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Scotland, Europe, the world - , . '
Techno for supper, Gaudi for breakfast. Words: Ryan Seagrist
had some preconceptions about Spain before I arrived. They
were slightly tainted by late-night documentaries screened on
cable television with beer-swilling holidaymakers and truly awful house remixes of truly awful originals. I knew of the palm trees and that the weather was meant to be nice compared to sunny Glasgow. but clubbing in Spain was never a goal. tnuch less an ambition.
I couldn't complain. I‘d been invited to go on a DJ outing with a trio of Glaswegian jockeys to Barcelona. Winter was setting in on Scotland and a trip to the Iberian peninsula could surely help soothe my weary soul. We set off on British Airways with Les Dennis fiye rows in front of us and a pilot named Ewan McGregor (seriously). My companions. DJs Robotnik. Ghettohead and Omar X. hail from a known Scottish band and have also appeared at clubs such as ()ptimo and Monox in Glasgow.
We arrived on time after a pseudo-vegetarian meal on the plane and were met by the club representative and resident DJ. Coco. ()ur first move was over to the hotel where we settled in. It was late by this time. but that had no bearing upon the clubbers (or the locals for that matter) in the capital. The set was to begin at three in the morning and would last until
5.30am. and then Coco would resume his place ‘The CIUb has at the booth until just before 7am. typical for the seen almost
shockingly named Puticlub. By then it was only
8pm. so I had plenty of coffee with my meal. every The club night that had invited us was held name in
regularly at Nitsa. one of Barcelona‘s first dance
clubs in the techno/electro sense of the word. eleCtmn'c Fortunately. Barcelona is more authentically world grace
Spanish than the cities of convenient
' ! holidaymaking lying closest to the British coast. Its
By this I am saying that you were tnore likely to get paella than beans on toast.
.\'itsa also managed to be as credible as the city it called home. and it was far cheaper and tnore instantly memorable than Spanish namesakes such as the BCM. The club has seen almost every notable name in the electronic world grace its stage from Jacques l.e (‘ont to Frankie Bones. The fact that Dave (‘larke was booked for l-logmanay and the Bungalow Records I)Js perform monthly just confirms the club‘s status.
By 2am. people had started to fill the dance fioor. (‘oco began the night with his own mix of electropop and more commercial classics from a booth placed right in the middle of the stage. The refreshments gave us all good reason to stay up past our usual bedtimes. though. and the people quickly filtered into the room.
An overview of the city from Montjuic
M ~~ rm
There are three halls in .\'itsa. two small and the main stage with a capacity of 12()(). By the titne ()nna .\ began her set in the tnain room. the club was fttll. The three l).ls worked together as a team. the music began with an eclectic mi\ including the Slits. Adult and Glasgow favourites \lonnt l5lorida before mining on slowly into more techno territories. The mix ob\ ionsly managed to whet the palettes of the room as \itsa asked the (ilaswegians back fora festival in May before the end of the night.
I danced alongside the Spaniards with another travel partner and ended the night being led slow |_\ to our hotel. We then had the next day off to explore Barcelona. a city \\ ith a cosmopolitan feel and cafes spilling out onto the pa\ements. 'l‘he Maremagnum centre by the shore. with pnbs. shops and restaurants. provided a respite from the late night shoppers in the city centre. Trying to get in touch with (‘oco to wish him farewell. we discovered the mobile had run out of batteries. Too bad: Nitsa and the (iaudi architecture would have to wait ttntil next trip.
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