Week 115: Seeking Small Venues to Perform In

Hi Music Lovers! On Tuesday Jan 8th, I went to check out a bar in Gracia called 'Alfa‎ Bar'.

C/ Gran De Gràcia, 36. 08012 Barcelona. Tel: 934 15 18 24

The Band Out of Water formed by guitarist Gustavo Aguado (from the BAMM meetup group last week) had a gig and I decided to go and support him while checking out the venue. It was a curious mix of influences with a strong vocal performance coming from their female Jazz style vocalist (reminded me a bit of Alanis Morisett). Los pianistas Ariana Carreras y Toni del Amo y la cantante Itziar Sánchez.

The band members had their own influences with Piano and keyboard players. The venue was a good size to play for 50-80 people. The stage is lifted, so there is a distance between the audience and the performers onstage. I loved the lighting and decor, looks like a really cool place to take pics!

 As you can see, the entrance there is a bar for those who want to chat and the stage is further into the bar. There was a medium to large size mixing desk and engineer on hand.

 It was quite a dazzling looking set, maybe an idea to take live video promotion in future for one of my tracks.Love the old records on the ceiling!

Its been a busy week and I've been to 4 venues. I'm checking out the local music scene and looking for places to play. I'm in the process of also meeting the local music talent and getting to know some great bands.

Gracia seems to be the place that has a lot of small places I could play an intimate set. Informal and laid back. On Friday I decided to get fit again but avoid the gym, so I went dancing! Salsa. In fact there was a Cuban live band "Habana con Kola" Meetup event. It was nice to be able to have a social evening, let off steam and get into the latin rhythm, great fitness solution:))

On Saturday evening I ventured into a bar called L'Astrolabi in Gracia (Carrer Martinez de la Rosa 14, Bcn, Spain). It was a curious place, with a small room at the back for Unplugged performances.

Lidia Uve played unplugged in Gracia. When I say unplugged, I mean really unplugged, no speakers, no microphone, a tiny room with people sitting on the floor at the feet of the artists in the corner of the room. Standing room near the entrance from the bar and seating against the wall. I hadn't seen this since the last home party with my flatmate Moez in Brighton.

Have a great week!

PLJ

Zack a.k.a. RedEyeZack 

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