Back To Lisbon

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I recently returned to Lisbon after the best part of six months away from home. Next month I celebrate the 10 year anniversary of my arrival in the city with two gigs: an all-nighter at LISA on the 24th, and then an exciting B2B at a morning party on the 27th (to be announced soon). Before then, you can find me at VIBRA this coming Saturday.

My first proper weekend back was a busy one as I try and reconnect with what’s going on here. Here’s what I got up to.

THURSDAY

Spiritland

As Telma’s official #1 Fan And Hype Man, my first stop on getting back to Lisbon was of course to go and see her play at the new Spiritland. I’ve never actually made it to the original Spiritland in London, so I can’t provide a comparison, but on first look the Spiritland in Lisbon is a pretty surreal experience. Inserted into a new, in fact decidedly unfinished, swanky hotel near Marquês de Pombal, the place is squirrelled away down three floors and along a corridor, so you walk past people’s rooms on the way there. (The music is clearly audible along this corridor so I wonder if those rooms come at a discount.) Once you’re in, you’re faced with a stunning, high-ceilinged, cork- and velvet-lined room with a central 360º bar, elegant stools, and a well-proportioned DJ booth with record shelves and a fancy rotary mixer I’d never seen before. The speakers look a bit like alien sex toys.

These speakers, combined with the subs suspended from the ceiling, produce very high quality sound. Unlike other ‘listening bars’ in Lisbon where it’s almost impossible to actually hear the music because of the din, here you really can listen. Telma was playing a mix of jazz, soul, RnB and chug and it all sounded fantastic. I sang along with gusto to ‘Do Right Woman, Do Right Man’. In shorts and a t-shirt, I felt seriously underdressed. Cocktails were 14 euros.