The Reeperbahn, the “cool mile” (Udo Lindenberg). neon lights at night. Clubs, pubs, bars, dive bars. There should also be brothels. They weren’t good years for the establishments of the night. This will also be the focus at the Reeperbahn Festival 2022, where this unique Hamburg biotope of nightclubs, discotheques and theaters will once again become the venue for Europe’s largest club festival.
From 21 to 24 September 2022, the Reeperbahn Festival, presented by ROLLING STONE, combines an eclectic line-up of international up-and-coming talent with a progressive conference programme. Since its debut in 2006, the festival has grown into one of the music industry’s most important meeting places. It shows how a varied musical program can be combined with the interests of the music industry and civil society commitment.
The music program: Anna Calvi, Destroyer, Stella Sommer …
The German indie pop musician is one of the highlights of the program that have been confirmed so far Betterov, who will perform in the St. Michaelis Church, in the unique circle of friends. Other local highlights are the electro poppers hundredswho planned a mixture of concert and experiment at the Michel, and the great chansonière Stella Summer. Anna Calvi will play in the Elbphilharmonie, the Angolan singer and dancer pongo will combine the kuduro dance of her old home country with the samba soul of her new home country of Portugal. The Ghanaian singer, songwriter and beatmaker KiDi, long a star on the African continent, brings its modern high-life sound to Hamburg.
We are particularly looking forward to the ROLLING STONE night on September 22nd in verdigris: editor’s darling destroyer will perform, as well as the British folk punk band Skinny Lister and Lola Marsh from Tel Aviv.
How political can/must pop be?
The festival’s conference program is open to an international audience of professionals from all sectors of the music industry. On Thursday, September 22, 2022, and Friday, September 23, 2022, around 130 sessions, divided into twelve thematic chains, will provide information on live entertainment, sound recordings, dubbed business, as well as marketing, media and news. Another focus will be on political issues such as the impact of the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis.
The 350 speakers include the Canadian producer and musician Daniel Lanois (U2, Neil Young), the Ukrainian rapper Alyona Alyona and the political activist group pussy riot. The prelude is a conversation between the pianist Igor Levit and Hamburg’s Senator for Culture and Media Dr. Carsten Brosda (DEU), who discuss the effects of two pandemic years and the Ukraine war on the music landscape and ask how political the sound of this special time is, can and must be.
A special focus of the Reeperbahn Festival is the development of sustainable processes and formats for music production, as well as gender equality at all levels of music culture and business. The aim of promoting diversity is to create a culture and a living space free from prejudice and non-discrimination. This also includes the targeted and sustainable promotion of talent in the form of the Anchor Award, which is presented every year as part of the Reeperbahn Festival by a top-class jury – this year by, among others, Bill Kaulitz, Joy Denalane and Hives singer Pelle Almqvist. President of the jury is once again Bowie producer Tony Visconti, now something of a patron saint of the Reeperbahn.