While the moniker Alternative Rock is a very firm genre, for purposes of this article anything non-mainstream will enjoy this umbrella. Most live music venues in Spain cater to a variety of sounds, so this liberty will ensure the intrepid explorer finds what is sought after. Valencia, like the rest of the larger cities in Spain, offers a thriving nightlife scene, with bars, clubs, taverns, and pubs a-plenty. Some are eclectic, some less discerning, but certainly there is a venue to pique anyone’s interest, and if you’re searching for something a bit different than classical jazz, rock, or blues, you have a lot of options.
Having said that, if you crave jazz but poo-poo the purists, La Linterna Jazz Cafe at 11 la Linterna centro de Valencia will be right up your alley. This venue boasts a huge, extravagant décor with high ceilings and a broad, central staircase connecting the two floors. On Thursdays and Fridays at 11:30 p.m., this place starts pumping with live music that’s innovative and original. An affront to the puritanical, this jazz bar explodes in Latino rhythms, nu, urban, and ambient jazz, splashed liberally with Flamenco, blues, and even reggae. Not your grandfather’s jazz scene, it still tends to lean towards a more mature, affluent crowd, so dress smartly, but casually. No entry fee and drinks are reasonably priced.
For something really different, young and hip, slip into El Asesino, a rock bar located at 1 Pz Cedro. Every Sunday at 8 p.m., it offers the clamor of a free rock and alternative rock live show. The ambiance is wildly original, with the inelegant walls covered in black and white assassin art, comic book style and animal skulls pepper any open spaces. There’s a gaming room also slathered in comic-style graffiti art and the middle of the entire club is just a big, open pit for mingling and socialization. Drinks are cheap, and the fun is free. A crazy little place to rock out in and meet the local student population.
With a strong emphasis on indie rock, Wah Wah (as in the pedal), stationed at 52 Campoamor in Pz Cedro, is known for its outstanding live music concerts and little else. While it offers an intimate and cozy bar ambiance, if there’s no live act, there’s generally not much going on, but Wah Wah garners some big and international names, so it’s worth a peek to the website to see who’s playing when live music is scheduled.
Matisse, a disco pub at 60 Campoamor, Pz Cedro is a live music haven, packed with a huge variety of sounds from all walks of instrumental life. It delivers alternative rock, flamenco, jazz, blues, ethnic, and just about everything else. It houses a large dance floor, but does draw a more mature crowd than the student bars around it. It’s a cosmopolitan hangout, and its patrons can vary night-to-night, becoming an average disco joint or servicing a more Carmen (bohemian) clientele. When no live music is playing, a DJ dishes out unusual but sumptuous music mixes.
Just a few of the venues awaiting you, these are all great places to start, but certainly take a stroll around and find your own personal alternative Mecca.
