April Concerts in Madrid

A pretty solid line-up of some of indie music’s brightest stars drives the April live music calendar in Madrid. This month provides a nice warm-up for the summer’s concert festival season. Take a look at the April 2011 ConcertMAP:

Matt & Kim 4/1 Sala Rock Kitchen: The impossibly catchy Brooklyn duo has put out some great electro-pop tunes over the past few years and has always been known for a crowd pleasing show.

José González 4/4 Teatro Lope de Vega:  The brooding acoustic sounds of González will take center stage at one of the classic theaters on Gran Via for an excellent night of music.

Justin Bieber 4/5 Palacio de Deportes:  The most dangerous virus of the past few years wasn’t swine flu but rather “Bieber Fever”, and if you don’t have it you’re bound to after this show. For tickets to his show click here.

Shout Out Louds 4/7 Sala Heineken:  These infectious Sweeds are indie music stalwarts and the opportunity to catch them live is a real highlight on the concert calendar.

Diplo 4/20 Sala Heineken: Perhaps best known for his work as a producer with M.I.A., the DJ side of his musical talents is pretty impressive as well.

Best Coast 4/20 Circulo de Bellas Artes: One of the highlights from this year’s Frontera Circulo music series from CBA is this California group who’s riding high on the success of their debut album, Crazy For You.

Deerhunter 4/14 – La Riviera:  Bradford Cox’s group has finally put it all together on their latest and, arguably best, album, Halcyon Digest.

Pete Doherty 4/17 – Joy: Doherty is mostly known for his tabloid-headlining, off-the-stage habits and long courtship of Kate Moss (basically living like a rock star), and as long as he can make it to the stage his music is pretty good too.

Dropkick Murpheys 4/29 – La Riviera: The raucous sounds of this Celt-punk group always promise a good time.

By Coleman File

March Concerts in Madrid

Spring is here, or at least it’s showing signs of its impending arrival, and that means more music, bigger names and shorter sleeves. March is just the tip of the ice-berg in the calendar season, but already Madrid is lucky enough to have some great shows coming its way.  Check out your March 2011 ConcertMAP:

Simian Mobile Disco 3/4 – Low Club: One of the UK’s great purveyors of electronic mixes headlines one of Madrid’s great places. This night should certainly lead to a 6 a.m. cab ride home.

Boat Beam 3/10 – Moby Dick: Boat Beam is a local Madrid based group comprised of three young ladies from Australia, America and Spain. They combine their individual talents with stringed instruments and vocals to produce a unique sound.

Madison Cano 3/12 – Wurlitzer Ballroom: A night of soul searching lyrics, groundbreaking vocals, and a talented band of musicians is what you’re in for. The folk, indie, pop and rock group is becoming a well known name in the local music scene. A MAP must see.

Beady Eye 3/18 – La Riviera: Three-fourths of the great 1990′s alt-rock groups, Oasis, decided to forge on after the departure of Noel Gallagher. Check them out.

Taylor Swift 3/19 – Palacio de Deportes:  Country or Pop? Whatever it is people seem to like it (based on record sales). So Madrid, here is your chance to catch one of the biggest names in the biz right now. For tickets click here.

Cut Copy 3/22 Sala Heineken: The dance-rock outfit from Australia has just released another stellar album, Zonoscope, which is sure to please fans and newcomers alike.

Roger Waters 3/25 & 3/26 Palacio de Deportes:  One of the legendary front men of Pink Floyd has recently embarked on a tour performing Floyd’s “The Wall” to audiences. For tickets click here.

Slayer + Megadeath 3/28 – La Riviera: What does Slayer plus Megadeath equal?  bloody loud metal!

No Age 3/30 Sala Heineken: The duo of Randy Randall and Dean Spunt get so much out of their music you might be shocked to realize it’s just the two of them when take their places on stage. However, what they lack in numbers, they more than make up for with the sheer energy they put into their music.

The Go! Team 3/31 – Joy: The exclamation mark is there for a reason, so head-out and find out why this group is still putting the ‘!’ in their music.

February Concerts in Madrid

February is always an interesting month on the concert calendar, not quite out of winter yet, but people are over their post holiday doldrums and ready to start rocking again. So while the spring tour season hasn’t quite kicked-off yet, there are still enough globetrotting world tours making their rounds to fill the calendar. Here is your February 2011 preview of the live music coming to Madrid this month:

Deer Tick 2/1 – Moby Dick: Deer Tick = FUN! These guys put on a great show with lots of energy and rival rock songs that lend themselves to live performances.

Love of Lesbian 2/2-2/5 – Joy: This is one of the more popular and broad reaching Spanish rock groups around, performing in both English and Spanish, offering a a change of pace while in Spain. So check out one of their 4 (!!!) consecutive shows playing at Joy this month in Madrid.

Madison Cano 2/3 – Costello Club:  The irresistibly sumptuous vocal talents of Madison Cano will be resonating around one of Madrid’s coolest music venues this week, Costello Club. Madison and her group will be performing a number of their original tracks that never fail to be catchy, fresh and emotional leaving the audiences begging for otra after otra. Madison Cano’s musical style whips together folk, indie, pop and rock with engaging lyrics and vocals so strong that they’ll have you pinned against the wall. Absolutely brilliant live and, partnered with Costello Club as the venue, this gig should be one for the history books so make sure you don’t miss out.

Band of Horses 2/8 – Sala Heineken:  Band of Horses is one of the best indie bands to come around in the past few years and have succeeded in gaining popularity due to their easy to like sound. Trust me, it is nearly impossible to not like their music.

Junip 2/10 – Teatro Lara:  This Swedish trio stretches across about as many global musical influences as one band can possibly do. Led by the classical guitar and voice of José González, the group puts out an amazing sound that you would be hard pressed not to like.

Wire 2/17 – Moby Dick: Punk to post-punk, to still going strong. The group formed in the mid-70s and has been associated with many different musical movements, but still manages to come-up something fresh every time they get together. Join them for their latest reunion tour in support of their newest, and appropriately mature-sounding release, Red Barked Tree.

Fatboy Slim 2/19 – Fabrik: One of the world’s most recognizable DJ acts will be headlining one of Madrid’s famous all night party venues, this promises to be an electronic music fan’s dream come true.

The Joy Formidable 2/22 – Moby Dick: A new Wales-based indie rock trio that is fresh off the release of its debut album, A Balloon Called Moaning, and well worth checking out.

Your February ConcertMAP has been short and sweet, so if you can’t find something coming this month check out our 2011 preview to see what’s coming down the pipe for the rest of the year.

Madrid’s December Live Music Preview

The last month of 2010’s live music calendar features a stellar line up.  Check out this month’s live music preview with December’s CocertMAP:

M.I.A 12/6 – La Riviera:  She is one of the biggest stars in the Music industry today and also one of its most polarizing characters.  Don’t miss the chance to catch her live on the heels of her latest release, Born Free.

Caribou 12/11 – Circulo de Bellas Artes:  Indie + Electro + Psychedelic gets you somewhere in the neighborhood of the sounds of Dan Snaith.

Lady Gaga 12/12 – Palacio de Deportes:  Gaga gagaga, basically if you haven’t heard her music over the past few years, you’ve been living under a rock that’s under a rock on the ocean floor. For tickets click here.

Owen Pallet 12/12 – Sala Heineken:  Coincidentally, he happens to be playing on the same night as Lady Gaga, and might be the complete opposite of her music.

Marnie Stern 12/14 – Moby Dick:  Another difficult to describe musician, but one that is definitely worth a listen due to her patented guitar finger tapping and unique songwriting.

MGMT 12/17 – La Riviera:  Their comically titled sophomore album, Congratulations, threw those of us expecting more tunes like “Kids” and “Electric Feel” for a curveball, but that is what should be expected from the duo of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden and no one knows what to expect from one of their concerts.

Best Coast 12/18 – Sala Heineken:  A smaller name that might get lost in the sea of bigger names coming to Madrid in December, but their debut album, Crazy for You, is one of the year’s best.

Motorhead 12/19 – La Riviera: Metal fans rejoice!  One of the all time leaders of heavy metal comes to town.

Fito y Fitipaldis 12/30 – Palacio de Deportes:  If you’ve been in Spain long enough you should know their names, if not it’s about damn time. For tickets click here.

Happy Holidays from your friends here at MAP!

By Coleman File

Madrid’s November Live Music Preview

November’s live music outlook for Madrid needs to be broken into two parts as once again Madrid will be putting aside old rivalries and partnering up with Barcelona in support of Primavera Club.  In addition to the stellar line-up of Primavera Club, there are also a tremendous amount of quality shows in this month’s live music scene in Madrid.  We know you probably bought your Shakira or Arcade Fire tickets months ago, but if you didn’t or if you’re looking for some smaller acts then have a look at your November ConcertMAP:

!!! 11/8 – La Riviera:  Yes that is the name of the band, but could equally be used as a description for this lively dance-punk group.

The Drums 11/12 – Sala Heineken:  This is a great chance to check out the up-and-coming group fresh off the release of their self-titled debut album.

Vampire Weekend 11/12 – La Riviera:  They’ve been grabbing the attention of audiences for a few years now with their Ivy League-meets-afro-beats fusion, so don’t miss the opportunity to catch them live.

The Walkmen 11/12 – Sala Ramdall:  The group, who has been putting out quality music for about a decade now, comes to town in support of the recent release of, Lisbon, one of their best albums to date.

Interpol 11/13 – Palacio Vistalegre:  The iconic New York rockers come to Madrid in support of their fourth album, Lights.

Shakira 11/19 – Palacio de Deportes:  If you didn’t get enough of Shakira during the World Cup, don’t worry because you’re in luck as she’s coming to Madrid.  For tickets to her SOLD OUT show click here.

Arcade Fire 11/20 – Palacio de Deportes:  Once again at the forefront of the Indie Rock scene after the recent release of The Suburbs, Arcade Fire comes to Madrid for a big show at the top of their game.  Naturally, the concert has been sold out for some time, but click here for tickets.

Alice Cooper 11/24 – Palacio Vistalegre:  While he may be technically past his prime, this legendary rocker still puts out an incredible live show.

Imogen Heap 11/27 – Sala Heineken:  The talented and multi-faceted work of Imogen Heap blends her unique voice with her innovative musical compositions for a fresh sound.

By Coleman File