Spain
This is the perfect place to stop off on the way home after a night out. It's open all night, and at 6am on a Sunday morning it was rammed with people enjoying churros con chocolate (cups of hot chocolate with fried doughnut-like strips). Mmm … delicious.
Plaza San Gines (nearest metro station is Sol)
Go out at typical UK times and try to eat lunch or dinner and you'll find yourself in an empty restaurant (if you can find one open), being laughed at by the staff and in bed before the Madrilenos have put their make up on.
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
Simply the best venue in Madrid on a Friday evening: techno, electronica, alternative. It's the one place I miss from my city. 1am - 6am.
Mesonero Romanos 13 (on the corner of Gran Via 34). Callao or Gran Via Underground Stations.
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
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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