London's Barbican is getting a Spiritland listening bar on October 20. It will occupy the Lakeside Room on Level 2, above the fountains, with a run planned until July 2027. The programme includes an album playback at 5 p.m. on opening days, as well as talks, tastings and supper clubs.
The room has a Living Voice sound system, and jazz, soul, classical and ambient music are among the styles in the plans. There's food and drink too: cocktails, wine, beer and alcohol-free choices, with snacks and brunch at weekends. It gives the Barbican another place to spend an afternoon or evening with music, beyond attending a performance.
For anyone thinking of going, the five o'clock album is worth putting in the diary. Tuesday to Friday hours are 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays run from noon to 11 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m. No Monday opening hours are listed. On weekdays, then, there's only an hour between the doors opening and the playback beginning.
That could make the visit a bit earlier than an after-work concert outing. Turning up later may suit a drink, but it wouldn't get you there for the beginning of the album. At weekends the room opens five hours before that slot, so there's more room to arrive early. The records for individual dates are still something to check as the programme takes shape.
What appeals to us about that arrangement is the time set aside. A whole album gets a place in the day, instead of being whatever happens to be playing when someone arrives. Most listeners can play a familiar record at home. Making the trip here would be about hearing it with other people, and giving the running order some attention. The equipment may draw interest, but the choice of records will decide which sessions people want to attend.
The Gasometer concert venue in Stockholm that we covered this week starts from another idea. Live music and visual art are being prepared for a converted industrial building there. Spiritland is bringing recorded listening into an existing arts centre. In both cases a room gathers an audience around music; at the Barbican, the recording itself can be the occasion. It's a useful reminder that a new music space doesn't always need a new stage.
We haven't visited, so the opening plans aren't a basis for judging the sound in an occupied room. They do give visitors dates and hours to work with. July 2027 is the end point currently announced, rather than a promise of a permanent listening bar. We'd start by finding a playback we want to hear, then plan around five o'clock. The October opening sets things in motion; the programme afterwards will give the room its rhythm.
