More than a hundred concerts will fill the streets of Barcelona with music during the Mercè festivities, an offer that will satisfy all tastes spread across 16 locations. From the festive music of Vicco or The Tyets to the experimentation of the Ukrainian Maryana Klochko or Tarta Relena together with Los Sara Fontan and Cocanha, passing through the jazz of Eva Fernández or the rumba of the Rumba All Stars in the various programs offered by Mercè Music, Barcelona Acció Musical (BAM) and Acció Cultura Viva. Concerts overnight to turn Barcelona's main festival into a musical feast.
The city's coastline will host thousands of people on Friday and Saturday to enjoy festive concerts in capital letters. The musician and actor Boye will kick off this Friday (9 p.m.) with his proposal of rap, electronic, pop and alternative rock. He will be followed by the duo Ginestà (10:30 p.m.) by the Serrasolas brothers, known for their hits Estimar-te com la terra or L’ Eva i la Jana. The Valencians Zoo (00:00 a.m.), rap, breakbeat and ska with electronic rhythms, will take over before Vicco (02:00 a.m.) turns the stage upside down with their hit Nochentera.
Saturday's concerts will begin at 7 p.m. with the urban proposal of Sexenni from Lleida, followed by the fresh and vital pop of Suu (8 p.m.). Dani Fernández's hits will play at 9:45 p.m., giving way to the festive music of Els Catarres (11:25 p.m.) and, to close the evening, nothing better than the music of Valencian band La Fúmiga (1:10 a.m.), with no extras to add to the rock and even reggaeton to his proposal.
This year, the Les Corts neighborhood will welcome the crowds that traditionally gathered on Maria Cristina Avenue. The rumba of The Sants (9 p.m.) will open the space, followed by the mestizo rock of Buhos (11 p.m.) and Abraham Mateo (0.45 a.m.). A little earlier, at 8 p.m., the music will begin on Saturday with Edu Esteve, followed by the rebellious and lively songs of Triquell (9 p.m.) and Lildami (10:15 p.m.), the rapper from Terrassa who made everyone dance at the supermarket. Doctor Prats will take over at 11 p.m. and the night will be closed by the Catalan urban fashion duo, The Tyets (1h). There will also be music on Sunday, with performances by Julen (9:15 p.m.), Mosaic (11 p.m.) and Portobello (12:45 a.m.).
The stage in the Horta neighborhood will host the most intimate concerts for the fourth year, starting on Friday (8:15 p.m.) with Selma Bruna, accompanied by the 20-person choir with which she recorded her first album, Dorsal. Meritxell Neddermann (10 p.m.) will present the songs from Suelta, the album she has just released after being part of Jorge Drexler's band. A different proposal from that of rapper Lia Kali, who will close the evening at 11:45 p.m. with the committed songs from her first album, Contra todo pronostico (11:45 p.m.).
On Saturday it will be the turn of the soft experimental music of the Ukrainian Maryana Klochko (8:15 p.m.), who will hand over the baton to Adriano Galante (10 p.m.), with her pop proposal that she presents in Todo una alegría, the singer's first solo album. Seward. And to close, the young woman from Barcelona living in London Bikôkô (11:45 p.m.) will offer her r
On Sunday it will be the turn of the author's song and modern jazz, with the Argentine Juan Quintero (8:15 p.m.), a specialist in modern popular music, followed by the Valencian pianist Albert Sanz (10 p.m.) who will present the album La foam del mar, and Sabina Witt (11:45 p.m.) with her mix of electronics and poetry through genres such as trip-hop, drum'n'bass, rap or dub.
The mornings will also have their share of music in this space, with a performance on Saturday by the Escola Superior del Liceu (12:30 p.m.), while on Sunday the Escola de Música Jam Session will do it (12:30 p.m.). On Monday it will be the turn of the Taller de Músics (11 a.m.) with a project led by saxophonist Perico Sambeat, and the show by Esmuc (1 p.m.), the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya.
The Montjuïc mountain stage will host some of the most interesting and groundbreaking proposals on the musical menu, such as the Puerto Rican iLe, former showgirl of Calle 13 and Residente, who will offer pop music from her latest album Nacarile on Friday (9 p.m.). The Angolan Pongo (11 p.m.) will be the second course of the night with the Afrobeat proposal from her latest album, Sakidila.
On Saturday it will be the turn of the DakhaBrakha quartet (9 p.m.), another of the names from Ukraine who this year visit the city with their mix of folk and punk sound that they call “ethno chaos.” Closer is Piera, the town in Baix Llobregat where Marina Herlop comes from (11 p.m.), an experimental proposal that will present her third album, Prypiat, praised by Björk herself.
Experimental music will also sound on Sunday with the show 4I323I4 created jointly by Tarta Relena together with Los Sara Fontan and the Occitan Cocanha. Bold music that will be followed by Brazilians Bala Desejo, winners of the Latin Grammy for best pop album in Portuguese for Sim sim sim with their fusion of pop, indie, psychedelia and tropicalism.
One more year, this space will host symphonic concerts, with the novelty in this edition of two vermouth concerts, which will be offered on Sunday and Monday at 1:00 p.m. Lucía Pulido and her project Colombia and Mexico, two peoples one root, and the Cuban Roly Berrío, music with African and Spanish roots where son, chachachá and guaracha dance with rock and blues.
In a traditional format, on Friday the Barcelona Municipal Band will offer a session at 8:45 p.m. where there will be space for the Fiesta symphonic dance, the music of the Japanese masters Yokohama and Yagisawa, and the sardanas Al Capvespre and Sol ixent to close the program .
On Saturday it will be the OBC (20.45) who will occupy the stage with pieces by Emilie Mayer and Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, while on Sunday the Symphonic Orchestra and the Choir of the Gran Teatre del Liceu will perform famous operas such as Bizet's Carmen, or the Ballo in maschera or Verdi's Macbeth. The tribute to saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who died this year, will close the music on this stage on Monday (7 p.m.) with the participation of saxophone player Eva Fernández.
The tree-lined avenue of Ciutadella Park will also have its sound bite with the presence on Friday of the Ukrainian Daria Kolomiec (10 p.m.) and her review of Ukrainian culture through her music and dances. On Saturday, vermouth time will be enlivened by Els Senyora (1 p.m.), a festive Andorran-Barcelona group who will offer versions to the rhythm of rumba, funk, ska, reggae or salsa in a time slot that will be occupied on Sunday by Spice Cockles, Carles Dénia i Melódie Gimard, with her mix of jazz and flamenco. Saturday night will be for the electropop of Liraz (10 p.m.), a singer-songwriter who fuses Israeli music with her Persian roots, while on Sunday there will be a double session with the Madrid saxophonist Escandaloso Expósito and the Barcelona-based Hip Horns Brass Collective with their fun mix of genres embraced by the sound of jazz.
Roots music will occupy one of the emblematic spaces of the Mercè, starting with the unorthodox flamenco of Perrate (10 p.m.) and her show Tres Golgos, followed by the voices of the singers Anna Colom and Ángeles Toledano (midnight). On Saturday it will be the turn of Rumba All Stars, an intergenerational project with names like Sicus Carbonell, Muchacho, Jack Tarradellas or Susy Ferrer. A full-fledged party that will close the Lalo López Limited Orchestra (00.00), led by the foundation's guitarist Tony Manero, with a funk proposal to dance until you drop.
On Sunday it will be time to remember Víctor Jara (9:45 p.m.), the singer-songwriter murdered with impunity by the Chilean dictatorship of Pinochet, with a concert that will commemorate the 50 years of his death with a mix of texts and songs by young Catalan artists and Chilean. And to close the night there will be Gogol Bordello, a gypsy-punk group led by the Ukrainian Eugene Hütz.
The largest stage at BAM will be filled with a varied offering organized into three themed nights. On Friday it will be the turn of the queer collective, starting with the Argentine Simona (10 p.m.) and her mix of pop with club music. It will be followed by the Maricas collective (00:00 h), a benchmark in club music with its selection of house and techno. And Luna Ki will close the night (01:00 a.m.), with her urban music where she mixes everything from trap to k-pop.
Rap will star on Saturday, starting off strongly with Mushkaa (10 p.m.), Bad Gyal's (less and less) sister, and her hip hop in Catalan where she mixes styles such as reggaeton or dancehall. The American Mercury (00.00 h) will take over in her first concert in Spain with her experimental production trap. The cloenda of the day will be for Barcelona's Anier (01:00 a.m.), considered one of the new rap talents thanks to songs like Carnaza that she has posted on YouTube.
On Sunday evening, you can see the semi-finals of the Sona9 competition on the coastal stage (7-9 p.m.), after which Flamenco Queer will take the stage (10 p.m.) with the Travesti show, a flamenco party where drag superstars will collaborate. La Cebolla (00:00 a.m.) will continue the party with its urban pop flamenco, while Baiuca (01:00 a.m.) will close the evening with its mix of electronica and Galician folklore.
One of the nerve centers of Ciutat Vella returns to the BAM with a first concert on Friday by the British Anika (9 p.m.) with the presentation of her new solo album, Eat Liquid. Belgrade (10 p.m.), a post-punk-disco group with lyrics in Polish, will present their new work, Intra Apogeum, while the indie guitars of Madrid-based Shego will complete the proposal with songs from their first album, Suerte, chica.
On Saturday it will be the turn of the Australians Divide and dissolve (8 p.m.), saxophone and guitar with an innovative instrumental proposal. Barcelona's Heather will follow (9 p.m.) with her second album, Old Cry, I Walk, with a nineties mix of shoegaze, pop, Boise and rock. And to close the night, The Notwist will perform (11 p.m.), a German indie rock group with more than 30 years of career.
Amas electronic music (8 p.m.) will open Sunday night with electronic music where metallic percussions, synthesizers, saxophones and guitars can be heard. Next it will be the turn of Maestro Espada (9:30 p.m.), a Murcian group that mixes traditional instruments with synthesizers, while Etran de l'Aïr (11 p.m.) will put the end with his desert blues full of guitars.
Portugal Alive will star in the first night of the Raval stage, which will start with Odete (9 p.m.) and its preformative project of experimental and deconstructionist electronic music. Next it will be the turn of the neo-soul artist Eu.Clides, recognized this year as a revelation artist by the Portuguese Play music awards. And to close the Portuguese proposal, DJ Nídia will take the lead (00.30 a.m.).
Ukrainian Alyona Alyona will open Saturday's session (9 p.m.) mixing rap and popular music from her country. She will be followed by the collective The Voodoo Club (11pm), a DJ set that will be accompanied by performances by Nunjo, Oseka, Deezyntd and NiLA. Finally, the Frenchman of Greek origin Johan Papaconstantino will perform (00.00 h), with his fusion of rebético with r
Sunday night will open with the Barcelona collective Abundance (9 p.m.), who will rotate and coincide on stage without any limitations, alternating on turntables and synthesizers. Next, the duo Dame Area (11 p.m.) will develop their techno-punk proposal based on synthesizers and percussion. And to conclude they will be on stage Queen Asher
The most emerging proposals will colonize this space with a program that will start on Sunday at noon with the visceral rock of Remei from Ca la Fresca (2 p.m.), mixing folklore and electronica. They will be followed by artists such as Aiko, the Group from Madrid (3:20 p.m.), electronic music from Adelaida (4:50 p.m.), LaFrancessa (6:10 p.m.) with their electronic, industrial and ambient pop; and the guitars of the Albacete natives Nerve Agent (7 p.m.). Bad Legs (8:35 p.m.) will close the day with their breakbeat.
The Barcelona collective Me Sentiment Extranya (2 p.m.) made up of lesbians, bisexuals and “future lesbians” will open the day on Sunday with sessions by DJs Verushka and Oqbqbo. At 4:40 p.m., Noia from Barcelona will perform, followed by Pablopablo (6 p.m.) and Claraguilar (7:20 p.m.), to close with the Ukrainian DJ and composer Poly Chain (8:25 p.m.).
The stages of the Sant Andreu space, together with the Nau Bostik, will host the proposals of Acció Cultural Viva. On Friday night, the urban rhythms of L'Beel (9:15 p.m.), Masta Quba (10:30 p.m.) and Kyne (midnight) will open fire in Can Fabra Square. The performances will move on Saturday afternoon to the Escenari Fàbrica with the most intimate and risky proposals by Coàgul (4:45 p.m.), O'o (6:00 p.m.) and Coure (7:15 p.m.) while at the Ateneu L'Harmonia you can hear Mukti (4 p.m.), Marta Knight (5:15 p.m.) and Alison Darwin (6 p.m.) to close with the punk party of Ruïnosa and Las Strippers de Rahola (8 p.m.). The music will return to Can Fabra at night with the brothers from Senegal and Gambia Kaïro Bando (9:15 p.m.), followed by the Donostiarras Merina Gris (10:15 p.m.), Rodrigo Laviña y su Combo (11 p.m.) and the Puerto Rican Marina y su Melao (0.45 h) which will conclude the night.
The most alternative proposal will continue at noon on Sunday at the Nau Bostik with the fusion of jazz and flamenco by the saxophone player Alba Alsina (12 noon), a daytime session that will continue with The Salsa Punk Orchestra (1:30 p.m.) to conclude with the performance of Dyamise Squad (3 p.m.) and its mix of dancehall, dembow, hip hop, funky and cumbia.
