Festival Sceme - By Andy Squire
After a wildly successful 2009, Reeperbahn Festival 2010 promises to be the best to date –of course! This year, organisers are pulling out all the musical stops in order to make Europe’s most exciting club festival that little bit extra special.
To start with, the capacity has again increased to 20,000 to cope with demand. The festival is also supplying around fifty more carefully selected bands this year, to five more venues.
Last year was a truly eye-opening experience for the Reeperbahn Festival, not just for the organisers themselves, but also the worldwide press in attendance and the droves of fans that crammed in to packed venues to see their favourite rising bands emerge that little bit further.
Reeperbahn Festival Director Alexander Schultz says: “The pace at which the festival has continued to grow is phenomenal. We’re so happy that music fans and journalists from all over the world continue to attend each year and enjoy themselves. The feedback from 2009 was very pleasing and we’re hoping to top this in 2010 and have some great surprises in store”.
Situated in the heart of Germany’s thriving creative hub of Hamburg, Reeperbahn Festival is an unmatched experience, synonymous with great new musical talent, unique venues and industry insight. The Reeperbahn area rests in the centre of Hamburg’s sub-cultural St. Pauli district, and is famous for entertainment, amusement, its red light district and, of course, for music. What more perfect setting for this innovative and thrilling club‐festival?!
Selling out for the first-time, even with its increased capacity, Reeperbahn Festival 2009 placed itself well and truly on the European festival map, with rave reviews from established press and also set the blogosphere alight with regaling retort of Reeperbahn delight. Furthermore, with folk from all corners of the music industry in attendance, the Reeperbahn Festival also became an important platform for bands to be seen and snapped up by labels, publishers, agents and promoters.
True to Reeperbahn Festival tradition, the line-up also included established names to keep the party buoyant. The likes of Editors, Seasick Steve, Biffy Clyro, and Dinosaur Jr all played well-received sets in old cinemas, bohemian cafes and larger music venues to reams of delighted fans. The first 2010 headliners are to be announced immanently.