Spain gets ready to rock: Deluge of concerts, festivals and tours scheduled this summer

A MEGA music revival is set to hit Spain this summer as the backlog of live concerts the pandemic put paid to joins a list of those already scheduled for 2022.

Global pop and rock promoters Live Nation admitted that this year will see an 'overwhelming' number of gigs, but that they do not envisage any problems selling tickets.

“There's a huge repressed desire to get out and listen to live music,” says chairman Robert Grima.

Next year will be 'even more epic', he says, because many North American artists and bands due to perform in Europe have put their tours off until 2023.

This was because, in the early part of 2022, 'we still had the pandemic' and performers from farther afield 'need longer to plan', so this coming summer would have been too early for them, Grima explains.

Despite artistes from across the pond not due on these shores until 2023, the scene is set to explode with bands and singers from Europe – to the point where some of Spain's largest festivals have now multiplied in length.

The first on the calendar for summer is Primavera Sound in Barcelona's Parc Fòrum, which normally runs for four days, but this time will cover a whole 12 days, including two weekends, with more than 500 concerts.

And the very weekend after it finishes, Spain's second-largest city will host the Sónar Festival, the line-up for which includes The Chemical Brothers, The Blaze, C. Tangana, Nathy Peluso, Arca, Morad and Moderat.

Independently of the festivals, major tours scheduled will include – in Barcelona alone – rock legend Patti Smith on June 16 in the Pedralbes Gardens, and Puerto Rican Marc Anthony the next day in the FC Espanyol stadium.

Primavera Sound is set to feature 'artist of the moment' Dua Lipa as the opening act, and the British-born daughter of Balkan refugees will be followed by all-girl band Pussy Riot.

They are both due on stage this coming Wednesday, June 1, and '80s household names The Red Hot Chilli Peppers will bring some 'old skool' rock to the festival on June 7 at the Olympic stadium.

Rauw Alejandro and Juan Magán will perform at the RCDE stadium in Cornellà on June 11.

Over the 12 days, other acts include R&B star Alicia Keys, veteran Welsh crooner Tom Jones, another '80s icon Madness, Spain's answer to Cliff Richard, Raphael, and the early-2000s chart-topper Fito & Fitipaldis, whose signature hit Por La Boca Vive el Pez has been likened to Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing in style.

Others include Camilo, Pat Metheny, Wilco and Andrés Calamaro.

According to another international promoter, The Project, some tours due to reach Europe this year but which have been called off – and may or may not be back on next year – include Nobel Literature Prize winner Bob Dylan, and 'The Boss' Bruce Springsteen.

The Project speculates that, in some cases, the Ukraine invasion may have forced artistes to rethink their concerts there as well as in Russia and neighbouring countries, which might mean a reduced and, therefore, economically-inviable European tour.

Just in Spain's far north-eastern region of Catalunya, July will bring the Barcelona Beach Festival, the Pedralbes Gardens Festival, the Vida Festival in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Canet Rock, and Rock Fest – the latter of which includes an eagerly-awaited concert by Kiss.

Iggy Pop, Rosalía, and Iron Maiden are due at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi, and a series of festivals in the province of Girona – the coast of which is the Costa Brava – are set to follow, such as the Cap Roig, Castell de Peralada and Porta Ferrada.

All these are without even considering other massive concerts and festivals set to take place in the other 18 regions in Spain – such as '80s and '90s chart staples Simply Red, fronted by Mick Hucknall, who will be in Valencia on June 7 at the Marina Sur Auditorium and in Madrid on June 9.