Club entertainment in Barcelona
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A
Liquid
Guys and gals board their metal steeds on hot summer nights to bear down on one of the top outdoor club scenes in town (or rather out of town, since it’s in neighbouring L’Hospitalet de Llobregat). Liquid says what it is. A palm-studded islet is surrounded by a bottom-lit azure moat that tempts surprisingly few folks to plunge in while dancing the night away in this megaclub. Local and foreign DJs keep the punters, a mixed crowd from all over town, in the groove in a series of different internal spaces, as well as poolside.
reviewed
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B
Metro
Metro attracts a casual gay crowd with its two dance floors, three bars and very dark room. Keep an eye out for shows and parties, which can range from parades of models to bingo nights (on Thursday nights, with sometimes-interesting prizes). On Wednesday nights there’s a live sex show.
reviewed
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C
The One
A new name for a classic dance place inside the fantasy land of Poble Espanyol has come with a new look. The main dance floor, with the latest in lighting effects and video screens, gets jammed with people from all over town as the night wears on. Friday nights has a house-Ibiza flavour, while Saturday nights tend to be more raucous. A lift and stairs lead up to a more chilled area with several VIP sections. Shuttle buses run from Plaça de Catalunya and Plaça d’Espanya from midnight to 3.30am and back down into town from 5am to 6.30am.
reviewed
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D
Dboy
With pink laser lights and dense crowds of fit young lads, this is one of the big dance-club locations on a Saturday night. Electronic music dominates the dance nights here and, in spite of the 6am finish, for many this is only the start of the ‘evening’. From 5am on, buses line up to ferry punters to the suburb of Viladecans, where the party continues at Souvenir until 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon, which just leaves time for a snooze at the beach afterwards.
reviewed
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E
Ommsession Club
Hanging out in certain hotel bars has become cool in Barcelona. So much so that locals like to hang out in some of them too! The ground-floor lounge Bar Moodern in Hotel Omm is one of the places for beautiful people to preen and be seen. When you’re finished lounging around upstairs, you can head into the basement Ommsession Club, a smallish but fashion dance venue, straight downstairs from Bar Moodern.
reviewed
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F
Rosebud
Inspired in name only by the film Citizen Kane, Rosebud is an assault on the senses, with blaring music (mostly ʼ80s and ʼ90s) and flashing lights. Go-go dancers keep punters in rhythm and three bars operate inside downstairs, with another upstairs on the balcony and bar service in the garden. Those under 30-something may find it a little, well, ‘old’. From Tibidabo it looks like an enormous glasshouse.
reviewed
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G
Blvd
Flanked by striptease bars (in the true spirit of the lower Rambla’s old days), this place has undergone countless reincarnations. The culture in this club is what a long line-up of DJs brings to the (turn) table. With three different dance spaces, one of them upstairs, it has a deliciously tacky feel, pumping out anything from 1980s hits to house (especially on Saturdays in the main room). There’s no particular dress code.
reviewed
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H
Up & Down
An uptown club that has its moments, Up & Down attracts a mixed crowd, tending more to 30s and above. Upstairs is for drinking and revival music while downstairs you can dance to a mainstream mix of international tracks. Leather sofas and even leather padding on the pillars recalls an age when clubs were called discos. Although it can feel passé, this place gets packed early in the week when other venues can be limp.
reviewed
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I
Oshum Club
This concept club has moved in to replace what for years was the Ibiza-inspired Pachá, becoming one of the city’s most coveted club nights out. The main, ground floor is enormous, with a stage and several separate VIP sections. Upstairs, the Avantlounge room is a more intimate space, bathed in shimmering light and a strange, bloblike seating arrangement in the middle.
reviewed
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J
Aire
A popular locale for lesbians, the dance floor is spacious and there is usually a DJ in command of the tunes, which range from hits of the ’80s and ’90s to techno. As a rule, only male friends of the girls are allowed entry, although in practice the crowd tends to be fairly mixed. Things can heat up on Thursday nights with live music.
reviewed
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K
Opium Cinema
Reds, roses and yellows dominate the colour scheme in this wonderful former cinema. Barcelona’s beautiful people, from a broad range of ages, gather to drink around the central rectangular bar, dance a little and eye one another up. Some come earlier for a bite. Wednesday nights are for R&B and Brazilian music.
reviewed
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La Paloma
The 100-year-old La Paloma is a unique local institution and an essential night out. The evening starts early with the band playing cha-chas and tangos to a chirpy crowd of middle-aged and retired couples. From midnight it sheds its nostalgia skin to become one of the hippest, hoppiest dance dives in town.
reviewed
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M
La Macarena
You simply won’t believe this was once a tile-lined Andalucian flamenco musos’ bar. Now it is a dark dance space, of the kind where it is possible to sit at the bar, meet people around you and then stand up for a bit of a shake to the DJ’s electro and house offerings, all within a couple of square metres.
reviewed
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The Roxy Blue
Blue is indeed the predominant colour in this split-level miniclub. Tastes in music swing from New York beats to Brazil night on Sunday. On weekends you are likely to find queues of 20-somethings waiting to pile in. Sit out the music on long leather lounges or investigate the couple of different bars.
reviewed
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N
Baja Beach Club
Go-go girls and boys, thundering dance music, bleary eyes - this is an unabashed, unpretentious seaside dancing and pick-up joint. All good fun really and with a high component of out-of-towners among the mostly unsteady punters. In the afternoon it's not a bad spot for a beer overlooking the beach.
reviewed
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O
Distrito Diagonal
It's hard to categorise this narrow, red-lit bar with the dance space up the back, but it's hard to resist a place that stays up so late on weekends, and for free if you're in before 4am! To move your booty to deep house and garage, slide past the long bar to the raised dance area out the back.
reviewed
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Discotheque
This is one of Barcelona’s big hitters. House is the main baseline in this sprawling designer club, where the nights can get rather hot and scantily clad. The Sunday Café Olé session is a mix of chill, dance music and suggestive stage dance shows to accompany DJs on the end-of-weekend blast.
reviewed
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Q
Dot Light Club
Ever since the late 1990s this infamous club has been one of the hippest hang-outs for the beautiful people to be seen at in this part of town. From night to night the DJs change the musical theme, ranging all the way from deep funk to even deeper house and beyond.
reviewed
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R
Sala Becool
Electro is the leitmotif in this middle-sized dance place dominated by a single giant mirror ball at the stage end, where earlier in the night you might catch a concert (from 9pm). The secondary Redrum space runs at a slower pace, with indie music to the fore.
reviewed
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Upiaywasi
Slide into this dimly lit cocktail bar, which crosses a chilled ambience with Latin American music. A mix of lounges and intimate table settings, chandeliers and muted decorative tones lends the place a pleasingly conspiratorial feel.
reviewed
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Plataforma
Inside this friendly, straightforward dance dive, far from the glitzy Ibiza look, popular tunes from the 1980s and 1990s (along with timeless rock, and drum and bass on Thursdays) attract nostalgics in their 30s and younger partiers.
reviewed
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Elephant
Getting in here is like being invited to a private fantasy party in Beverly Hills. Models and wannabes mix with immaculately groomed lads who most certainly didn’t come by taxi. A big tentlike dance space is the main game here.
reviewed
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V
New York
This one-time dive has converted itself into a grunge club with a big following. The age group is basically 18 to 30 and the music mix is broad. Friday night is best, with anything from reggae to Latin rhythms.
reviewed
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Martin’s
Under new management, Martin’s is a gay club with a long history in Barcelona. The general dance floor is supplemented by a section for bears, a fetish zone and big, bad dark room for getting it on.
reviewed
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X
Magic
Although it sometimes hosts live acts in its sweaty, smoky basement, it’s basically a straightforward, subterranean dance club offering rock, mainstream dance faves and Spanish pop.
reviewed
