The fifth edition of the OSS (Ortigia Sound System) in Syracuse, Sicily has just ended. For five days, boat parties, intimate concerts mixing the styles of 50 different musicians, sunsets, artistic performances and lunar eclipse set against the walls of a city doubly millennial seduced nearly 13,000 visitors from all over the world.
If there was a place to be at the end of July, it was in Sicily. Apart from its beautiful sandy beaches and its warm and transparent waters that make its reputation throughout the Mediterranean, the island, already a historical crossroads of civilizations, was transformed into a musical crossroads for five days.
It is in the south-east of Sicily, in Syracuse , that the Ortigia Sound System (OSS) has been settling down for the past five years. From July 25 to 29, nearly 13,000 visitors from more than 50 different countries walked the stones of Ortigia, the ancient island of Syracuse, which is more than 2,000 years old. No less than 50 different artists awaited the spectators on one of the seven stages of the festival in places as much steeped in history as magic such as the Castello Maniace, the Marina or the Antico Mercato.
For those who were not satisfied, the OSS also offered atypical stages: boat concerts. Because a little geography is required. If part of Syracuse and Ortigia, its historic city center, overlooks the Ionian Sea, it has a peaceful gulf where a sea of oil reigns. Enough to give good ideas to the organizers of the festival who every day make crowded boats leave for wild boat parties where when the temperature becomes too tough, a little dive is necessary.
A plethora of artists
Aiming to be "a sound research of contemporary artistic expression", the Ortigia Sound System presents a wide range of artists and musical styles that the festival develops over the years. Like the different cultural dominations that have succeeded one another throughout the history of Sicily, the OSS shares the taste for styles, rhythms, genres and trends of music from all horizons.
If making an objective list of artists and events of the festival would be too tedious, some have attracted our attention more (question of taste). In the first place, how not to miss the opening of the festival with fanfare, under a sunset of the boat party of the French group Nouvelle Vague. An emotion found with the group!K7 Soundsystem which was part of the last wave of boat parties.
It only took a few strokes of the oar from the gulf to return to the island of Ortigia. If the newly renovated Antico Mercato attracted a dense crowd for bands like Kamaal Williams, it was the stage of the Maniace castle, at the tip of the island, that was the highlight of the evenings.
Under a starry sky, internationally renowned artists such as James Holden & The Animal Spirits, Erlend Oye & la Comitiva and the crazy Omar Souleyman followed one another. Mention all the same to the concert of the legendary Lee Scratch Perry or the premiere in Italy of the project "Megamix" of Hot Chip under a blood-red moon that did not overshadow the performance of these artists.
So if next year, you want to come and bask on the Sicilian beaches and visit the beautiful Syracuse, think that at the end of July, the Ortigia Sound System will undoubtedly bring an unforgettable hue to your holidays.
