Credit: Ben Osborne

Over a decade old and Sonar is showing little sign of losing its edge.

Sure there are differences between now and way back then. Some of the early pioneers are thinner on the ground now, even if some are making up for it by being thicker in body. And some of the faces of the festival are no longer with us - the most notable being the late great John Peel, whose life was celebrated by a whole strand of the festival being devoted to his memory.

Sonar is of course bigger these days. In fact it's become too big to contain its own audience and the weekend saw Barcelona's entire club scene heave to capacity.

And some of this year's off-Sonar line-ups read like mini festivals themselves - with big hitters such as Tiga, Tiefschwarz, Headman, DJ Hell, DJ T and Trevor Jackson all appearing on the same bills.

But none of this is surprising. As Laurent Garnier remarked as we sat in the backstage courtyard on Saturday morning, Sonar is still one of those very few "must do festivals". To prove his point, Laurent's been to almost every one, even when he hasn't been playing.

As ever this year's festival by day was stuffed with interesting known bands and a load of acts that have only just emerged, if at all, onto the radar. Amongst those that impressed were Garnier's Abel Kahn soundtrack, Alex Attias, Kemialliset Ystavat, General Electrics, Mocky and Hot Chip, while Herbert and Miss Kitten attracted such huge crowds it was barely possible to get near the venue, let alone the act.

On a more esoteric note the Vegetable Orchestra changed our view of aubergines forever, while Richie Hawtin expanded the sound envelope with a demonstration of what 5.1 Surround Sound can do. DJ T frothed SonarLab in the heat of the mid afternoon, and then turned the Sonar Party, later that evening, into a dirty jacking throng.

But the new acts that stole this year's show are the reborn Booka Shade, production dons of the Get Physical label, and the absolutely brilliant WhoMadeWho, from Denmark, whose intuitive blend of house and rock music is mind and body blowing. Both bands are at the beginning of their recording careers and both are vying for the position of this year's Black Strobe, meaning things are looking very promising indeed for the rest of us.