Smokey blues bar which gets impossibly packed on the free gig nights on Tuesday-Thursday - get there early to get a seat. Top quality musicians squeeze onto the minuscule stage.

Between Sol and Opera on the top part of c/Hileras, just down from Plaza de las Descalzas

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A dark and dingy jazz bar near Plaza de Santa Ana. Gets busy on weekends but has great atmosphere and good music.

www.populart.es

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Typical local bar - great selection of European beers and the best Patatas Bravas in Madrid! Head down at dusk on a warm summer's evening to soak up the traditional Madrid atmosphere. There are dozens of tapas bars lining the street facing the park, and often buskers providing a bit of live music.

On the corner of Calle de Valmojado and Calle Illescas (Parque de Aluche), Aluche; nearest metro: Aluche/ Campamento

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An area of the city a lot of tourists shy away from but full of great bars and resturants, live music street performers and pleasantly free of shops selling toro t-shirts and flamenco aprons.

Calle Argumosa is one long stretch of terrazas in which to drink red wine and watch the world go by, and in the narrow side streets there are great little bars everywhere. La Candela is great for real flamenco and late drinks.

Metro Lavapies or Anton Martin. La Candela. Calle del Olmo

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A wonderful, authentic free-entry flamenco bar. It is a small tiled cafe where singers, guitarists and dancers walk in and play. Camaron de la Isla is supposed to have arrived one night and sung until 10am. One night, we stayed in the back room and saw totem faced Andalucian gitanos necking bottles of Bacardi, and playing the most gut-wrenching bare-souled music you could witness.

It's on Cava Baja, in La Latina.

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Friendly, cool, laid-back bar for arty, student types with electronic music. Grab the centre wooden platform to lounge on low-seating with your friends. Open 23 - 2.30 (closed Mondays)

Olmo 31, Antón Martin metro, Info 91 521 48 54

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I have just done Victory Over The Sun in the San Cristobal de Los Angeles metro station, 15.06.06. This is a club with no dancing, which is a refreshing change from the formulaic local clubs.

For a cover charge of 60 euros you can drink as much Cava as you wish (the bar only serve Cava) and watch/participate in performance art (much blood letting). Live Electronic music was the order of the day, which allowed easy communication between the sexes unlike the Madrid dance clubs.

Many of Madrid’s club elite were in attendance, including many club owners and promoters, which may indicate that change is coming on the scene. Victory Over the Sun is based in Dublin and will not return to Madrid until November 06. I believe that it will trigger a sea change in Madrid’s nightlife that will bring it into the 21st century.

San Cristobal de Los Angeles metro station among other venues;
tel: +44 7901 853 216

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Opera and the Palacio Real are two specific buildings but they also describe the area in which they are located, which is pedestrianised and beautifully preserved. There are gardens and bars which, on Saturdays and Sundays, are full of madrileños promenading and street artists playing music or dancing tango.

The Palacio Real (or Palacio de Oriente) is quite ugly itself, like an oversized wedding cake, but the Jardines de Sabatini are worth investigating. The area takes you to the end of Calle Mayor or to Pintor Rosales on the opposite side.

Metro Opera or Plaza de España

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Great pub with great music where you can dance into the small hours if you have the energy. If not, read the old copies of Melody Maker that line the walls. Class.

Calle Velarde

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Beside the lake in the pleasant Parque del Buen Retiro, the equestrian statue of Alfonso XII is a grand enough tourist sight, but the area around it really comes alive on a Saturday evening. Hordes with Djembe drums assemble around the curved column and hammer out a thunderous rhythm; locals dodge the mostly leniant eyes of the police and hand out cheap beers from ice bags; technicolour girls twirl pois and the night has started.

Parque del Buen Retiro

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It is a rock concert hall which offers a nice and friendly atmosphere for everybody and the best all-time rock music (especially classic heavy-metal).

In Vallecas district
www.excaliburmetal.com

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