Local concerts return to small and medium-sized venues thanks to the Curtcircuit festival, which this year will cross the borders of Catalonia to reach Euskadi, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The twelfth edition of the circuit will feature artists such as El Pony Pisador, La Ludwig Band, Renaldo
In total, around thirty concerts have been announced out of the more than 60 that they hope to schedule throughout the year, consolidated names that will accompany new bands from the local scene in performances spread across more than 30 venues throughout Catalonia, with an average price 12 euros per entry. The Sidecar room was the place chosen this Wednesday for the presentation of the series, a venue that will host the Pipiolas concert on May 18, “and many more,” as explained by Carmen Zapata, president of the Associació de Sales de Sales. concerts de Catalunya (Assac), to shed some light on the future of the mythical space of the Plaza Reial.
The first round of performances will be held between February and May, and will feature protagonists such as El Pony Pisador, a folk reference who will present his new album, OCELLS, in the Paral·lel 62 room in Barcelona accompanied by Jonatan Penalba and Basmati Cru DJs, to perform then in Lleida and Valls. A small three-date tour that will also celebrate female voices like Renaldo
Along with these names, those of Derby Motoreta’s stand out, who in an example of decentralization will present a new album at the Salamandra room in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat on April 12. For its part, The Ludwig Band will perform with Andeladorrrm at the Zero room in Tarragona, (Salamandra), Lia Kali will do so with Furia at La Mirona in Salt, while the female quartet Ketekalles will perform on April 27 at the Apolo room and then He will travel to Euskadi, accompanied by Lasole, to do the same at the Kafe Antzokia in Bilbao and the Jimmy Jazz Gasteiz in Vitoria. Looking ahead to the autumn-winter season, the Hip Horns Brass Collective concerts at La Nau have already been confirmed; Ferran Palau, who will perform at the Espai Orfeó in Lleida, and Serch, who will visit the Laut in Barcelona together with Oblique. A lineup that will be joined by Triquell, among others, with dates yet to be confirmed.
During the presentation, Zapata took the opportunity to remind established artists of the “moral and cultural responsibility of offering unique concerts, face to face” in those spaces where they took their first steps, a necessary duty to maintain the musical ecosystem of the territory. “Let them think about what could be lost if these venues disappear, if we opt for a cultural model of major events. For them it is also an experience to see the public’s reaction face to face and not in front of thousands of people,” Zapata warned, a message that he extends to other players in the sector, public and private, particularly the large festivals.
In this sense, the Asacc is looking together with the Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies (ICEC) for ways to collaborate with music festivals, “that think that not everything is economic performance, there is value and prestige in the musical fabric in which they can invest.” Zapata recalled experiences that are taking place in England, where large concerts contribute a pound from each ticket to help small venues and prevent their death. “Many do not disappear, but they stop scheduling concerts.”
Here he also recalled the difficulty of scheduling concerts for younger audiences when their profitability depends on income per bar. “As long as the profitability of the bars is in the equation of a concert, there are many things that will not be programmed,” a situation that particularly affects urban music concerts, those preferred by the youngest segment of the population, which do not has enough economic power to consume during live shows. “If these groups are not profitable, who supports them? “The venues can’t,” he pointed out to remember that all the participants in the Curtcircuit, including the new ones, earn money from their performances. “We are not asking for money for the venues, but so that the artists can play and get the numbers for everyone.”
“We have the obligation to provide the small rooms with those groups to which they do not have access because they cannot afford the caches they demand,” Zapata recalled about the function of the Asacc, which aims “that the fabric of the rooms stay alive” within an industry that, from his perspective, moves at two speeds.
