20th Reeperbahn Festival On Its Way In Germany
The 20th Reeperbahn Festival kicked off Wednesday, Sept. 17, with the official opening show at Stage Operettenhaus in Hamburg, Germany.
The welcome by British radio and television presenter Clara Amfo, was followed by a review of the 20-year development of Reeperbahn Festival, and a speech by Germany’s federal commissioner for culture and media, Ingo Mix.
Alternative pop quartet Florence Road from Ireland gave the first performance of the night, before festival director Detlef Schwarte got the 1,200 guests in the mood for this year’s Reeperbahn Festival motto, “Imagine Togetherness!” – a call for more community spirit and cooperation within the ecosystem of the music industry.
He talked about the challenges posed by profound changes such as digitalization and monopolization tendencies coupled with increasing economic pressure, especially for smaller, independent players, which could only be overcome with a shared willingness to find solutions.
On the other hand, it was precisely the small clubs, labels and agencies that were of enormous importance for the development opportunities of the next generation of musical talent. Therefore, maintaining a sustainable music industry system was in the common interest of all market participants.
Schwarte’s words mirrored what he said in Pollstar’s big interview on Reeperbahn Festival’s 20th anniversary, which he gave alongside Reeperbahn Festival MD and founder Alex Schulz.
The event’s opening night also featured the world premiere of the Future Female Africa collective with Sheebah Karungi, Femi One, Die P, Onejiru, Mayonde, Anna Bassy, Nicole Hadfield and mari.ama, who demonstarted how well pop music can still convey socially relevant issues.
A trailer introduced the nominees for this year’s Anchor competition, which will be awarded on Friday evening at the St. Pauli Theater. This year’s nominees are Sorvina (USA/GER), Cara Rose (UK) and RIP Magic (UK), who performed on Wednesday, as well as Mei Semones (USA), Soft Loft (CHE) and Carpetman (UKR), who will perform at Mojo Club on Thursday.
Singer-songwriter Calum Scott (UK) gave his first of his two Reeperbahn Festival appearances on opening night, before Hamburg’s minister for culture and media, Dr Carsten Brosda, talked about the unifying element of culture and music.
More live music on Wednesday evening came from surprise act Nina Chuba at the Festival Village; the IGNITE Showcase by Universal Music at Große Freiheit 36, where Leon Thomas (USA), Jax Jones (UK), Sebastian Schub (GER), PARTYOF2 (USA) and Alessi Rose (UK) performed.
Germany’s export program German Music Talent/Wunderkinder showcased selected German acts Nilipek., h3nce, David Bay, Vianovam and Power Plush.
Reeperbahn Festival has plenty in store over the next three days. A total of around 800 program items includes 450 concerts in 75 venues by 400 acts from 30 nations, and 250 events with around 300 speakers for the expected 5,000 trade visitors.
Reeperbahn Festival is sponsored by the federal government commissioner for culture and the media, and the free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
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