So you want to know where to listen to live music in Madrid? I’ve got you covered. No one can deny Madrid is a beautiful city full of life. There’s culture, history, and a lot to explore. As someone who travels and always has music in mind, I’ve made it a mission to find options to catch live music in the Spanish capital.
Planning a trip to Madrid? My suggestion is to read my guide on Day trips from Madrid to see where you can easily go from the Spanish Capital.
If you are curious about Spain and want more insight about the culture, read my Spanish guide: Here’s 5 reasons to give you more of a reason to pick Spain as your next destination. Looking for tips on travel planning? Here’s a great post to start your organization: Everything you need to know about how to plan an international trip in 2020. If you are planning a trip abroad and not sure how finances work, here is a very detailed guide to give you clarity on how to manage money: The science of understanding conversion fees – what to do with your money abroad.
Where to listen to live music in Madrid – your complete guide
If you have been following me for a while now, you know I have a diverse taste in music. In other words, don’t worry this guide isn’t focused on one type of genre of music. In fact, this post is made up of different genres so hopefully, you can find something for you. I’m excited to share and hope you enjoy the tunes in Madrid and/or this helps you discover something new!
Upon my research, there are very dull guides on the internet that don’t paint the full picture for someone whos young like myself and others on places of where to go.
In this guide, you will find out all about 4 different places where to listen to live music in Madrid. I’m here to put things on your radar.
What’s on this list? Some are venues, and some are music associations/promoters. Venues are simply places where they have music events and have more of an organized schedule. Party promoters have music events on different days in different places.
Are you looking for where to listen to live Flamenco in Madrid?
Meet Casa Patas. Press that play above for the beautiful sounds of Alfredo Tejada ! 🙂 If you are looking for Flamenco, you’ve found a great option. Casa Patas is well known and definitely a solid place where you can listen to live music in Madrid. Casa Patas is an interesting venue. In the front is a full-on restaurant. We stopped there after the show for delicious tapas. We enjoyed quality jamon, cheese, and a glass of Red wine from Rioja.
In the back is where they have the auditorium for the performances. There is also a separate entrance to go straight to the auditorium. If you like to drink, they have a bar outside of the auditorium so you can and are allowed to bring a drink into the show. The auditorium I was in was small. The room can hold maybe 30 people if that. It was definitely an intimate vibe. I believe there are bigger auditoriums so it depends on the show you go to, where you will end up.
Casa Patas details and what to keep in mind:
Once I went to Casa Patas, I learned how popular it is. It was super packed and crowded, which can be an indicator that it’s probably good. What that actually means in Spanish culture is to make early arrangements and reservations. Madrid is a very busy city, people are out and about all the time, reservations and arrangements must be made to guarantee your spot.
Casa Patas musical shows can sell out a month or two in advance. If you are planning a trip to Madrid I would look into the Casa Patas website for arrangements. Therefore, this will give you clearer details, AKA know before you go. Casa Patas is an authentic Flamenco show where you can listen to live music in Madrid and it’s quality.
There are loads of other options in Madrid. Does it start to get overwhelming on how do you know where to go? Yes. In my opinion, a lot of shows are ridiculously overpriced and not even half well known (or experienced) as Casa Patas. Fun fact: Rosalia has performed at Casa Patas prior to going mainstream, this is a place to be on your radar.
They have quality bookings and experienced performers. In other words, consider this a good starting point for Flamenco in Madrid if that is your preferred music. If you don’t know what Flamenco is, check out this video that answers what is flamenco?
El Junco – Jazz and other live music in Madrid
Press that play for El Junco! If you are looking for a jazz club, you’ve found an awesome option. This is a super fun venue on where to listen to live music in Madrid. I came here on a whim and was impressed with the quality of the performance I got that night.
We went on a Thursday, and was able to see the “On Fire!”Jam session. What’s that? You can head over to their On Fire Jam Session page for more detailed information. Expect to buy an entrance that’s about 6-9 euros, depending on your preference of beverage. 6 euros is the fee of the entrance with a beer and 9 euros is the fee of the entrance with a cocktail.
On different days they have different shows for different purposes. Check out their calendar to stay updated with what’s going on at El Junco. Importantly, they have so many options, hopefully, one is of interest to you! 🙂
Also, I want to mention that while I was there I met a lot of expats at this venue. El Junco is a lot of fun and a great crowd to mingle in.
Sigh – underground Music in Madrid
Press that play for Francesco del Garda! Here is a taste of the Underground Music scene in Madrid. I’m introducing you to Sigh, a music association in the Spanish capital. This is a must on where to listen to live music in Madrid if you are into minimal house, techno, electro, etc.
In my opinion, Sigh gets solid bookings and it has more of the vibe and intimacy I look for when I go out. I resonate with their bookings much more compared to commercial venues in the city. The booking agent knows what they are doing here and knows the crowd that will come out.
As I did mention it’s underground, make sure you clearly read and follow the directions of attending their events. They used to request you to become a member which means “Socio” in Spanish and that means you are a part of the association. To summarize, I don’t know if they still require that but when I first went last February, my partner and I had to sign up. It’s not much of a process, you just fill out a paper with your information.
Regardless if you don’t want to become a member, definitely purchase a ticket to guarantee your entry. I’m not sure if you can buy at the door, I’ve never tried that and highly recommend buying a ticket. Madrid is just one of those cities you should buy your entrance in advance. If not, you’ll be waiting for a very long time if there even are tickets at the event. They wait for ticket holders to come in first to see how many tickets are available for nonticket holders. Please note: Ticket holders always have priority.
For more information, head over to Sigh’s Facebook page.
Replay Sunset Parties
Las Ventas – Madrid, Spain 
Igloo inside Las Ventas, Madrid – Spain
Replay sunset parties is a super fun music event. This is one of my favorite places on where to listen to live music in Madrid. They are focused around house music and usually hold their events at Las Ventas. Las Ventas is a bull ring in Madrid. To summarize, they basically build a cool igloo type of thing inside the bull ring and throw an event in it. It’s amazing because it is so spacious and I really like the way they run their events. It is well organized.
On the contrary, one thing I’m not a huge fan of is that they tend to have events on Sunday. Not the best day of the week for many so that’s not the best but the organization is next level. They want you to have fun! Prior to attending my first Replay Sunset event, I got information that there was going to be a lot of fun stuff to participate in. For example, there was an open bar and free appetizer tasting for the first 2 hours of the event. There was tons of space to dance, rest areas to relax and take a break from dancing, and food options. My kind of music event!
What’s fun when you go out in Madrid is you get a free drink with your entry for the majority of venues. This party, for example, has the earlier you go the more you get. The catch was 2 free drinks before 4pm or 1 drink after 4 pm. I’m not a big drinker so this doesn’t really call for much excitement on my end, however, I wanted to throw this in there for anyone who is a fan of that.
Madrid Mola
Madrid is an awesome city, regardless if you are living here, or just visiting, you will not be disappointed with the options above. I hope this answers your question about where to listen to live music in Madrid. This list is a diverse mix for a reason. Hope you learned something new or will attend an event sometime soon. if you have any questions feel free to contact me via the contact tab on my website.
Xoxo, see you on the dance floor,
~Britt
