The musical Barcelona in 'Moments Estel·lars': from Sidecar's 40 years to Primavera Sound

The musical Barcelona meets at The New Barcelona – Moments Estel·lars. On Monday, May 8, at 6:30 p.m., we will gather at CASA SEAT Roberto Tierz, director and founder of Sala Sidecar, and Alberto Guijarro, co-director of the Primavera Sound festival, two authoritative voices in this sector thanks to an extensive professional career that we will discover and highlight with journalist Ana Boadas who, on this occasion, will moderate the meeting.

With Tierz, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic concert hall in Plaça Reial, and with Guijarro, we will analyze the impact of a festival that has greatly projected the Barcelona brand to the world and that in 2022 celebrated a record edition, with 500,000 spectators and an economic impact of 349 million euros. Thanks to the impulse of other great brands such as Sónar Barcelona and Festival Cruïlla, the Catalan capital has consolidated itself as an international benchmark in the organization of this type of event that, far from disappearing as a consequence of the hard blow of the pandemic, have managed to re-emerge stronger than ever and attract millions of visitors.

Under the motto Musical Barcelona: from Sala Sidecar to Primavera Sound Festival, the next session of the cycle organized by The New Barcelona Post will feature the collaboration of CASA SEAT, Must Media Group and Barcelona Global. To attend as an audience and also be able to ask questions to the speakers, it is necessary to reserve a place in advance. To get a ticket, click here.

Subsequently, the session can be recovered in podcast format on Spotify or by viewing it on our Youtube channel, where you already have available the ten previous chapters of the cycle The New Barcelona – Moments Estel·lars, which we premiered a year ago and which will have new editions in June, July, September, October, and November.

How is Barcelona musically speaking? How has this success of festival culture been consecrated? How does this sector benefit tourism and the generation of economic return for the city? Can we speak of the existence of a musical or festival tourist? How do festivals contribute to giving visibility and stimulating local talent? These are just some of the questions that Ana Boadas will ask Alberto Guijarro, who will also tell us about the expectations for this year's edition of Primavera Sound, which will kick off on May 31 at the Parc del Fòrum with a concert by Pet Shop Boys. For the first time, the festival, which is already an international brand that has been exported from Barcelona to the US and Chile and soon to Portugal, Argentina, and Brazil, will also be held in Madrid.

With Roberto Tierz, we will review the 40-year history of Sidecar, one of the most groundbreaking and influential venues in the city, and we will ask him about the health of live music in Barcelona. How do concerts in small venues coexist with large festivals and mass concerts? Do they mutually benefit each other? Do both models receive enough support from the Administrations? What are the expectations for Barcelona's live music venues? Do they need tourists or can they live off the local audience?

Son of republican exiles, Roberto Tierz, born in Córdoba (Argentina) in 1958, arrived in Barcelona in 1970. He is a musician (he was a member of the first stage of Los Rebeldes), cultural promoter and directs the Sala Sidecar in Barcelona, which he founded. During the second half of the 80s and part of the 90s, he was part of the Off Managers team, a company founded by Quim Blanco with whom he co-directs it. From 2000 to 2014, he presided over the Associació d'Amics i Comerciants de la Plaça Reial, an entity that is one of the engines for the recovery and revitalization of the area. Tierz, who has personally received the Medal of Honor of Barcelona, has just written a book about the history of the venue and, by extension, of Barcelona over the last 40 years, Este no es el libro del Sidecar, published by 66RPM Edicions.

For his part, Alberto Guijarro created Producciones Animadas in 1991, a concert promoter that introduced club culture in Spain, programming various international DJs and pop and electronic music bands. Since 1994, he manages one of the most successful national venues, Sala Apolo. Every day, club sessions and concerts of a wide range of styles are programmed, from jazz to electronic music, passing through flamenco, hip hop, avant-garde music, and rock. In 2001, he created the Primavera Sound festival, which he co-directs. Primavera Sound has experienced great growth, from 8,000 spectators in its first edition to 500,000 in the last, spread over six days and two consecutive weekends. This year, the festival lands in Madrid and will also hold editions in Porto (Portugal), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Sao Paulo (Brazil). Last year, it also stopped in Los Angeles (USA) and Santiago de Chile. Between 2002 and 20120, Guijarro was the president of the Association of Concert Halls of Catalonia (ASACC).