Band of Horses – 21 October 2026 (Sala Razzmatazz – Barcelona)

Five years after their last visit to Barcelona, Band of Horses returned with An Evening with Band of Horses: Celebrating 20 Years of Everything All the Time, a show in which they performed their debut album in full for the first time, followed by another hour of songs from their back catalogue.

Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Sala Apolo Barcelona 2017- Photo taken by Esther Vicente for Indieofilo^©

Bearing this in mind, they played nothing that wasn’t on Everything All the Time for around fifty minutes. With Ben Bridwell, the only band member to have recorded the album, on stage, the quintet performed the album in its original order. ‘The First Song‘ and, in particular, ‘Our Swords‘ were somewhat let down by sound issues, particularly the low volume of Bridwell’s vocals. ‘Wicked Gil‘ was slightly better before the highlight of the evening: a rendition of ‘The Funeral‘ in which Ben committed an error in one of his guitar riffs. At a moment of peak connection, the American guitarist laughed softly, prompting the audience to join in with laughter and applause. We then sang our hearts out to that familiar chorus, which has been with us at various times over the last two decades.

Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Sala Apolo Barcelona 2017- Photo taken by Esther Vicente for Indieofilo^©

With the volume lower than usual once again, ‘Part One‘ and ‘The Great Salt Lake‘ were simply fine. However, they served as the perfect prelude to ‘Weed Party‘, during which the power of Ben’s voice and the perfectly audible guitars seemed to change everything. The rather intimate ‘I Go to the Barn Because I Like It‘ almost put a damper on things at a gig that was really getting into its stride! Thank goodness for ‘Monsters‘ and, above all, ‘St. Augustine‘. ended the first set with a sonic earthquake, bidding farewell to a resounding ovation..

Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Sala Apolo Barcelona 2017- Photo taken by Esther Vicente for Indieofilo^©

After a break of more than fifteen minutes, the Seattle band returned to the stage with renewed vigour. This was evident from the energy with which they performed ‘Is There a Ghost‘, ‘NW Apt.‘ and ‘Islands on the Coast‘ one after the other.. Now the band sounded as powerful and intimate as we’ve come to expect from their live performances. During the wonderful ‘No One’s Gonna Love You‘, it even seemed as though the band that had been playing for the first 50 minutes was a completely different one. With the wind in their sails and the band clearly enjoying themselves on stage, the concert’s highlights followed as they took the audience on a sweeping journey through their musical career. This included performances of “Infinite Arms”, “For Annabelle”, “In a Drawer” and “Laredo”.

Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Sala Apolo Barcelona 2017- Photo taken by Esther Vicente for Indieofilo^©

These were followed by two new tracks: ‘Lil’ Suspect‘ and ‘Big Sheldon‘. The latter is particularly noteworthy for featuring post-punk sounds that had not previously been heard in the American band’s discography. There was still time to finish things off in style with ‘Cigarettes, Wedding Bands‘, ‘Ode to LRC‘ and ‘The General Specific‘ – tracks that showcased Matt Gentling on bass and Brett Nash on second guitar particularly well.

And just as they had arrived, Bridwell and his band left, leaving us with the feeling that, while this tour was intended to honour the brilliant album Everything All the Time, the first half of the concert, despite being moving, did not quite measure up to the second half, during which the American band performed their usual perfect live set…