January 7th, 2011, at Sala Apolo [2].

Here’s a clip from Benjammin from a few years back at Sala Apolo

January will be a busy month for FC Barcelona who have 2 Copa del Rey games in their schedule, having squeaked past Athletic Bilbao earlier this week on the away goal rule. Sadly, Espanyol were knocked out by Atletico Madrid, who were rewarded by drawing city neighbours and rivals, Real, in the next round. The last 8 of the Copa del Rey will feature 5 of the top 6 in La Liga, plus the bottom half pairing of Depor vs Almeria and recently demoted Real Betis. This means that alongside the tasty Madrid derby, there is also the local derby of Villareal vs Valencia (3rd vs 4th) to savour. The conspiracy hacks of the Madrid newspapers were probably up all night writing in disgust at how Barça had drawn the only team not in the top division. Barcelona’s home game will be held on the 11th, or 12th, depending on which source you look up.

In La Liga this month, Barcelona play at home on the 16th against Malaga, and on the 23rd against Racing Santander. Espanyol face Real Zaragoza at home on the 9th, and then face high-flying Villareal on the 30th.

Rather than move chronologically through the upcoming treats, I’ll deal with the venues instead. First up, Palau Sant Jordi where Lady GaGa will perform on the 7th of December, and national treasures Fito & Fitipaldis on the 11th. The nearby associated Sant Jordi Club will present a SoulwaXmas on the 2nd (2ManyDJs, etc.), Motorhead play there on the 17th, and the following night sees 30 Seconds to Mars take the stage.

Moving back into the city, at Sala Apolo, there is a busy schedule, the highlights of which include noise-merchants Atari Teenage Riot on the 4th, reggae legend Horace Andy and the Homegrown Band on the 9th, The Blazing Ska Festival on the 11th featuring Soweto, The Cabrians, The Penguins and Dance Crasher Sound. I’d recommend this gig if you’re not familiar with the bands but enjoy ska, Soweto are consummate musicians, and The Cabrians take on Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades” is unforgettable. No Hunger Festival on the 12th has a strong line-up of local bands, Dover play on the 15th, and on the 19th you can catch Mala Rodriguez, one of the best hip-hop talents anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, next door in Apolo [2] The Lost Fingers play on the 4th, and on the 15th it will be Howlin’ Rains turn.

Here’s a nice live clip of Soweto playing in Barcelona:

Next up is the Razzmatazz complex of venues and clubs. They begin on the 2nd with a performance by The Tallest Man on Earth in Sala 2, while The Scientist will take to the stage in Sala 3. M.I.A. return to Barcelona on the 7th in the main hall, on the 10th the same stage hosts Two Door Cinema Club, while on the 11th it will be the turn of Aphex Twin. The 16th sees a performance by MGMT, which I believe is already sold out (so don’t be surprised if they move it to Sant Jordi Club, which they did with Motorhead), and Razz ends its year with a concert by M-Clan on the 30th.

Any mention of Aphex Twin deserves a link to this, sickest of all, videos:

Over at Sala Bikini there are concerts of note: Imogen Heap plays on the first, while one of the country’s top Beatles cover bands (and there are many!!) Abbey Road play on the 11th, with Depeche Mode soundalikes DE/VISION playing on the 18th.

There are two notable concerts at L’Auditori in December, on the 12th Kool and the Gang, and on the 17th Shirai present New World Vibrations.

Finally, a mention for Sala Salamandra which often slips under the radar. On the second of December you can catch Apoptygma Berzerk, on the 6th Eurovision shockers Lordi arrive, and on the 14th there is a night of pure madness headlined by FinnTroll.

And last, but not least, a flavour of the death metal/polka/folk lunacy of FinnTroll

Barcelona will have three home games before their winter break, in three different competitions. First up they’ll take on Rubin Kazan on the 7th, with their qualification to the next round of the Champions League already secured, and likewise their top spot in the group. On the 12th, it’s La Liga again and a game with Real Sociatat, and their last game of 2010 will be the first leg of their encounter with Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey.

All the attention in Spain has, as usual, been focused on FCB and Real Madrid, so it might come as a surprise to some that RCD Espanyol have a 100% home record having won all six of their league games at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat this season. Currently Espanyol are sitting in 4th, in a position to qualify for the Champions League. That home record might well face it’s most serious threat this month. Perhaps not from Sporting Gijon, who play there on the 5th, but on the 19th of December when their more famous neighbours and rivals, Barcelona, arrive. As always, this will be a slightly different game - it is unlikely that Espanyol will allow Barça to control possession the way Madrid did. Although how they can prevent that from happening is anybody’s guess, probably not by calling Maureen up for a few tips. Espanyol, like their neighbours, are also through to the next round of the Copa del Rey, and have an away game at Atleticó Madrid on the 22nd.

The other big surprise has been Barcelona’s poor home form in the league, so far they’ve managed just 3 wins from 5 and scored 9 goals, 5 of them coming in their last game against Sevilla. The champions will have to up their game, or hope that Mourinho’s Real Madrid slip up, the latter looking less and less likely – in their last 4 games Real have scored an astonishing 19 goals! With the in-form Real set to visit Nou Camp this month, November will play a significant role in how Barça’s season turns out. They begin the month with an away game in the Champions League against the Danish champions, followed by another tricky away game in the league against Getafe. Their first home game this month is against Ceuta on the 10^th in the Copa del Rey, a tie which they lead by two goals already and which should allow Guardiola to rest some key players. This is all the more likely as they then play third placed Villareal at Nou Camp on the weekend of the 14^th. Then they have away games at Almeria, on the 21^st, and another in the Champions League against Panathinaikos on the 23^rd before the visit of Real Madrid for El Clasico on the last weekend of the month.

Espanyol are currently lying in 5^th, 8 points off the top, and will be hoping to keep up their 100% home record when they play Malaga on the 7^th. Like their wealthy neighbours, Espanyol also have a good chance of making it through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, and on the 10^th they play Valladolid at home, also with a two goal advantage from the first leg. Their final home game of November sees the recently promoted Hercules visit, and Espanyol will no doubt recall that the same team caused a major upset by beating Barcelona in Camp Nou earlier in the season.

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 -

Sala Razzmatazz has a packed calendar, the busiest it has been since last Spring. In chronological order, the bands visiting are Zeno & The Stoics, Blue Rodeo (still going strong after 26 years!!), Cardiac, El Bicho, Dark Tranquility, Train, Mystery Jets, Anti-Flag, Avenged Sevenfold, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Casiotone for the Painfully Aware, Sick of it All (again, they seem to play a lot of Barcelona gigs), Six Feet Under, and finally Swedish anti-fascist Oi! band, Perkele. The clip below is of Casiotone for the Painfully Aware

Sala Bikini will host local favourite Sol Lagarto, goth legends Fields of the Nephilim, Hurts, John Hiatt & The Combo, the inimitable Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, and finally The Baseballs on the 30th. Here’s a clip of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry performing live with Dub Is A Weapon a few years back:

One of the highlights for the month has to be the chance to see Peter Hook, of Joy Division and New Order, perform the whole of Joy Division’s seminal album ‘Unknown Pleasures’ at Sala Apollo on October 10th. The same venue will also host Vamps, Trentemoller, Red Sparowes, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Tindersticks, and the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra. The following clip is a live performance by Red Sparowes at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood:

Mallorca are FC Barcelona’s first opponents, on the 3rd, followed by games against current league leaders Valencia on the 17th, and a tricky fixture against Sevilla on the 31st. In between there is a crucial Champions League match against FC Copenhagen on the 20th.

Sala Razzmatazz will host Swedish indie-pop specialists The Radio Dept., as well as Italian goth-metal pioneers Lacuna Coil, and the wonderfully talented Scottish singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald. Here’s a wee taster of Amy’s talents.

In Sala Apollo, there are only two non-local bands visiting in September, but what is missing in numbers is more than made up in quality. First up are the mighty Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - they do exactly what they say on the tin! TSPO gigs are always lively affairs, they have a large following here in Barcelona, and visit at least once a year, so if you’re thinking of getting along there make sure you get your ticket early. The other visitors to the Apollo will be Seattle grunge masters Mudhoney, who’s “Touch Me, I’m Sick” remains one of the highest points in that genre. As that song is so famous, I’ve plumped for a TSPO video instead (of course I wasn’t influenced by the two cute Japanese girls guesting on vocals….).

At Sala Bikini, the choices are even more eclectic. From Ireland come VNV Nation, two lads who have been making electronic dance music, and more recently synthpop, since the mid ’90s. Their gigs are pure energy, and a real bonus for dance music lovers. Next up are The Whitest Boy Alive, a band from Berlin that defy categorization, although they do remind me a little of Sparklehorse, or even of the very, very early REM. They make beautiful music, and would be my choice if I had to pick just one gig this month. The Eels are the last visitors to play Bikini, and are deservedly famous for their “Novocaine for the Soul” single, which was one of the best songs of the nineties in my humble opinion. I’d still choose to see TWBA, only because I’ve been lucky enough to see The Eels twice, and have never caught The Whitest Boy Alive yet.

Finally, a mention to the three major acts to play Barcelona in September. From New York come heavy metal stalwarts Manowar. Has it really been over 30 years since they formed? Manowar have managed to get into the Guinness Book of Records in 1984 for “loudest performance”, a record they have broken twice since then! The inexplicably popular Limp Bizkit also return to the city, and finally Supertramp, a band formed in 1969, play. These last three concerts are in Palau Sant Jordi.