Live music: enjoy music at its most authentic. 01/03/2023

Barcelona offers to its visitors with the chance to enjoy music in the most genuine way possible: close up and in small spaces so that you can soak up the local atmosphere just like a local.

Spaces where you can immerse yourself in the local entertainment scene as another local, soaking up the atmosphere of a city that constantly moves to the sound of all manner of rhythms: jazz and soul, rock, pop, flamenco, the Spanish guitar... Barcelona has spaces scattered throughout the city, from the city centre to outlying neighbourhoods, and they guarantee you will genuinely enjoy live music.

Jazz & Soul

These two styles are among the favorites of a city where performances and jam sessions are punctually programmed each week. It is such a deep-rooted tradition that Barcelona has long been a musical hotspot and has a great choice of live music venues dedicated solely to jazz, as well as a regular anual festival, the Barcelona International Jazz Festival. One of these legendary clubs is Jamboree (Plaça Reial, 17), a jazz cellar in the Gothic Quarter that has become a true institution and part of Barcelona's cultural heritage. Jamboree reflects the lively culture of a dynamic, restless, cosmopolitan metropolis that is open to the world. Various world jazz legends from all times have played here and generations of local musicians have been trained and are now finding succés across five continents. Another classic place in the same neighbourhood is Harlem Jazz Club (Comtessa de Sobradiel, 8), a legendary venue that first opened in 1987, with a daily schedule mainly featuring jazz, but also including other musical genres such as blues, soul, and swing...

Jazz Man (Roger de Flor, 238) is an authentic, small jazz club in the Eixample, near the Sagrada Familia, with different live performances throughout the week. A club where you can feel among friends, listen to the best international jazz and make the most of your time there to discover local music talent while enjoying a drink. Milano Jazz Club (Ronda Universitat, 35) is another great choice. You can enjoy live jazz, blues and soul together with delicious Mediterranean dishes. In the Poblenou district, the Balius cocktail bar (Pujades, 196) brings you a cocktail and snack menu you can enjoy during its Sunday jazz sessions.

Other genres: Funk, Pop Rock...

But not everything is jazz in Barcelona. Funk, pop, rock, electronic music... all these styles have their own places with regular programming. Mention must be made of the Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113), in Poble Sec, one of Europe's oldest and most iconic venues. Nearby, sharing the same square where Jamboree is located, Sidecar (Plaça Reial, 7) is one of the leading venues in the city's music scene. This bar and club has been programming DJ sessions and creative avant-garde concerts in the fields of rock, punk, indie and experimental music in all senses since 1982. Stillin the Ciutat Vella district, electronic music has had its own club since the mid-1990s, the Moog Electronic Dancing Club (Arc del Teatre, 3), located in the heart of the Raval neighbourhood and now a famous temple of electronic and synthetic rhythms from the best international DJs.

Another of the city's major musical venues in terms of its size and programming is Razzmatazz (Pamplona,88). Founded in the year 2000, it is housed in a former industrial space that has today been divided into five rooms and it leads the way in terms of national and international music. Artists of the calibre of Coldplay, The Strokes or Belle and Sebastian have played here and it also hostssmall club sessions featuring new bands.

Founded as the cultural project of an association to promote art and culture in the neighbourhood of Gràcia in 1995, Heliogàbal (Ramón y Cajal, 80) today focuses on musical and poetic. The pub El Medi (Balmes, 129) in the Eixample hosts live music and stand-up from Wednesday to Saturday.

Music & Gastronomy

Two recommendations among the gastronomic spaces that also programme live music. First, Bodega Saltó (Blesa, 36), a 100-year-old cultural wine bar in the neighbourhood of Poble Sec that programmes musical vermouth days every Sunday, with rumba, blues, fusion, singer-songwriter...

Every Thursday night, the Cafè Vienès at the iconic Casa Fuster hotel (Passeig de Gràcia,132) is transformed into a jazz club that hosts some of the leading names from the local and international jazz scene. You can enjoy a snack menu or an extensive tasting menu, while you listen to the best sounds in a fascinating architectural setting.

Concerts in unique spaces

Barcelona has places where you can listen to good live music within century-old walls, providing the added advantage of uniqueness and often quality acoustics. Palau Dalmases(Montcada, 20) is a baroque space that programmes small format flamenco and opera shows (pictured above). One of the first bourgeois mansions built in the city, Palau Gomis in the Ribera neighbourhood, today houses the Museu Europeu d'Art Modern -MEAM- (Barra de Ferro, 5), which is not only strongly committed to figurative art, but also has live concerts of blues or classical music (your ticket includes entrance to the museum and the concert). Still in the historical centre, the basilica of Santa Maria del Pi (Plaça del Pi, 7) it hosts weekly Spanish guitar concerts and the Palau de la Balmesiana – an impressive neo-Gothic-style building with art nouveau elements – hosts pocket opera recitals on the third Saturday every month, except in August.