The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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Live music
Major rock, pop and indie bands include Barcelona on their tours, playing
either at sports stadium venues (at the Palau Sant Jordi on Montjuïc and the
Velòdrom d’Horta) or at the city’s bigger clubs, like Razzmatazz, Sala Apolo and
Bikini (all listed under “Clubs” in the previous chapter). Tickets for these run
from €20 to €50, depending on the act though there are cheaper gigs (€5–20)
almost every night of the year at a variety of smaller clubs and bars. The city’s
pretty hot on jazz, Latin and blues, while folk, roots and world music
aficionados need to scour the club gig lists for home-grown and touring talent
alike.All sorts of city venues, museums, galleries and institutions have live music
programmes too – Caixa Forum is particularly well regarded, while the books-
and-music chain FNAC (W ) sponsors gigs and events at
the concert halls at its stores at Plaça de Catalunya, L’Illa Diagonal and L’Illa
Diagonal Mar. The websites W W
and W provide a rundown of the Barcelona music scene,
with gig calendars, band profiles and more.
Tickets for major gigs are available from the main ticket agencies (see
chapter introduction); in addition, there’s a concert ticket desk in the Plaça
Catalunya FNAC store (M Catalunya), while the music shops along c/dels
Tallers (just off the Ramblas; MCatalunya) also sell gig tickets.
The big annual music festivals start with the Generalitat’s summer-long
Festival de Barcelona Grec, while techno, rock and indie heads focus on
Primavera Sound (May) and Sónar (June). Singer-songwriters are showcased
every year at Barnasants (Jan–March), while for jazz fans the main event is the
Festival de Jazz (Nov–Dec), as well as the jazz, blues and Latin-tinged Festival
de Guitarra (April–May). There’s also Gràcia’s experimental and electronic
music festival, known as LEM (Oct).
Centre Artesà Tradicionàrius (CAT) Trav. de Sant
Antoni 6–8, Gràcia T932 184 485 W www
.tradicionarius.cat; MFontana. The best place
in town for folk and world gigs and recitals
by Catalan and visiting performers, usually
at weekends around 10pm. There are
regular music and instrument workshops,
while CAT also sponsors an annual interna-
tional folk and traditional dance festival
between Jan & April.
Espacio Movistar c/Pascual i Vila s/n, Les Corts
W ; M Palau Reial/
Collblanc. A huge multi-entertainment space
in the university campus zone that puts on a
big roster of major gigs, DJ sessions, film
shows and festivals. There’s also a bar and
Internet lounge and plenty of student action,
from Playstation booths to chill-out zones.
The range is surprising, from drum lessons
and song master-classes to gigs by the likes
of Fatboy Slim or Craig David, and there’s
plenty for free.
Harlem Jazz Club c/Comtessa de
Sobradiel 8, Barri Gòtic T933 100 755;
M Jaume I. For many years, the hot place for
jazz, though don’t let the name mislead you
– every jazz style gets an airing here, from
African and gypsy to flamenco and fusion.
Live music nightly at 11pm & 12.30am (Sat
& Sun 11.30pm & 1am); it’s best to get
advance tickets for the second spot. Usually
free midweek, otherwise cover charge up to
€10. Closed Aug.
Jamboree Pl. Reial 17, Barri Gòtic T933 191
789, W ; M Liceu. There’s
a really good range of jazz gigs here, from
traditional to modern, with sessions at
9pm & 11pm (from €10), with an additional
Mon night jazz, funk and hip-hop jam
session (€4). Best of all, every night you
can stay on for the club, playing funk,
swing, hip-hop and R&B from around
midnight until 5am.
Jazzroom c/Vallmajor 33, Sant Gervasi T 933
191 789, W ; FGC Muntaner.
One of Barcelona’s best jazz clubs serves
up live music Tues–Sat from 9pm – some of
the bigger names play here. Cover charge
€10–20 depending on the act. Closed Aug.
Jazz Sí Club c/Requesens 2, El Raval
T933 290 020, W www.tallerdemusics
.com; M Sant Antoni. Good, inexpensive
ENTERTAINMENT
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Live music