Brad Spurgeon's Blog

Links to useful open mic/jam session guides to Barcelona:

Micros Abiertos, Jams, Eventos Participativos en Barcelone is a great Facebook page where people signal open mics as they are happening, usually with the Facebook event link. Totally active when I found it thanks to an organizer of an open mic in Barcelona.

Jam Sessions in Barcelona. An excellent site for finding jam sessions in Barcelona every night of the week with the current date.

Barcelona Blues Society. An association for blues music, and this page announces jams such as the one on Fridays at the Sports Bar (which I have not attended, so do not include below), or the one at the Sala Monasterio, which I have attended and so mention below on Thursday nights.

Brad Spurgeon’s findings on Open Mics in Barcelona:

Over the years I have performed at a lot more open mics and jam sessions in Barcelona than I have listed here, but most of them have either closed down or I cannot find further trace of them – such as the Bar ESe EFe, Bel-Luna Jazz Bar, the George Payne Pub, and a squat and a bar I never even knew the names of that had open mic jam sessions that were not publicised -, and that’s why I have such a short list from my own personal experience below. In my first years going to Barcelona, the most common kind of open mic in Barcelona was the open jam session – ie, where musicians play together in a band, with everyone taking their turn on the stage joining in. But on my last trip, I found there has been more and more of an open mic culture building up here, and that doesn’t surprise me – it is a very young, happening city.

Tuesday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. This venue and open jam session is connected with the Taller school of music, and it has a unique vibe. The room alone is worth playing in, as the stage is high, comfortable, well lit with a good sound system and most important of all, the feeling of performing in a kind of real old fashioned theater, in terms of the placement of the spectators, who are on the ground in front, but also on scaffolding rising up to the high ceiling. The place has been packed with spectators every time I have gone. It is well organized, the band is open to doing whatever you want to try, and you get a free beer as a performer and do not have to pay the cover fee. Above all, it has a different jam every night. Tuesday is the rock, pop, blues night. Here is the description from its own web site: “This venue, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012, has been historically linked to the Taller de Músics as an artistic platform for young musicians, as well as being one of the few spaces in the city with a daily programme of live music. JazzSí is a small scale concert hall and therefore has never been a large scale tsunami, rather a constant fine rain which after all this time can boast of having amassed a total of: 648,000 spectators, 7,200 concerts and 36,000 musicians who have played there.”

Wednesday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Jazz jam session night – see full description on Tuesday listing above.

Thursday – Sala Monasterio, Passeig d’Isabel II, 4 08003, Barcelona, 616 28 71 97. Located near the port in the cellar of a building in what was a former monastery, this is a very warm venue with a great crowd, some wonderful musicians and a piano and drums and stage and lights and a great sound system with a full time sound engineer. Another classic blues jam session, it allows rock and pop songs as long as they are somehow related to the blues; this is how it seemed to me, in any case. It starts late, like after 11 PM when the organizing band plays a set before inviting musicians to take to the stage from a list they have signed.

– Freedonia, Carrer Lleialtat 6, Barcelona, Spain, 686 92 53 32 Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. This is only every second Thursday, so keep an eye on the link above, or one the link to the Freedonia association’s web site, which is behind these open mic. This is an amazing location, a double venue in the picturesque central part of the city near Sant Antoni metro, and with a front room venue devoted to a comedy open mic, and the back room for the music open mic. The sound system is pretty good for the instruments, not great for the vocals, as I mentioned in my report of my night at the Freedonia “micro abierto.” Three songs, a great audience, an underground feel, cheap beer, a classic open mic – as opposed to the more frequent “jam sessions” in Barcelona.

– Big Bang Bar, Calle Botella 7, Barcelona, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. The last time I went to the Big Bang Bar I was, totally in heaven to find that they had relaunched an open mic. I had been to this venue several times in previous years to attend its various open mic jam sessions in the fabulous back room with a small stage and great sound system – it felt like a recording studio. But a couple of years ago they had to close down the jams because of complaints from somewhere. I actually thought the bar itself was closed. But I found on returning in 2016, that there was now a stage in the middle part of the bar, a piano, a decent sound system, and the agreeable MC Oscar Martinez. And now, it was a classic open mic, not a jam session. All kinds of music welcome. And there was something very scary about playing in such intimate surroundings. But i was not scared enough to not return on the following Sunday for another night of the open mic, as it happens on both Thursday and Sunday. A great crowd both nights.

Saturday – Belchica, C/Villarroel 60, Barcelona, +34 625 81 40 01 Another classic open mic, run by the same Oscar Martinez who runs the one at the Big Bang Bar. A really neat stage, a great bar with a front part where people can talk, and then the back room, where people can listen to the music. Pretty good sound system too.

– JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Another Jazz jam session night – see full description on Tuesday listing above.

Sunday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Another Rock Pop Blues jam session night – see full description on Tuesday listing above.

– Big Bang Bar, Calle Botella 7, Barcelona, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. For the description of this one, see above, on Thursdays….

The main places you would probably want to start looking at for full-fledged bands and other cool musical stuff are:

Monday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Great jazz band concerts – see full description on Tuesday listing above in the open mic section.

Thursday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Great Cuban and Latin music concerts – see full description on Tuesday listing above in the open mic section.

Friday – JazzSí Club , Requesens, 2, 08001 Barcelona, tel.93 329 00 20, jazzsiclub@gmail.com, Bus: 20, 24, 64, Metro: L2 – Sant Antoni. Flamenco music concerts – see full description on Tuesday listing above in the open mic section.

Not sure which days for concerts, but: Sala Monasterio, Passeig d’Isabel II, 4 08003, Barcelona, 616 28 71 97. Various concerts. Check out the jam entry in the Thursday spot, above.