Plini is back in Spain: two nights of instrumental guitar at its most alive
There are guitarists who impress, and there are guitarists who make you reconsider what the instrument can do. Plini belongs firmly in the second category. The Sydney-born guitarist and composer has spent a decade building one of the most devoted followings in contemporary progressive rock — not through spectacle, but through a rare ability to make instrumental music feel as emotionally direct as a vocal. In May 2026, he returns to Spain with a new record and a formidable support act in tow.
His discography makes a strong case for itself. Debut album Handmade Cities (2016) landed in Guitar World’s top five guitar albums of the decade and drew praise from Steve Vai, who described it as one of the finest instrumental guitar records he had ever heard. Impulse Voices (2020) pushed further into harmonic complexity while maintaining the melodic clarity that sets Plini apart. Now comes An Unnameable Desire, his third studio album arriving in April 2026 — a more orchestrated and ambitious work featuring strings, piano and saxophone woven around his guitar — landing almost simultaneously with the Spanish tour dates.
Opening the shows is Sungazer, the New York duo of bassist Adam Neely and drummer Shawn Crowder. Their music inhabits the crossroads between jazz fusion, progressive rock and electronic music — intricate enough to reward attention, rhythmically insistent enough to move a room. Neely is also one of the most widely followed music theory educators on YouTube, and Sungazer already shared a stage with Plini during his 2024 North American tour.
Spain gets two nights: 16 May at Salamandra in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) and 17 May at Mon in Madrid. Tickets are available at madnesslive.es. Advance price is 35 €; door price is 40 €. No age restrictions have been announced.
