razzmatazz

 

my friend and I dancing at Razzmatazz

 

the crowd on the dance floor

Before coming to Barcelona, some of my other friends who had either visited here before or studied abroad here in years past, jokingly warned me about the intensity of Barcelona’s thriving nightlife.  Countless times before I left for this trip, friends told me to prepare myself for four months of insomnia and partying.  They said that they went out every night to all the different trendy nightclubs Barcelona had to offer, stayed out dancing until sunrise, and then prepared to repeat the same cycle again the next night.  Partly intimidated by Barcelona’s party reputation and partly excited for what lay ahead of me, I arrived in Barcelona and soon realized that Barcelona did in fact live up to its crazy  reputation. 

My first few weeks experiencing Barcelona’s crazy nightlife were spent mostly at clubs such as Elephant and Opium Mar, both of which feature a dark club atmosphere, a trendy interior and blast remixes of popular American songs that are perfect for dancing.  Since promoters such as Kike and Kyke so strongly target American study abroad students and invite them to attend their parties at these clubs, I usually found myself surrounded by familiar American faces.  Going to Opium on a Thursday night means I am always likely to spot my friends from home, my friends from college, and my new friends from CEA as well all hang out and dance to American music.  I always have a great time because I am surrounded by people I know and feel as if I am still in America, just in a really cool new venue.  However, if each night all the American abroad students are flocking to different clubs and dominating the majority of the attendees, it made me wonder where everyone else goes out.

This weekend, my roommates and I, slightly tired of our repetitive club routine that we had been doing for the past few weekends, decided to switch things up and try going to the the club Razzmatazz, which was conveniently located in our neighborhood, Poble Nou.  This club had been described to us by a friend as being very different from the other clubs we had visited and as drawing a much more eclectic crowd.  There is a 15 euro cover charge for entrance (and you must show an ID) but the entrance fee includes a free drink.  My friends and I arrived around 2:30 am to what appeared to be a huge warehouse that was blasting techno and house music.  Upon entering the warehouse club, we were first slightly intimidated by the masses of people and the apparent lack of organization to our surroundings.  In the other clubs we had been to, the set up was different with bars lining the walls, Americans gathered in small groups everywhere, and an obvious dance floor where people were contained to dance.  Razzmatazz can only be described as chaos and craziness. Even the bathroom in the basement is craziness, and it is hard to decipher which side is male and which is female.  The main floor is a humongous open dance floor packed with people all dancing and going wild as the neon lights shift around them and the music continuously changes to different techno beats.  If you go upstairs to the different floors, you can enter into smaller rooms that are playing different types of music such as punk and rock. Also, from each level, you can look down on the main floor and watch the dance floor from above.  The top floor is an outdoor terrace where people can go to take a break from the dancing or the blasting music.  My friends and I stayed there for a while and talked to several friendly crowd-goers from all parts of the world.  Some of our newfound friends were from Barcelona but others came from France, London, Berlin, etc. all over Europe.  

Another thing I noticed about Razzmatazz is that the dress code is very different and way more informal than the other clubs I had been to.  Their is much more self-expression in the dress of the party-goers but I noticed that many people wore Converse sneakers and comfortable plaid or vintage t-shirts.  Although my friends and I were dressed in nicer attire, on my second visit there I would definitely ditch my high heels for converse or more comfortable shoes.  

Overall, I had an awesome time at the club.  Our initial hesitations about being in such a large venue devoid of Americans soon wore off and we quickly found ourselves meshing with the crowd and even dancing on the stages that surround the dance floor.  With the continually changing music and the high energy environment, we lost track of time and found ourselves exhausted at 6 am taking a cab home as the sun was beginning to rise.  The next day when I woke up my body was literally sore from all the dancing. Going to Razzmatazz had been a really cool new experience and I am proud that I stepped out of my comfortable American bubble and tried something new.  This is definitely not a place I would be able to return to every weekend because it was exhausting and the cover makes it more expensive than other clubs that are promoted.  However,  I definitely want to return and I also recommend that all American study abroad students should experience the craziness that Razzmatazz has to offer…