The Backpackers Hostel Blog

Tue 4 Mar
Ana Belen

9.30pm at Palau de la Musica (C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 43 to 66€ Buy tickets

Ana Belen is a Spanish actress and singer. She started her career in the mid-sixties in Madrid. In 1972 she started her career as a singer with songs composed by her husband Victor Manuel some of them with clear political and social content.

In 1982 the couple moved to Rio de Janeiro and there they released the album “Ana in Rio” in Portuguese and Spanish languages that became a great success.

In 1986 she received a special distinction from the Minister of Culture of France and in 1995 the Cimena Academy gave her a Gold medal.

In 2003 she released a new CD calles “Viva l’Italia”. During this concert she will present several of her hits and her new album “Anatomia”.

Wed 5 Mar
WIM MERTENS DUO

9pm at Palau de la Música Catalana(C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 18 to 45 € Buy tickets

Wim Mertens is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist.

Mertens studied social and political science at the University of Leuven (graduating in 1975) and musicology at Ghent University; he also studied music theory and piano at the Royal Conservatories of Ghent and Brussels.

Known primarily as a composer since the late 1970s, Mertens is best known for his opus “Struggle for Pleasure”. He is also well known for his piece “Maximizing the Audience”, which was composed for Jan Fabre’s play The Power of Theatrical Madness, which premiered in 1984 in Venice, Italy.

Mertens’ style, while continually evolving during the course of his prolific output, touches veins of minimalist, ambient and avant-garde, usually, however, preserving a melodic fundament to the forays that he makes into the worlds that he is exploring.

In August 2007 Mertens signed a contract with EMI Classics for his entire catalog[1]. The label has prepared an ambitious re-release plan of his back-catalog which will start in January 2008. (Taken from Wikipedia.org)

Fri 7 & Sat 8 Mar
Marlango

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9:30pm at Palau de la Música Catalana(C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 24 to 38€ Buy tickets

The group Marlango started with the singer Leonor Watling, the pianist Alejandro Pelayo and the trumpeter Oscar Ybarra. Its music has influences ranging from rock to jazz, and the music of some cabaret to soundtracks.After a year of concerts throughout Spain, Portugal and Japan, they got a gold record for the first 50,000 copies sold. In September 2005 they released their second album, “Automatic Imperfection”.

Marlango now presenting its latest album “The Electrical Morning”, which confirms its maturity as a band and also where Leonor Watling is offering a more mature and warm voice, that is becoming more versatile and expressive.

(Taken from http://www.telentrada.com)

Mon 10 Mar
The Cure

9:30pm at Palau Sant Jordi ( Passeig Olímpic, 5/7) 40€-53,50€ (SOLD OUT) Buy tickets

The Cure are often identified with the gothic rock subgenre of alternative rock, however, the band has routinely rejected classification.

Robert Smith said in 2006, “It’s so pitiful when ‘goth’ is still tagged onto the name The Cure,” and added, “We’re not categorisable. I suppose we were post-punk when we came out, but in total it’s impossible [. . .] I just play Cure music, whatever that is.” Smith has also expressed his distaste for gothic rock, describing it as “incredibly dull and monotonous. A dirge really.” (Taken from wikipedia.org)

Thu 13 Mar
Jarabe de Palo -Reciclando Tour

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSkWtvef4A0&feature=related[/youtube]

10pm at Palau de la Música Catalana (C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 15 a 42 € Buy tickets

When Pau Dones was 15 years old started a group with his brother Marc.

His greatest success came to him after a trip to Cuba, where he was inspired to write “La Flaca” which became the title of his first album in 1996. A year later came the big surprise: millions of albums were sold around the world, and “La Flaca” became the song of the summer in 1997. After that the group has had a lot of success.

The group has received great awards such as “Premios de la Música”, “Premio Ondas”, and Grammy nominations. They have collaborated with La Vieja Trova Santiaguera, Antonio Vega, Vico C and Celia Cruz (soundtrack of El milagro de P. Tinto). Pau has also composed tracks for Ricky Martin and starred in a music video with Alanis Morissette. They also collaborated with Italian musicians Jovanotti and Niccolò Fabi. (Taken from www.wikipedia.org).

Thu 13, Fri 14 Mar
Saint Etienne

8:30pm at Sala Razzmatazz (Almogavers, 122) 22€-25€ Buy Tickets

Saint Etienne is an English indie dance act, fronted by Sarah Cracknell; former music journalists Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs.

Their best-known songs are the cover of Neil Young’s classic “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, “Nothing Can Stop Us”, “You’re in a Bad Way”, and “He’s on the Phone”.

In June 2005 they release the new album “Tales from Turnpike House”. It was preceded by a single for the track “Side Streets”. A second single, “A Good Thing”, that is featured in Pedro Almodóvar’s award-winning 2006 Spanish movie Volver.

“A Good Thing” is also featured in the Grey’s Anatomy episode titled “Tell me sweet little lies,” the fourteenth episode of season 2 in 2006.

Thu 13 Mar
Gentleman and The Far East Band

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9:45pm at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 24€ Buy tickets

Tilmann Otto better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a Reggae musician of German descent.

He has became in one of the greatest Reggae figures in Europe and around the world. He’ll present his new album “Another Intensity”.

Fri 14 Mar
Marc Almond + Baby Dee

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrrrPdfW4sc&feature=related[/youtube]

9:00pm at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 27,50€ Buy tickets

Marc Almond is a popular English singer, songwriter and recording artist, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell.

Baby Dee is an American performance artist and singer/songwriter. She is a musician and transgender street legend from Cleveland who has worked with Antony and the Johnsons and many other artists on the New York scene. She has also toured extensively with Current 93, playing piano and harp.

A really interesting concert not to be missed.

(Taken from www.Wikipedia.org)

Sat 15 Mar
Kíla

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=2nOBHTrdL7k[/youtube]

8pm at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 15€ Buy tickets

Kíla are an Irish folk music/world music group. The original lineup for the band was Eoin Dillon; Uileann pipes, Colm Mac Con Iomaire; fiddle, Rossa Ó Snodaigh; Whistle, Bones, Rónán Ó Snodaigh; Bodhrán, Karl Odlum; Bass, David Odlum, Guitar.

Kíla was formed in 1987 in the Irish Language secondary school, Coláiste Eoin in Co. Dublin. Colm Ó Snodaigh joined the band in 1988 for Kíla’s first festival appearance at the European Youth Music Festival, which was held in Germany.

They have travelled the world for the past ten years and have played at many, many festivals including Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures, Electric Picnic, Womadelaide, Glastonbury, Féile an Dóilín, St Chartier and The Stockholm Water Festival.

Their music is widely distributed around the world both physically through their website and digitally through iTunes. They all compose, arrange and conjure up the many different sonic “colours” that have become their musical trademark.

(Taken from www.wikipedia.org)

Tue 18 & Wed 19 Mar
Chambao

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9:30pm at Palau de la Música Catalana (Sant Francesc de Paula, 2) 18 a 52 € Buy tickets

Chambao is a flamenco-electronic band known for a Flamenco Chill sound that fuses flamenco sounds and palos with electronic music.

They have released two albums of their own. In 2003, they were winners of the Premios Ondas musical award for their debut album, Endorfinas en la mente (Endorphins in the Mind). It sold over 80,000 copies in 20 countries

In 2005 with the Album Pokito a poko (Little by Little)they sold more than 100,000 copies.

Fri 21 Mar
Ellen Allien (Bpitch Control)

12:30am at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 15€ Buy tickets

Ellen Allien is a German electronic musician, music producer and founder of BPitch Control music label. She lives in Berlin, Germany, but travels extensively. She sings in both German and English.

She has said that one of the main inspirations for her music is the culture of reunified Berlin; her album Stadtkind was dedicated to the city. Her music tends to be difficult to classify stylistically and is best described as a distinctive blend of techno and electro music, which is dance-floor oriented, yet at the same time has noticeable experimental elements.

(Taken form www.wikipedia.org)

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=sM9r_89IQFc&feature=related[/youtube]

Sat 22 Mar
Masters of the Spanish Guitar

9pm at Sala de Conciertos Palau de la Música (C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 12 – 40€ Buy tickets

Barcelona Guitar Duo

Falla: El amor brujo
Bizet: Carmen
Albéniz: Cantos de España
Sarasate: Zapateado
Sarasate: Aires gitanos
Rossini: El Barbero de Sevilla

Wed 26 Mar
Euroconcert -Antoni Vivaldi: Concerts for lute and mandolins

9pm at Sala de Conciertos Palau de la Música (C/Sant Francesc de Paula 2) 14 – 46€ Buy tickets

Ensemble Kapsberger
Rolf Lislevand: lute, baroque guitar and mandolin

Vivaldi: Concert in Re Major for two violins and lute, RV 93
Vivaldi: Concert in Re Minor for viola d’ amore and lute, RV 540
Vivaldi: Trio in Sol Minor for violin and lute, RV 85
Vivaldi: Concert in Do Major for mandolin, RV 425
Vivaldi: Concert in Sol Major for two mandolins, RV 532
Vivaldi: Concert in Re Minor for viola d’ amore, RV 394

Fri 28 Mar
FREE BLOOD LIVE! (RONG MUSIC/USA) + DJ FRA + JUAN B

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMHtcKwSMEE&feature=related[/youtube]

00:30 h at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 13 € Buy tickets at Sala Apolo

Free Blood is a new project with components of the band and with a sound that, while similar to the authors of “Me And Giuliani Down By The School Yard,” just check the disco and the post punk from another point of view. They have just released the 12″ Part 1, mutant funk with a remix of Hot Chip.

Sat 29 Mar
Piano Magic

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=iey6nuKoEQk&feature=related[/youtube]

9:30pm at Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 18€ Buy Tickets

Piano Magic is musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England.

Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, as well as other things. While the most recent releases have seen them operating with a traditional band format, they originally started their career with the intention to base their recordings around a small nucleus and whoever else would like to contribute (similar to This Mortal Coil). Glen Johnson has been the only consistent member of the band.

(Taken form www.wikipedia.org)

Sun 30 Mar
Barcelona Jazz Orquestra

8pm at Club Sala Apolo (Nou de la Rambla, 113) 10€ Buy tickets

This is the first permanent Jazz Big Band ensemble in the City of Barcelona. It was born in the autumn of 1996 at the Taller de Musics of Barcelona (one of the City’s Music Schools), with the purpose of making Jazz music accessible to all audiences.

The Barcelona Jazz Orchestra mixes tradition and innovation, and is also committed to modernity and the newest tendencies, mixing the classic repertoire – Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Dizzy Gillespie – with the work of contemporary composers and arrangers. (Taken from http://inter-jazz.com)

Mon 31 Mar
Editors + Morbious Band

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mr7-GEmFj5c[/youtube]

“Push Your Head Towards The Air”, the fourth single from the album “An End Has A Start”, released on 3rd March in the UK.

8:30pm at Sala Razzmatazz (Almogavers, 122) 25€-28€ Buy Tickets

Editors return in June 2007 with their second album An End Has A Start, on Kitchenware Records. Following on from the phenomenal success of debut platinum album The Back Room the new recordings see the band deliver on the promise so many identified on that record.

Recorded in Ireland at Grouse Lodge with Garret Lee and mixed at Olympic Studios by Cenzo Townshend, the album sees the team behind the re-recorded version of Bullets set to work on an entire collection of Editors work with stunning results.
(Taken form Editors Official Website).