Robert Fripp - Palau de la Musica
We went to the Palau de la Música on Thursday night to see Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty guitarists. This concert was part of the 18th annual Guitar Festival that is held in April in Barcelona. Last year we saw a great performance from John Williams at the Petit Palau. Sadly, the hall wasn’t sold out - maybe half full, and a lot of the audience were a bit fidgety with the Soundscapes performance from Robert Fripp. There were a couple of people behind me who kept talking and a lot of people (including me) didn’t really “get” the music. Whilst the volume and effects of the sounds produced from one guitar are technically impressive, I personally don’t feel that it’s suitable for performances - really more for ambient music. When the League of Crafty Guitarists (10 acoustic guitar players) joined him on stage it was another matter though. At times the music they generated was spectacular. We also found that despite having good seats we couldn’t see Robert Fripp during the performance as he was hidden behind his amplifiers and loop-back equipment. We enjoyed the evening out, but I think that a lot of the audience were puzzled by the music.
The Palau de la Musica is a fantastic modernist building built by LluÃs Domènech i Montaner and if you ever get a change to attend a concert there I would highly recommend it. They also have a fantastic bar area for pre-concert tapas, cava and cafe and a top-notch restaurant which we have tried once. It’s just a 5 minute walk there for us, so we’re a bit spoiled.
