Culture in Barcelona does not only take place in theaters or concert halls. In the city, any corner can become a stage where live performances with top artists and a very dedicated audience take place. And this happens because, in our home, culture never stops: theater, live music or magic shows can take place in unexpected spaces.
And it is that, nowadays, there is a type of audience that seeks a proximity experience in a more relaxed space to feel part of the show itself. And this, in a conventional hall, rarely happens. For this reason, in modernist terraces in Barcelona, Gothic temples or clandestine cocktail bars we can find live shows that, performance after performance, manage to expand the cultural panorama of our city.
Theater without theater: the spaces in Barcelona that are improvised stages
Let's start with one of the most special stages we have in Barcelona: the terrace of Casa Batlló. Every summer, thanks to the cycle the Magic Nights, the rooftop of this Gaudí monument is transformed into a musical stage. When the sun sets, with a glass of very cold cava in hand, you can enjoy an intimate concert by local groups that move between bossanova, Catalan rumba, jazz or soul.
We move a little away from the city to find another unconventional stage. The mountain of Montjuïc hides a very well-kept secret for lovers of live music: La Caseta del Migdia. We are in front of an informal bar with one of the best views of Barcelona: the port, the Mediterranean and the Barcelona coastline. Here, among trees and chairs, live concerts by local artists take place. You can contemplate the sunset while live rumba plays, accompanied by a barbecue or some fresh sardines. In summer, the program is on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; in winter only on weekends.
But culture not only goes up to the rooftops or settles outdoors; many times it hides very close to the ground, in plain sight but in a clandestine format. One of these cases we find at Somnia Cocktail Bar, a cocktail bar located in the Raval that, besides serving original drinks, also offers magic shows in an intimate and very close space. While enjoying a signature cocktail inspired by alchemy and dreams, we can be part of a magic show for only twelve people. In addition: the decoration of this space draws from the world of the circus, creating a dreamlike and artistic world ideal for the experience.
With a similar spirit we find the Secret Comedy Club, the best kept secret of live comedy in Barcelona. This space has a hidden entrance in the streets of Barcelona and a speakeasy-type atmosphere. Its stage hosts local and international comedians who come to try out their material in English, Spanish or Catalan, without the distance of large comedy venues.
To experience a night full of magic and fantasy, nothing better than going to El Bosc de les Fades, one of Barcelona's most classic bars that has now also become an improvised theater. This place already seems like an oasis of fantasy and impossible worlds, but it also hosts the show of the "magician-logist" Vincent Vegas: a combination of humorous monologue and magic tricks that is enjoyed with a good appetizer at the table.
And if what your body asks for is to disconnect with a beer in hand and a session of comedy and good humor, on Balmes street we find El Medi (the lifelong Mediterranean Pub), a place with live music or humor monologues that offers a fun and unpretentious night.
Even the city's historical and religious heritage has strongly joined this trend of offering cultural experiences outside conventional spaces. The clearest example is the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi. Entering this Gothic temple at night to listen to a string quartet already has an unparalleled solemnity, but when proposals such as Luminiscence (which projects 360-degree animations on the walls and stained glass windows) or the candlelight concert series are added, the experience becomes almost hypnotic.
The one known as the "House of Musicians" is an 1890 house that functioned as a music school for adults, managed by Luis de Arquer. But, now, hidden inside is The Smallest Theater in the World and it hosts cycles such as Solo Piano or Solo Chopin. The concerts take place in a salon decorated in a nineteenth-century style, and the pianist interprets classical pieces and compositions. The evening culminates with a glass of cava in a private candlelit garden, so that the audience feels transported to the elegance and sophistication of the 19th century.
And, of course, we cannot forget neighborhood culture, that which is found in historic taverns and artistic resistance venues. La Gran Bodega Saltó, in Poble-sec, has kept the tradition of the Musical Vermouth alive for over a century: twice a week, the bodega fills with rumba, blues or singer-songwriter music in acoustic format while people have vermouth with olives and anchovies.
Very close by, in Raval, the centenary London Bar (opened in 1910) is a modernist venue where figures like Picasso, Gaudí or Machado used to have a drink. Today, it continues to bet on live music with jazz, blues, rock and flamenco bands. Without leaving the Raval neighborhood, the Big Bang Bar keeps alive the warmth of seventies rumba and the resistance of contemporary rock and jazz with performances by local and international musicians.
And to close the circle of neighborhoods, in Sants we find La Iguana, a venue that has managed to transform the Civil Guard barracks into a cultural reference space with theatrical and musical performances and artistic exhibitions.
In Barcelona, culture does not always need a big stage to move people. All it takes is an artist, an audience and a space that knows that culture is one of the engines of our society.
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