The sweet sound of a bargain: Get on your dancing shoes

Sorry if I just raised any hopes; as far as I’m aware the Arctic Monkeys aren’t coming to town any time soon. But lots of acts are, and you need to be careful not to miss out on your favourites for bargain prices! 

Whilst Madrid does have a habit of being ignored in the presence of Barcelona, a lot of international singers and groups do stop by on tour to play to a smaller crowd. I’ve been to two music concerts since being here, and whilst I wouldn’t describe either of the ticket prices as “dirt cheap”, I certainly paid a lot less than I would have done at home in the UK. When I saw Keane at PalacioVistalegre the arena had been made much smaller to accommodate a smaller crowd, meaning that my friend and I were still able to stand and enjoy the show from roughly 15 metres away, despite wandering in a few minutes after they’d started playing. Palacio Vistalegre’s website lists all of its upcoming performers and links you directly to the ticket sellers. The other major music venue is Palacio de Deportes, (which, as the name might suggest, also plays host to a variety of sporting events) so it’s worth keeping an eye on what’s going on here as well. And let’s not forget about La Riviera, another fairly “intimate” venue where I recently saw The xx.

In terms of being able to see the bigger picture, here are three of the best sites for the bigger venues and better-known artists:

- http://www.nvivo.es/conciertos-en/Madrid/Madrid/1
- http://www.songkick.com/metro_areas/28755-spain-madrid
- http://eventful.com/madrid/events/categories/music/
this-month?page_number=2

When actually buying tickets, Ticketmaster will normally give you the best deals, or alternatively go straight to the venue’s web page.

So there you have it. Everything you need to make sure you don’t miss out on any of Madrid’s biggest performers!

photo via: http://www.yorkvision.co.uk/scene/vision-gig-diary/