Between 1996 and 2003, Magic in the Air was the club that brought the most fun, cool, and strident sounds of the 60s to Barcelona. A mix of pop, psychedelia, R&B, soul, funk, and garage that, during its first stage, exploded in the mythical Magic club on Paseo de Picasso in the form of live bands and DJs brought from all over, and which, in its second and last stage, moved to other venues such as Razzmatazz or Cibeles.
Behind this project was the restless Eneida Fonseca, DJ, activist, and currently head of the musical communication agency Fever! Productions, who embarked on this adventure at the tender age of 19. The result was tireless work that allowed her to bring (often for the first time in Barcelona) countless bands. From foreign ones, such as The Knave, The Perverts, The Strawberry Smell, Bronco Bullfrog, or The Woggles; to national ones such as Magic Bus, Los Búhos, Art School, or Les Philippes. The club —which took its name from the song Magic in the Air by the British band The Attack— was also the birthplace of Sidonie, who played, DJed, and danced there on countless occasions.
In 2003, Fonseca closed that chapter, despite remaining intimately linked to the city's music scene through her work at the label Bip-Bip Records, DJing here and there, or bringing bands like The New Mastersounds or Big Boss Man to the city.
Celebrating that magic
Taking advantage of the fact that three decades have passed since that first session at Sala Magic, Fonseca has decided to celebrate it, more moved by the pleasure of celebrating "how much fun we had then and the number of bands we discovered and saw in their beginnings" than by any form of nostalgia. The designated date, the weekend of October 16 and 17.
The event is coming in a big way: Friday kicks off with a DJ session at Casa Sidral with local DJs Adrià Gual, from The Excitements; Leperico, from The Lions Constellation; Pacosan and Tormento. Saturday is the big day at the Upload venue in Poble Espanyol, with performances by the French band The Falken’s Maze —who bring together members of bands like The Strawberry Smell, The Gentlemen’s Agreements, or Child of Panoptes, making an explosive mix of pop, psychedelia, and library—, the Barcelona kings of pop soul Los Retrovisores and, as it could not be otherwise, Sidonie.
On the decks, a varied lineup of DJs: Eddie Piller, head of Acid Jazz Records (United Kingdom); Roch Vidal, responsible for Le Mans goes Mod (France); Madrid native Miguel Velacoracho; the itinerant Tatjana Rius, alias Belle de Jour (singer in Filthy Rich) and Barcelona writer Carles Armengol, author of the acclaimed Collado, la maldición de una casa de comidas. They will be accompanied by the club's resident selector trio, made up of artist and musician Marc Argenter (formerly of Flashback V, Trons, Rencards…), DJ Eduardo Domingo (Discos Redondos) and, clearly, Fonseca.