Early vs. late flamenco performance?
 

Anyone around here know anything about flamenco in Spain? ;)

Wondering if there are quality differences in an early vs. late performance at a given venue. For example, Cardamomo Tablao Flamenco in Madrid offers October shows at 18:00, 20:30, and 23:30. To a tourist who knows little or nothing about the art, does it generally matter which one we choose?

Cardamomo is slightly closer to our hotel than Casa Patas, so leaning towards that venue and possibly the middle show. By the time we are in Cordoba several days later we might be able to stay up for the 22:00 performance at Arte y Sabores!

Thanks.

Maybe I have a question other than answering yours
Where did you find such activities? I will be staying in Barcelona for 4 days.

jada, Timout Barcelona is a good source for these types of things. Also, do a search on this forum, we have a resident expert who has suggested several venues for flamenco in Barcelona, it should be easy to turn up.

Flamenco is best served late at night.

Ho will you have dinner if you can't stay up until 10 pm. Typically restaurants in Spain don't start serving until 9 pm or later.

An one goes to flamenco after dinner.

<i>> Flamenco is best served late at night.</i>
Thanks Robert.

<i>> one goes to flamenco after dinner</i>
But a respected tablao is offering shows before dinner. Is that just an inferior performance for tourists who can't stay up late?

jada, the resident expert here has recommended this site as one way to find these venues:
http://www.deflamenco.com/agenda.html

I seriously don't think it matters if you know nothing about flamenco. The same venue isn't going to have bad performers at one show and good ones at another. The crowd and ambience will be slightly different, mainly. Kids will be in the early shows, depends if you like that or not (I don't). Some locals may come by and that will be at the later shows. Some locals do go to those places you named, they are good places. I think Cardamomo has different length performances at different times, but also different prices. The early show is shorter, the mid-evening show is 90 minutes (early and late are about 60). I think Casa Patas has the same performers at both shows, anyway, not sure what Cardamomo does, probably not with 3 shows.

The 8:30 show will be fine.

Thanks Cristina, kids vs. tourists vs. locals ratio does make sense. The surprisingly early 6:00 PM show prompted me to start this thread.

We've seen a few flamenco performances in the US which we enjoyed a lot, the last a decade ago in New York City. Most likely we'll be easily satisfied in Spain.

Hi Nelson,

The diference is not based on the time of the show but on the quality of the show and the performers. The different timings are available in order to cover different preferences of the public.


Flamenco agenda in http://www.deflamenco.com
Flamenco tickets in http://www.ticketmaster.com
Flamenco shows in Barcelona http://www.casacamaron.com
* What it is interesting about tablao Flamenco Casa Camarón de la Isla is that if you take the late shows during the weekends (or selected days) you can stay for additional concerts of Flamenco Fusion and Rumba.

As JVH007 says, it all depends on who's performing on your night. But everything else equal, there are best chances to experience a more spontaneous and top atmosphere performance late at night.

Cardamomo and Casa Patas are two of the absolute best tablaos in Madrid, and they are very close to eachother (some 200 meters). Both places just stage great artists (as does Corral de la Moreria, Las Carboneras etc), but of course some artists are just out of this world. In general I would say that Casa Patas has been the best tablao in the country in recent years, and the dark and intimate venue in back of the bar/restaurant is just ideal for a genuine flamenco experience.

Some clips from Casa Patas the past couple of years:

Fuensanta La Moneta, voted best female flamenco dancer 2009 by Spanish critics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbO_lw2xWtU

Pastora Galván, voted best female flamenco dancer 2010 by Spanish critics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY6Vy9tKW3U

Olga Pericet, voted best female flamenco dancer 2011 by Spanish critics. She recently won Premios Max 2015 as best female dancer in Spain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55waEsaBzjM

And young Alba Heredia. Three days ago she won the highly prestigious Premio Desplante in La Unión. Here in Casa Patas a couple of months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZo2869kZtM

Fantastic and cutting edge Israel Galván, he has revolutionized male flamenco dance during the past decade. Recieved all the prizes there are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL9Wav9v7Jc

Estrella Morente, now the world's most famous cantaora (female flamenco singer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sejSYMSQDZo

And Arte y Sabores in Córdoba sounds like a good idea!

To get you in the Córdoba mood ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfGdpF55Uk

Thanks much kimhe. You, Robert, and nytraveler confirmed what I expected: night owls have a better chance of seeing a top performance.

But as noted above, as rookies my wife and I will likely be satisfied at most any show at a venues you have recommended. I have a number of those bookmarked for our trip.

Casa Patas is only a 10-12 minute walk to our hotel, according to Google, so we can wind up there as well.

We will definitely pre-book a show at Cordoba's Arte y Sabores.

Thanks for the video links, always fun to watch.

jada2016,

Regarding flamenco in Barcelona, there have been two great tablaos (flamenco restaurants) here for many years. Both Tablao Cordobes and Tablao de Carmen are popular with tourists, but only top of the shelf artists perform here. Both have a high standing among the artists themselves:
http://www.tablaocordobes.es/es
http://www.tablaodecarmen.com/

The new Casa Camaron (opened in June) seems to be excellent. Some of the grestest on the current scene have already performed here: http://www.casacamaron.com/index.html

The El Dorado flamenco club stages fabulous concerts on many Thursdays. A more local aficionado crowd, almost no entrance fee and only very prominent artists: http://eldorado-sfb.com/

All flamenco concerts/performances in Barcelona, from the major theaters to the smallest peña, is updated here:
http://www.guiaflama.com/flamenco-en-barcelona/

thanks for the help

great advice!
Nelson: please let us all know which ones you attended throughout your trip (or a trip report please!)
we travel mid October, so just after you I think
have a wonderfully fun trip!

SDsunflower, thanks, we are getting excited now!

We don't get home until late October and any TR won't be until some time after that, after you return.

I was one click away from booking the 8:30 Cardamomo Madrid show when I saw my wife hesitate. She suggested we might be totally jet lagged our first couple nights and might not really want to go to a show then. Since wives are always correct, I decided to play this by ear. I have a list of 5 venues with show times and three nights to chose from, so we'll see how we are doing. Presumably they won't all be sold out and we can get into one should we decide.

But we booked a show at Arte y Sabores in Córdoba and another at El Quinque in Ronda. These are apparently both small venues, 30-40 people, so we thought best to book in advance. I don't know if the latter has the kimhe Seal of Approval, but hopefully we'll enjoy the performance.

Have a great trip too!