Live music on the camino?

[Damien Reynolds]

So like some of my most memorable times spent in any place anywhere is enjoying live music. A band, a dude with a guitar, a full on concert. Any suggestions for where to find it on the camino? Now being a walker, I'm not interested in going out at midnight, i realize this may hurt my chances. On my next walk I'll do the Norte, then probably the Frances, and maybe something else. I figure big cities best bet? Anyone know a "must see" place?

 

[lalaone]

Great question! I wish I had a must-see place to add. Last year my husband really loved music in Sarria on the night of San Xoan. There was a thread related to live music a while back. It stuck in my memory because the recommendations and videos were incredible. More recommendations would be awesome for sure.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/live-folk-music-by-locals.78871/

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Just past Monjardin 2017

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

We had music for several kilometers somewhere near km 100.


Also, we had a room above Pub Bloom in SdC. Plenty of loud free music to about 4 AM. I still have trouble believing Peg never heard it. I was having problems sleeping anyway so I really didn't care.

 

[oursonpolaire]

There's quite a bit in Santiago, of course, and I ran into a wonderful singer and backup band (Ariadna Rubio with Té Canela at the Pub Modus Vivendi, just off the Praza de Feixoo just in front of the Benedictine Monastery of San Pelayo. I twice ran into evening concerts (of a popular but very Spanish nature, with much good-natured dancing) in that plaza. On my first Camino, I ran into a Bertold Brecht revue at the Casino Café but I don't know if they do that often--- which is too bad, as it was splendid.

I once found a jazz boîte in Astorga on my first Camino, but that was almost 20 years ago.... and who knows what might be there now? In Luarca in 2017, there was a fine jazz trio at the Puerto de Luarca bar on calle Párocco Camino with outdoor seating in the September night air and you might luck out on something like that.

On the del Norte there are a dozen towns with universities and colleges, which as we might recall from our youth are veritable hotbeds of music, even if we have to curate what we might like from the offerings available. If there's a turismo in the pueblo, they will be very very helpful and asking at your accommodation or in a studenty kind of place will like get you some good references. On the Catalan, I ran into Mabel Flores, a rambunctious and powerful vocallist, in a small square in Igualada, and have followed her music ever since.

Spain is full of ardent and brilliant musicians, little known in the anglosphere, and running into these artists, perhaps at the beginning of their careers, is an absolute delight--I now count these memories as the best of my souvenirs of Spain..... even more than my botafumeiro key ring!

 

[J Willhaus]

In La Voz de Galicia there is usually a story on the weekend about various Fiestas which usually include music in Galicia. Sometimes on the Camino and other times not. Nothing today, but maybe tomorrow?

La Voz de Galicia. Toda la información y última hora sobre Galicia.

Toda la información y última hora sobre Galicia. La actualidad e información local sobre Galicia y sus principales ciudades: A Coruña A Mariña Arousa, Barbanza, Carballo, Deza, Ferrol, Lemos, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra, Santiago, Vigo

www.lavozdegalicia.es

 

[Roland49]

Ok, not live. But on my first day on my CP in July I had an encounter with a german camper-couple in Agudela. They heard classical 60's Rock and Folk. Had a chat and walked on.

Later on I had several live music events on the way (guitar player in Povoa, Bandoneon in Viana, big Party in Seixas, a small group playing classical tunes in the Fortress in Valenca, a first Gaita-Player behind Padron, a medieval group getting ready in Caldas de Reis and a big festival in the Parc Alameda in SdC).

Though my CP was really music-driven

 

[Amused212]

So like some of my most memorable times spent in any place anywhere is enjoying live music. A band, a dude with a guitar, a full on concert. Any suggestions for where to find it on the camino? Now being a walker, I'm not interested in going out at midnight, i realize this may hurt my chances. On my next walk I'll do the Norte, then probably the Frances, and maybe something else. I figure big cities best bet? Anyone know a "must see" place?

One of my fondest memories from my first Camino was 2 couples, carrying instruments, who would play music every time they took a rest. We came across them a number of times. My daughter told them how her dad would play Puff the Magic Dragon for her when she was little so they played it for her!

 

[Dennis Pack]

I came across a couple community events while walking the Norte, and saw evidence of other scheduled activities ... 10 km run, BBQ's, markets, craft beer fest ... mostly toward the weekends.
Remember, the way is not your typical "tourist route". Unless you come from a place that has live music every night ... many villages are relatively small and are mostly concerned with "everyday life" of the locals, who are usually welcoming and go out of their way to meet your "needs" ... but not necessarily "entertain" you, as so many amerikans expect.
Buen Camino

 

[David Tallan]

In general, local fiestas are the best times to find live music. On my recent Camino, I lucked into those in two or three locations.

As I recall, there is (or was) a group doing classical guitar concerts along the meseta on the Frances. We caught a concert by them in Carrion de los Condes on my last Camino Frances.

 

[Steven Dwyer]

I’ve run across several concerts that were preformed in churches. Most notably, managed to catch a concert in the Cathedral in Santiago, and another in Logroño at their cathedral. Both were found by paying attention to posters near the churches.

 

[SFletcher]

On a Friday evening in Puenta la Reina, there was a rock band playing on the small street outside a bar. Just around the corner, there was a brass band from a music school playing in the plaza.
This year in Bilbao, in the Plaza Nueva, we came across a group of musicians and singers singing popular Basque songs. Both encounters were totally by chance, but rate high in our memories of those caminos.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

In mid summer in Carrion de los Condes, Asociacion Camino Artes has sponsored for 15 years a series of classical Spanish guitar concerts, played by the students and teachers in their Master Class program. They are free, performed in a variety of public spaces -- mostly churches. The concerts are bilingual, aimed at pilgrims, there are signboards and announcements, everyone is welcome.
There's a dedicated local following, a few pilgrims attend, but mostly the pilgrims stay away in droves. A lot like the open churches in summer -- pilgrims complain the churches are locked up, but we keep ours open all summer, and the pilgrims just walk right on by. Maybe one in ten will stop in.
Go figure.

 

[Theatregal]

In mid summer in Carrion de los Condes, Asociacion Camino Artes has sponsored for 15 years a series of classical Spanish guitar concerts, played by the students and teachers in their Master Class program. They are free, performed in a variety of public spaces -- mostly churches. The concerts are bilingual, aimed at pilgrims, there are signboards and announcements, everyone is welcome.

A wonderful, memorable evening this past September 24th in the Ermita de la Piedad. It was the final concert of the season.

​

 

[David Tallan]

In mid summer in Carrion de los Condes, Asociacion Camino Artes has sponsored for 15 years a series of classical Spanish guitar concerts, played by the students and teachers in their Master Class program. They are free, performed in a variety of public spaces -- mostly churches. The concerts are bilingual, aimed at pilgrims, there are signboards and announcements, everyone is welcome.
There's a dedicated local following, a few pilgrims attend, but mostly the pilgrims stay away in droves. A lot like the open churches in summer -- pilgrims complain the churches are locked up, but we keep ours open all summer, and the pilgrims just walk right on by. Maybe one in ten will stop in.
Go figure.

I have vivid memories of the classical guitar concert in Carrion de los Condes on July 25, 2016.