonic Acts Festival was held from Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th February 2006 in the Paradiso and De Balie in Amsterdam. Entitled Sonic Acts XI — The Anthology of Computer Art, the festival included a three-day international conference, three evenings and nights of live performances, an extensive film programme and an exhibition.

Because we had to choose one night we went for the one with Akuvido, Boris & Brecht Debackere, Nanko, TinyLittleElements, AGF & Sue.C, Nancy Fortune and the more appealing ones to the general public Ada, Reinard Voigt and Matthew Dear.

AGC & Sue.C put up a nice performance where the Berlin musician and singer Antye Greie (AGF) sang/spoke the vocals while American artist Sue Costabile (SUE.C) took care of the visuals (folder papers under a camera, sampling that, editing, etc.). A nice performance, but the crowd didn’t really know what to do with it.

French singer Nancy Fortune took it up a notch with an entertaining performance and danceable beats. This “Viewlexx-girl” has been collaborating with electro masters such as Alden Tyrell and I-F in the past so music wise it was a delight to hear. Combined with her sugar sweet vocal quality you can expect to see her across some festivals this summer.

Köln based producer/singer Michaela Dippel (Ada) took it up one more gear and got the crowd moving to her electro poppy, German-bass-line drenched music which lacked a bit of tension every know and then. Overall a decent performance though.

If we’re metaphorically talking about gears then Reinard Voigt shifted into 5. Just like the last time he visited Holland in Waterfront (Rotterdam) this man knows how to express energy in music. Working with his whole body he took the Paradiso for a test drive in the highest gear, where all the red lights where neglected. Pounding beats and ripping synths filled the former church.

Closing the night was Matthew Dear who had to rush from a previous gig in Haarlem. Some awesome masterpieces faded into dullness from time to time, but overall the tension and energy was kept during his whole performance. His productions are outstanding, a little tweaking to perfect his live set and he will be lethal.

Too bad it was a little empty in the Paradiso (although a relief in comparison to the infamous Voltt parties), this festival surely deserves more attention. The day conferences where mainly sold out, there where visitors from all over the world and some top-notch artists filled the night program every day. Next year we have to check out the day program as well, that’s for sure.

More info: www.sonicacts.com