The Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg's St Pauli district showcases emerging artists across four days of live music and art, with venues ranging from street-side stages to a WWII bunker and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall.
The festival is held annually in the St Pauli area, known for its red light district where The Beatles played marathon nightly club sets before achieving global fame. Unlike large-scale festivals set in parks or deserts, the Reeperbahn Festival is more urbanised, with stages set up outside cafes and along the main road.
Inside the Feldstrasse Bunker
The most striking venue is the Feldstrasse Bunker, a WWII anti-aircraft bunker built on the orders of Adolf Hitler and one of the largest ever constructed in Hamburg. Designed to hold around 18,000 people, though up to 25,000 or more during heavy air raids in 1943, the high-rise structure now serves as a hub for music events, with a rooftop garden and residential units on its uppermost floors.
After security checks at the entrance, a lift took me to the fourth floor, where I entered the Uebel & Gefährlich club to watch Vtoroi Ka, a post-punk electronic hip-hop band from Kyrgyzstan. The audience spanned young and old, and the nostalgic 90s-style beats brought everyone to the dancefloor.
Elbphilharmonie performance
As a classical music fan and student, the Elbphilharmonie was high on my travel list. The festival welcomed the Moses Yoofee Trio to perform at the iconic concert hall, giving me the chance to admire the architecture while listening to acid jazz. The hour-long special performance saw the three musicians drive a heavy groove with fast drum breaks and synthesizer-focused melody, with light installations adding visual effects as the tunes built to a climax.
The concert hall's double wall insulation ensures the audience hears the music without outside interference, while no sound leaks to the exterior. The seashell motifs on the walls diffuse high- and mid-frequencies evenly across the hall.
Indie acts and the festival experience
The festival also attracts indie bands, including Leeds-based English Teacher and London rock band Little Grandad. Reaching the venue meant navigating the red light district, dodging second-hand smoke and passing groups of stag-dos and drunk tourists.
The four-day clubbing marathon left my mid-30s body tired and achey, but looking back 60 years to when The Beatles played gigs in Hamburg's Reeperbahn clubs early in their career, it is clear how such a festival could become a launchpad for indie bands on their way to stardom.
