Epic concerts

World-famous bands, singers and DJs choose to stop off in Barcelona on their tours, and some even play for two nights. The city has venues of all sizes to host big events. Large-scale concerts are usually held at the Palau Sant Jordi or the Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc.

The Palau Sant Jordi is a large covered hall which hosts all kinds of events. It was designed by the Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki, and its stage has welcomed world-famous stars, such as Rosalía, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Queen, Coldplay, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Elton John and Joan Manel Serrat. One of Serrat's songs, Barcelona i Jo (1998), sets his love of Barcelona to music. It isn't the only one. There are so many songs that have been inspired by our city, from Peret's Gitana Hechicera (1952) to Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé's Barcelona (1987), and not forgetting Manu Chao's La Rumba de Barcelona (2002), Barcelona by Ed Sheeran (2018) and Giulia & Los Tellarini (2008), and Lluís Llach's Un cor a Barcelona (1998). The Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc was built for the 1929 International Exhibition and underwent a complete renovation for the 1992 Olympic Games. The stadium is the ideal venue for big concerts, and performers of the stature of the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, The Police, Muse, Beyoncé, Metallica and One Direction have seen this for themselves. Medium-sized venues, including the Sala Razzmatazz, Bikini Barcelona and the Sala Apolo, host concerts almost every week.

Our agenda features the calendar of concerts lined up for this year. Some of them may go down in history, like the legendary concert by The Beatles at the Monumental bullring in 1965 (when John Lennon ended up playing wearing a pair of trousers lent to him by a member of the audience). Make sure you don't miss it?