Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Barcelona in November

The temperatures have really dropped over the last few days which means no more flip-flops, shorts or t-shirts until May. On the positive side, winter here normally sees a steady flow of concerts, exhibitions, and festivals to keep busy until beach season returns and of course, La Liga is in full swing.  Some of the highlights include.

The 41st Annual Festival of International Jazz. It runs until the 6th of December and is taking place in numerous venues throughout the city. Some of the acts are: Belá Fleck & The Flecktones, Chano Domínguez Quiteto Flamenco, and the Omar Sosa Sextet at L’Auditori, the Brad Mehldau Trio, Cassandra Wilson, Chucho Valdés & Concho Buika, Jimmy Cobb’s So What Band, Marcus Miller, Kings of Convenience, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and Tortoise at La Palau de la Música, Sole Giménez at Teatre Joventut, and Imelda May at Luz de Gas. If you only have one night and aren't drawn to any group, I'd recommend seeing a show at La Palau de Musica - a modernist masterpiece with brilliant acoustics (pictured). For more information, visit the official page (in Catalan).

For those of you with other musical taste, November seems to be eighties month with such groups as  New Model Army, Marillion, Spandau Ballet, Simple Minds, and Depeche Mode playing here. If you're looking for something a bit heavier, Germany's Rammstein return, plus Rise Against, Hardcore Superstar, and LA's own Isis. Also coming is Finntroll who are a mix of death metal, black metal, folk metal, and polka. Or at least the Finnish polka called “humppa”. (Thanks Tony for the plug and the info.)  In addition to these groups, Do Make Say Think, Sizzla Kalonji & The Firehouse Crew, Camera Obscura, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Horrors, Juliette Lewis, and Muse with The Horrors being my personal favorite. See www.barcelonarocks.com for tickets and availability.

Finally, La Liga is particularly close this year with Barça leading Madrid by a sole point. For you football fans out there, there are four opportunities to catch Barça at the Camp Nou (not including el classico) between now and Christmas. .

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