Sold out tickets

Last Friday, Antònia Font published a tweet to celebrate that tickets for the concert they would hold the next day at Palau Sant Jordi had sold out: "Sou molt bèsties!". Most of the fans of the Mallorcan group had bought their tickets months ago and had highlighted the date in red on their calendars. Born in 1997, the legendary band had been away from the stage for eight years –except for their appearance at Primavera Sound this summer– and, therefore, there was a great desire to hear, sing and dance again to songs that, for many people who are well over thirty, are BSV: Banda Sonora de la Vida (Soundtrack of Life). Great songs that have accompanied them throughout the years and that, having become parents, they have listened to with their children. I suspect that, in Barcelona, this Saturday night, babysitters were going to be highly sought after. Children hooked on the new Club Súper 3, which is awesome, while Sara, Mireia, Carlos or Joel –thanks for doing us this favor, we know that babysitting on a Saturday night is a drag– controlled them from the sofa, while they reviewed their math notes or the latest posts of their crush on Instagram.

I did not attend the Antònia Font concert, but, when it comes to culture, it is always nice when tickets sell out. I think the same every time, for example, I try to go to La Villarroel and see that they have the sold-out sign hanging. In the case of theater, given the state of the sector, filling the stalls is even more meritorious. We must celebrate that shows like La golondrina by Guillem Clua, directed by Josep Maria Mestres and starring two great actors like Emma Vilarassau and Dafnis Balduz, have been so successful in recent months that, in April next year, it will return to the same theater.

Likewise, we must celebrate the success in attendance that the third edition of the Biennal de Pensament has also registered, which, these days, has been held in various spaces of the city. What a joy to see the Plaça Joan Corominas of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) packed to follow the very interesting, but not at all easy, conversation between historians Yuval Noah Harari and Rutger Bregman about the future challenges of Humanity. Or the dialogue between two of the filmmakers of the moment: Carla Simón and Lucrecia Martel.

We could also cite the good numbers registered by the latest edition of the Setmana del Llibre en Català, held at the Moll de la Fusta; the queues that day in and day out I observe at the entrance of Phenomena to see good cinema or the crowds I find every time I decide to go see one of the great exhibitions at CaixaForum.

Well yes, dear readers. Despite inflation leaving us broke and us having more and more reasons not to get off the couch and take our eyes off screens, in Barcelona there are still many queues for culture. As Antònia Font sings: Joy!