With Sofars in 400+ cities around the world, the power of the the internet allows us to connect with each other at any given moment. But there’s no replacement for in person facetime, so every year or so, we gather together to meet, share ideas, gather inspiration for the next year, and of course, have some fun together! At the end of 2018, we brought our city leaders together at five regional meetups in Atlanta (USA and Canada), Buenos Aires (Latin America), Hamburg (Europe), Kerala (Asia) and Melbourne (Oceania).
Our Global Community Development Lead (and meetup planner!) Prarthana shares some of the highlights:
Sofar is now in over 400 cities around the world! Each city brings familiar Sofar vibes, but also offers a local twist with venues and artists. If only we could attend all of them! Since it’s physically impossible to do that, we asked our team members where they’d most like to catch a Sofar this year. Get your passport ready and move these Sofars to the top of your list in 2019:
Known as the “Edinburgh of the South,” Dunedin is only the 7th largest city in New Zealand with around 120,000 people. A true university town, it has an active student population that keeps the culture vibrant and creative. It’s also built along a natural harbor, making for stunning views and plenty of outdoor activities. Want to know more? Sofar Dunedin City Leader Sakhr shares his favorite under-the-radar spots and a playlist of some of his favorite Sofar Dunedin alumni.
Fresh off his Australian run, breakout artist and singer-songwriter Didirri teamed up with Sofar Sounds for his U.S. debut and his first-ever run of tour dates in the U.S. and Canada this fall.
His lyricism, warm presence and live performance have made him a stand out rising star from Australia, receiving support from fellow Aussie Tash Sultana and led him to recently sign with agent and friend of Sofar Tom Windish, who first discovered Didirri at a Sofar Sounds show in London, and is now personally working on Didirri’s first American tour.
Over three weeks in November, Didirri played eight different Sofar cities, from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York City and more. He chats with us about his tour and playing Sofar:
Since Sofar got its start in 2009, we’ve seen some of our alumni go from playing in someone’s living room to selling out arenas and headlining festivals. Think Bastille, Leon Bridges, Andra Day, Hozier and many more. Which begs the question: Who’s next? Our artist bookers tell us which alumni they’ve got their eyes on in 2019:
The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. Empire State of Mind. New York City looms iconic in many a dream and throughout pop culture. But within this city of 8 million, there are plenty of off-the-beaten-path spots to explore. The Sofar NYC team shares their favorite spots to discover:
Massive thanks to our global community for giving us an inspiring and memorable 2018! We saw performances from over 10,000 artists at more than 5,700 shows around the world, with Sofar launching in 53 new cities. Relive some of our favorite moments from Sofar shows this year – see the full list on YouTube, listen to our Spotify Best of 2018 playlist, and discover picks from the first half of the year.
As 2018 wraps up, we’re looking back on some of our most memorable moments of the year. One of Sofar’s core values is Humble: We are true to our brand, mission and values. We’re not perfect and own up to our shortcomings. We are always honest, inclusive and as transparent as we can be with our community. To explore how we do this, we sat down with Sofar’s Guest Services team Chris and Emily, who answer hundreds of questions from our audience each week.
When you email Sofar Sounds, we guarantee you’ll hear from a real person, and it’s usually Chris or Emily! They take us behind the scenes of how they answer your questions, address issues and help Sofar improve:
As 2018 wraps up, we’re looking back on some of our most memorable moments of the year. One of Sofar’s core values is Inclusive: Sofar Sounds is a movement that transcends borders. We live for the quiet moments of togetherness and take care to appreciate our surroundings and one another. No matter who you are or where the world takes you, you are welcome in our home. These are some of our favorite inclusive-related stories from the past year:
As 2018 wraps up, we’re looking back on some of our most memorable moments of the year. One of Sofar’s core values is Tastemakers: Sofar Sounds is made up of artists, writers, musicians, leaders, travelers and makers. We are explorers and entrepreneurs, who take risks in the name of creating something beautiful for all who come through our door. These are some of our favorite tastemaker-related stories from the past year:
As 2018 wraps up, we’re looking back on some of our most memorable moments of the year. One of Sofar’s core values is Community-driven: We are nothing without each other. Our global community of artists, hosts, guests, volunteers and staff make our movement. These are some of our favorite community-driven stories from the past year:
Every month, we compile our favorite artists playing in Sofar communities around the globe into one Spotify playlist, Now Playing. Press play to hear our city leaders’ top picks from November’s shows, and follow Sofar on Spotify to stay up to date on City Spotlights, Staff Picks and more!
The second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki spans back to 315 BC and now is known as a vibrantly cultural city with a rich Byzantine and Ottoman past where anyone can go to have a good time and soak in history at the same time. Sofar Thessaloniki City Leader Georgianna calls it “the city that never sleeps,” and offers up her favorite local under-the-radar spots:
Christen B started Sofar in Baltimore just over a year ago, but she was familiar with Sofar before that – as an artist! She played eight Sofars up and down the East Coast of the U.S. before bringing it to her hometown. She talks to us about breaking down barriers between artists and guests, what it’s like to lead a Sofar chapter with the perspective of a performer, and more:
With hundreds of shows around the world each month, countless memorable moments happen at Sofar. Here are just a few of the special shows we put on in the past few weeks!
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? It’s real! We teamed up with the new film Bohemian Rhapsody for a series of shows celebrating the legendary band Queen. At eight Sofars across the globe, we celebrated the group’s iconic songs, revolutionary sound and extraordinary front man Freddie Mercury. Relive the night with these rocking performances!
One of the best parts of attending a Sofar show is discovering new music live that you may not have heard before. Even better? It could be a fresh project from a band you already love! Here are some Sofar side performances of major artists and their bandmates:
We may encourage our audiences to sit at Sofar, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like an active lifestyle! Some of our favorite venues in our communities have been ones that serve as places for sports or physical activity when they’re not hosting Sofars. From skate parks to boxing rings, check ‘em out:
One of the few locally born members of the Sofar Hong Kong team, Teresa Luk helped build their community by linking Sofar with the local music scene and designing posters and custom tees. A translator by day, she recently made a move to Manchester in the UK and has seamlessly joined the Sofar team there, all while still creating posters for her native Hong Kong Sofar! We chat with her about the differences between Hong Kong and Manchester, why she moved across the world and her inspiration when designing gig posters: