C2C Festival: 25 years of electronic and avant-garde pop in Turin

In Turin, the C2C Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary: from 29 October to 1 November, it is marking the occasion with an edition that takes in various venues across the city, reaffirming its identity as a travelling event. The opening ceremony at the OGR, in the spectacular Sala Fucine, demonstrated once again that its strength lies not only in the artists, but also in the venues where they perform.

It is a sensibility that C2C has nurtured ever since it was known as Club to Club. Its widespread nature has never faded, not even when the Lingotto became the centrepiece of the programme. On its twenty-fifth anniversary, this is clearly evident: the OGR, the Lingotto, the Teatro Regio with its talks, Le Roi and Notorius – iconic venues of Turin’s club scene – and the Teatro Carignano, where the festival returns after 11 years with a matinee performance by the Norwegian band Smerz (Saturday 31st): bringing their experimental pop to a historic theatre normally dedicated to drama is perhaps the most telling contrast of this journey through industrial heritage, classical culture and nightlife.

The music on the opening night also confirmed the festival’s deliberate and distinctive choice: to follow the less mainstream strands of pop and electronic music, without being swayed by the mainstream. And the fact that the OGR was sold out, with a huge number of under-35s (78 per cent, according to the organisers, referring to the entire festival) and international visitors (53 per cent), speaks volumes about something wonderful and heartening: that artistic exploration does not necessarily mean a niche audience, but rather a viable and successful alternative, both culturally and economically. The Danish artist ML Buch, accompanied on stage by the Pessoa Quartet, immersed the audience in a suspended and delicate atmosphere, all nuance and listening. DJ Python’s performance was a very different experience: his audiovisual show reached an almost cathartic intensity in its final stages, with sub-bass frequencies that could be felt in the chest even before they reached the ears. The sound became a physical presence, evoking something of the collective abandon of a rave.

Then the Australian band The Avalanches changed tack with a DJ set that was as wild as it was carefully crafted: jazz, Motown, disco, pop and Queen samples followed one another in a party that was also a game of spot-the-track for music fans, yet still managed to get everyone dancing. It’s the same freedom of fusion that runs through *No Bad Memories*, their new album, which brings together guests who are light-years apart, from Jamie xx to Mike Patton. Perhaps the most striking moment came courtesy of the British artist Shygirl, on her first and only date in Italia: on the one hand, a sharp, physical and deeply London-esque sound – a blend of grime, rap, pop and electronica, with echoes of Underworld and Massive Attack. On the other, a performance capable of fusing artistic exploration with the energy of the dance floor. All around, the Officine Grandi Riparazioni: a symbol of industrial Turin, where trains were once repaired. Today, the metal beams, naves and large arched windows are not merely an added backdrop, but the very setting that lends the sounds an almost solemn dimension.

The line-up continues – amongst others – with Robyn, the Swedish icon of electronic pop; Arca, the Venezuelan experimental artist; Oklou, a rising star of French pop; and Kelela, whose sound blends R&B with avant-garde electronica. But C2C is a festival you ‘choose’ even before you know the line-up, thanks to the trust built up in the project itself. And in a country like ours, where major pop and rock concerts are often held in makeshift or unsuitable venues – from racecourses to fields – Turin reminds us that a concert isn’t just about ‘who’ takes to the stage: it’s the whole experience, including the venue.