Live Music in Barcelona – something for everyone

Whatever your taste in music, Barcelona is undoubtedly the city to provide you with a live dose of it during your time there.

Lovers of pop and rock, for example, can point to big names such as Beyonce, U2, Slipknot, Madonna, Coldplay, AC/DC, Pet Shop Boys, Snow Patrol, Jarvis Cocker, David Byrne and Ry Cooder – all of whom are scheduled to perform in the city in 2009. These concerts will be held at venues such as Palau Sant Jordi, El Parc del Forum, Estadio Olimpico and even, for U2, the Camp Nou. These are the venues at which the largest rock and pop concerts are customarily held and, as was the case with Bruce Springsteen, the artists usually extol the virtues of Barcelona audiences afterwards. This is a vibrant musical city.

As well as the major acts at the largest venues, of course, there are many, many more places to get your musical fix. Port Olímpic and Port Vell are naturally areas to wander during the summer evenings and you’ll find many places there attracting Barcelona’s ‘beautiful people’ and visitors from all over the world. The atmosphere is lively, friendly and very laid-back.

The danger of a piece like this, of course, is that some clubs are fashionable or popular for a while and then drift away so the ones mentioned here are going to necessarily be the more established Barcelona music venues – ones you can be fairly certain will still be here next week, even in this economic downturn.

Places such as Razzmatazz in Poble Nou, which is like 5 clubs in one and regularly hosts live music – bands have included Pulp, Travis, The Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus – and the split-level Moog Club in the Chinese Quarter. These will survive any recession.

Let me give you some other favourites. Jamboree, on Plaça Reial is an ultra-chic night club that has Dance music downstairs and live Spanish music on the floor above. It is especially popular for its blues and funk nights. Up and Down on Carrer Numància is one of the most exclusive clubs in the city as is Salsitas on Nou de la Rambla while Bikini on Carrer Deu I Mata attracts a younger, more cosmopolitan clientèle. La Paloma and Luz de Gas on Tigre and Muntaner respectively are both truly memorable dance venues. If you want an outside venue, then La Terrazza on Avinguda Montanyans, which is only open during the summer, is highly popular.

More specialist haunts include the ever-popular Harlem Jazz Club on Comtesa de Sobradiel, Tablao Flamenco Cordobes on La Rambla and the Centre Artesà Tradicionarius at Travessera de Sant Antoni where traditional Catalan and Spanish music can be heard.

And, if all this isn’t enough, we haven’t even mentioned opera – with the enchanting Gran Teatre del Liceu on La Rambla one of the finest operatic houses in Europe – or symphony concerts, chamber and choral music, which have the Palau de la Musica Catalana as their main venue.

Finally, Barcelona, musically, has many different festivals throughout the year that attract thousands of aficionados to the city. These include Primavera Sound, Sonar, Summercase, Blues and Ritmes, the International Jazz Festival, BAM, Indie Pendent and the Festival of the Guitar.

Undoubtedly, Barcelona has much to offer music lovers searching for top quality live venues with unbelievable atmospheres and the very best of all types of music.