If there’s one great thing about the onset of winter in a city renowned for its summers, it is the incredible amount and variety of live music that suddenly becomes available. With there being little inclination to lounge around the beaches at night, local venues seem to pull out all the stops and pack their listings out with a mouth watering selection of bands you can catch live. November is usually a good month, but this year it’s a great month to be in the city.

I’ll deal with the performances in chronological order. First up are french reggae masters Dub Inc. playing the Apolo, and the incredible Sonny Rollins at L’Auditori on the 3rd. On the 5th, music lovers have a choice of seeing sixties legends The Zombies at the Apolo, going to Mephisto for a feast of thrash metal with Annihilator and Sworn Amongst, or catching Adrian Belew at Luz de Gas. Belew has fronted the legendary prog rock King Crimson and played with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, and others too numerous to mention. But here’s a clip from King Crimson’s appearance on The Old Grey Whitle Test:

On the 6th Industrial Hardcore pioneers, Front242, play Sala Bikini, while Blind Guardian rock Sant Jordi Club, and LCD Soundsystem will have the crowd bopping the night away in Sala Razzmatazz. The highly original electro outfit Crystal Castles play Sala Apolo on the 7th.

My pick of the gigs on the 10th would have to be Greg Dulli in Sidecar, on his first solo tour of a long and remarkable career during which time he has been lead singer in The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers, and The Gutter Twins. However, if poodle-perms and tiger-striped spandex is more your thing then W.A.S.P are playing Razzmatazz, while heavier metal fans can catch Sonic Syndicate at Mephisto. On the 11th there are no less than 4 gigs to choose from: At Razzmatazz the “Eastpak Antidote Tour”, now in it’s sixth year, will see Sum 41, Black Pacific, Riverboat Gamblers and Veara take to the stage, while in another room Liverpool’s The Coral perform; at Sala Apolo you can catch the return of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; while at Sala Bikini this year’s hottest new singing sensation, Imelda May, is set to wow her audience as she has everywhere else. November 12th sees the Swedish operatic-slash-symphonic metal outfit Therion play Razzmatazz. They have played with full orchestras before, but I expect this will not be one of those nights.

On the 13th the choices are Vampire Weekend at Razzmatazz, Nothink at Bikini, or Yann Tiersen at Sant Jordi Club. The following night Wu-Tang legends Method Man and Red Man join forces for a night of dark hiphop at Razzmatazz, while Interpol play Sant Jordi Club. The following night Alter Bridge play Razz while stoner metal band Torche will burn up the stage at Sidecar. Then on the 16th is the gig of the month, in my humble opinion – The Strange Boys play Mephisto, an unusual choice of venue for a band that are about as far from metal as you can imagine, reminding me more of the very early Stones, or Beatles, or Kinks in their rawness and tunefulness. Judge for yourselves:

On November 17th guitar legend Joe Satriani plays the Apolo with Ned Everett & Triple Double. The following night Doom merchants from Coventry, Cathedral, are in Razzmatazz. On the 19th Sidecar hosts American singer songwriter Kelley Stolz, and the following evening sees 90s acid-house chart-toppers Primal Scream perform their seminal album Screamadelica in Razzamatazz. On the 21st the choice is between catching Macy Gray at Bikini or Arcade Fire at Palau Sant Jordi.

November 23rd sees shock-rocking legend Alice Cooper bring his show to the Sant Jordi Club on the same night as Drive By Truckers play Razzmatazz. On the 24th South America’s answer to Madonna, Britney, Lady GaGa, and just about everything else, the potent Shakira will no doubt sell out Palau Sant Jordi. On the 25th Edwyn Collins and Callers play Bikini.

The 26th is another evening where hard choices will need to be made as Suede are playing Razzmatazz, Teenage Fanclub are playing the Apolo, and Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. fame is a part of the lineup with Beach Fossils and John Grant at Sala Bikini. On the 30th the choices are between Monster Magnet at Razzmatazz, Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three at Sidecar, or Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan performing together at Sala Apolo: Here’s a sample -