Full of limitless excitement, we can't wait until Reeperbahn Festival finally kicks off in 5 months and we can create the ultimate festival experience for you. Don't worry, we're working full speed to ensure that in addition to these 56 acts, there will be plenty of other musical gems and artsy programming to be found around the Reeperbahn. 

K.Flay 

Kristine Meredith Flaherty actually enrolled at the renowned Stanford University in 2003 to study psychology and sociology. But because the hype around strongly worded radio rap with sexist overtones was in full swing at the time, the 18-year-old took the opportunity during her studies to hold up a mirror to hip-hop culture in the USA – which she continues to do to this day. Today, her rap roots have been fused with elements of R'n'B, art pop, and alternative rock, which she purposefully perfects on her albums and with multiple Grammy nominations, and a backup slot on an Imagine Dragons world tour. Today, K.Flay is her own authority in the US and is also one of the most important voices both against sexism in the music industry and for empowerment on all levels.

Billy Brag

Some artists survive trends completely unscathed, defy all hype, and consistently concentrate on their own thing. Rarely do they remain successful in the process. However, Billy Bragg is celebrating his 40th anniversary in 2023 as a living embodiment of all these qualities and is showing the world why he is still one of the undisputed legends in British folk and alternative country. The songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and protest singer has left no stone unturned over the decades when it comes to challenging the status quo and countering an increasingly sick world with his art. From new beginnings to upheaval to collapse, Bragg has always shown himself capable of both reflecting his inner life via the state of the world and daring to change things.  

Liraz

If you go through life with your eyes open, you will always meet people in whom something inexplicable shimmers. Even when Liraz Charhi began singing at the age of five, this shimmer was in her eyes. The Iranian–Israeli actress, singer, and dancer breathes art in all its forms and colours, lives for the moment of the expressive, and has already entered the next level of Persian pop music with her 2018 debut, “Naz”. The sonorous voice of the distinguished artist is accompanied time and again by wonderfully lively arrangements of percussion, baglama, and bass as well as by elegantly dancing synths. Her signature sound combines traditional instrumentation with modern production methods and a certain pop appeal that sounds at once organic and well-defined. 

Blood Red Shoes 

Much has changed since Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell released their debut, “Box Of Secrets”, in 2008. The world is now a different place, but the sound of Blood Red Shoes still functions as an accusatory yet also urgent accompaniment to the attitude towards life in the so-called West. The duo survived the garage rock revival and emerged even stronger. New ideas were tried and implemented, and the group’s song writing sharpened. Dance-punk and alternative or even pop elements also found their way into the duo’s multi-layered studio material without resulting in the loss of the dirty BRS signature sound. The fact that the group are repeatedly mentioned in the same breath with names such as PJ Harvey, The New Pornographers, or even The White Stripes is therefore no coincidence. Quite the opposite.

This Is The Kit

We can count it a stroke of luck that with the release of her third album “Bashed Out” (2015), Kate Stables hit the British press like an asteroid after a pretty lengthy orbit. As the founder of This Is The Kit, she and her band had been releasing music since at least 2006 and were already well known to insiders in the UK alternative rock and folk scene. But thanks to her multi-faceted songwriting, inventive instrumentation and a keen sense of melodies that linger in your head for weeks, she went on to impress virtually the entire line-up of presenters at the hugely popular BBC Radio 6 Music station.  

Arab Strap 

Ever since they helped popularize indie pop and slowcore in the nineties, Arab Strap have been a staple in England’s musical scene. And that’s not just because of the group’s sensibilities for great melodies, their layered yet minimalist arrangements, and Aidan Moffat’s characteristically murmuring vocals. Indeed, the unadorned clarity with which the duo tackles existential questions album after album, purposefully triggers new ideas, and even incorporates humour into their songs has often been imitated, but never matched. After a long break during the 2010s, the group returned two years ago with the eclectic indietronica album “As Days Get Dark” and made it clear once again how much their thoughtful song poetry had been missed – and that we need it today more than ever.  

Our further confirmations:  

Jordan Mackampa | Lime Cordiale | loveless | Puma Blue | Dekker | Teleman | Orbit | Lena&Linus | Art School Girlfriend | Sofie Royer | Zeck | Ryan McMullan | SKAAR | Savvy | Burnout Ostwest | Jean-Michel Blais | NoSo | Sprints | CVC | 86TVs | NEEVE | Girlwoman | Uche Yara | Annahstasia | The Mary Wallopers | Big Joanie | Someone | deathcrash | Mitch Santiago | Sam Quealy | Pogendroblem | Flyying Colours | Kynsy | Kids with Buns | Pablo Brooks | Poulish Kid | Glüme | Whammyboy | Egyptian Blue | Superbloom | KEG | Shitney Beers | Girl Scout | The Crab Apples | The Joy Hotel | Bipolar Feminin | Get Jealous | Sophia Blenda | Willow Parlo 

Click here for the program