DOWN BY THE RIVER FESTIVAL is back!
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Almost five years after its last live edition, the small but eclectic Berlin indie open air celebrates its comeback on June 3rd in the magical garden of ://about blank near Ostkreuz. On two outdoor stages eight bands and solo artists will create an inspiring tension between pop vibes and experimental madness, guitar and laptop, party and chill. Summer is almost here, the genre doors are wide open and Berlin‘s musical underground is leading the way.
There is rousing saxophone/drums trio Brass Riot fusing jazzy eccentricity with club-worthy energy, and ingenious bass/synths/drums trio Halfsilks flourishing smart post punk songwriting with a penchant for girl group harmonies. Mieke Miami and her band cruise on soul-y/psychedelic waves from Brandenburg to “Californio”. Noj serve a platter of punchy noise rock. And while one-man project die schwimmen gets the bedroom disco going, one-woman project bauSTELLE from Weimar dances the electro lambada.
Chillera come from Odesa, Ukraine, and oscillate with their instrumental surf/dub/funk between states of trippy chilling and relaxed grooving. The multifaceted line up is completed by Charlotte Brandi (formerly Me and My Drummer), whose recently released second solo album “An den Alptraum” bewitches with wondrous and sharp-witted art pop chansons.
The magic is back, join us in the garden!
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Please note:
- free entry for children under the age of 12
- Under 18‘s must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
- Parents are responsible for their children.
- Children should wear hearing protection.
- The premises are largely wheelchair accessible.
- no dogs and photos/videos allowed
- Any kind of nationalism, racism, antisemitism, sexism, classism, homophobia etc. won‘t be tolerated.
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BauSTELLE
bauSTELLE is both rave and punk show. bauSTELLE performs solo but brings the party. bauSTELLE takes over the room with DIY beats and a voluminous voice. bauSTELLE gets the mind and the legs going. bauSTELLE carries a sword in one hand and a bottle of bubbly in the other. bauSTELLE combines lambada and class struggle. bauSTELLE is based in Weimar but sounds like Berlin. Enter at your own risk! >>> LINK
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The Ukrainian trio Chillera started during a summer job on a building site on the Crimean Peninsula. Construction workers there were wearing clothes with the logo of Chiller air-cons. For guitarist Polina Matskevich, bassist Ganna Bryzhata and drummer Anastasiia Marukutsa the name Chillera stands for relaxation, meditation, cooling off. And that’s what the instrumental pieces of the band from Odesa sound like: Its surf rock lines, dub rhythms and laid-back funk riffs provide the perfect soundtrack for a chilled summer day in a garden. >>> LINK
Chillera
Halfsilks
The DNA of Halfsilks reaches deep into the Berlin indie scene: Point No Point, Gym Tonic, Matching Outfits, Canyon Spree, Soft Grid – to name just a few of the bands its three members are known for. Musically, the trio is similarly restless, flourishing its smart post punk/synth pop tunes with catchy vocal harmonies in a 60s girl group tradition. Dancing is very welcome. Toxic dudes aren’t. >>> LINK
Brass Riot
The climate movement dances to Brass Riot! The Berlin-based trio is a frequent musical guest at Friday for Future protests and loves transforming the street into a stage. With two saxophones, drums and a bit of synth it redefines the meaning of ‘brass band‘. Minimalist arrangements meet maximum energy, jazzy eccentricity meets punk spirit and clubby grooves. Live, Brass Riot are a riot indeed. And, finally, this summer their debut album will be released via Fun in the Church/Staatsakt.
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
die schwimmen is a one-person band, founded in Berlin. taz.blog described its sound as “auto-tune New Order pop”. Its debut EP “Bistro Heartbreak” contains a handful of songs written with love, and recorded in a 12th floor one-person apartment somewhere in Lichtenberg. They talk about 0,33-litre coke, vacuum-cleaning on a Saturday night, heartbreak and the feeling of getting lost – in the midst of 80s disco drums, guitar reverb, auto-tune and synths. >>> LINK
NOJ
Noj is a Berlin-based four-piece whose members are also active in the bands Liiek, Benzin and Die Letzten Ecken. Their expertise: dissonant guitars and grinding industrial drums.
>>>LINK
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
“Montecarlo Magic” by Mieke Miami – that sounds both glamourous and sunny. And indeed: The second album of the former Berlin artist and her band rolls in on warm and smooth waves of soulful brass, funky guitar licks, jazzy piano and a groovy bass. In the air: thick clouds of psychedelia, as Mieke Miami dreamily sings about “Californio”, actually meaning her new home Brandenburg. And suddenly, Luckenwalde and the Laurel Canyon don’t seem so far apart anymore.
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
Whether in clubs, at demonstrations or on the street - Brass Riot always deliver the element of surprise: With the exceptional combination of two saxophones and a drum kit, they perform creative sets in a minimal line-up that makes everyone dance. With energetic saxophone solos, catchy drum beats and well-chosen synthesizers, they offer an unusual mix of punk, jazz and electronic music that has won them a fan base far beyond genre boundaries.
>>> LINK
Yodelling along to a lopsided economy? Countering day-to-day sexism with a sacral choir? Wrapping existential fear in the sound of a soft acoustic guitar? All that – and much more! – can be found on “An den Alptraum”, the new solo album of Charlotte Brandi. The airy art/folk/pop chansons of the former half of duo Me and My Drummer are as poetic and boundless as they are witty and funny. With her bell-like voice Brandi takes us through an enchanted forest while challenging the dark shadows of our social conditions. Magical! >>> LINK
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