'Directes Estrella Damm 150' to put on 45 concerts featuring 45 artists at venues throughout the region to celebrate its 150th anniversary
Estrella Damm and ASACC are promoting this new concert series, which will take place between September and October, to highlight the role of concert venues as essential cultural spaces for the growth of artists and the vitality of the region’s music scene
Following the huge event held at the Parc del Fòrum, Estrella Damm is transferring the commemoration of its 150th anniversary to concert venues with DIRECTES ESTRELLA DAMM 150, a new cycle organised in partnership with the ASAAC (Association of Concert Venues of Catalonia), an entity that was set up with the aim of publicising the concert venues throughout the region that Estrella Damm partners with year-round. It will provide a special opportunity to celebrate the anniversary with them and involve them in the celebration, with 45 concerts to be held in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Castellón and Andorra between September and October.
The project will bring together 45 artists at 45 venues with different formats and sizes, with capacities of up to 22,000 people and shaping a network designed to highlight the fundamental role of these venues on the musical landscape. Encompassing major venues and local venues, the cycle will showcase them as cultural facilities key to the progression of artists and the vitality of the region’s music scene while strengthening their role as the first real stage for many of the artists, places where they can experiment, grow, consolidate their live performances and establish an authentic bond with the audience. Beyond the concerts, the project will also focus on this essential and often invisible cultural fabric that sustains live music across the region throughout the year.
DIRECTES ESTRELLA DAMM 150 will provide firm support for local talent, striking the perfect balance between well-established artists and some of the most outstanding emerging proposals. The cross-disciplinary and intergenerational schedule reflects the diversity and vitality of the contemporary Catalan music scene, spanning genres and formats that range from pop and indie to urban, electronica and mestizaje and paying special attention to parity and the presence of projects led by women and mixed groups. Miki Núñez, Queralt Lahoz, Macaco, Maruja Limón, Quimi Portet, Suu, El Pony Pisador, Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, Alfred García, Fades, Carlota Flâneur, Mourn, Svetlana, El Petit del Cal Eril, Socunbohemio, Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, Ketekalles, Strombers, Sexenni, Ven’nus, Joan Colomo, The New Raemon and Cloe Riembau are just some of the artists set to form part of a line-up that reflects this artistic and generational plurality.
The cycle will kick off on 18 September with the concerts by JULS at the Sala Liverpool de Be Disco in Molins de Rei, Joe Crepúsculo at the Club Mutante in Palma de Mallorca and Ketekalles at the Unnic in Andorra la Vella. Over seven weeks, DIRECTES ESTRELLA DAMM 150 will tour iconic venues in Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, Castelló, Palma, Ciutadella and Andorra, visiting major venues such as Razzmatazz, Salamandra, La Mirona and Es Gremi and smaller ones such as Els Pagesos in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Terra in Castelló de la Plana and Slàvia in Les Borges Blanques, thereby strengthening the project’s aim to cover different scenes in the region. The final phase of the cycle will include concerts by Miki Núñez at Razzmatazz 1 in Barcelona, Maruja Limón at the Sala Times in Santa Coloma de Gramenet and The New Raemon at VADE Música in Sabadell, and it will end on 30 October with an event at the Sala Apolo, the details of which will be revealed shortly.
With this project, Estrella Damm will extend the commemoration of its 150th anniversary beyond the huge party held on 16 May and strengthen its historical links with music and culture. While the Parc del Fòrum symbolised the anniversary’s multitudinous reach, DIRECTES ESTRELLA DAMM 150 seeks to constitute its more intimate and territorial scale, shifting the celebration to concert venues, the places where live music comes into being and grows each week.
The ASACC (Association of Concert Venues of Catalonia), founded in 2001, brings together the main live music venues in the country and actively strives to defend them. It promotes their acknowledgement as essential cultural facilities, advocates live music and works together with the authorities to improve the regulatory framework and guarantee the sector’s sustainable development. Made up of almost 90 venues located in the four Catalan provinces, this year it’s celebrating its 25th anniversary.
