Small(er) venues in Western Germany
This is a service mainly for bands from abroad touring Germany: I've put together a list of small clubs in Western Germany that are great places for smaller bands to play.
Frequently, I receive inquiries regarding (chronically) overworked promoters and performance venues – these are not always easily located from a remote perspective, particularly when bands are self-managed or employ booking agencies with limited geographical knowledge of Germany.
For that reason, I made this list, it is not a complete list, but it will help bands to find and contact small clubs. To be honest, I do not know what will come from your requests and how the clubs work. I am independend, and only know the clubs from the inside, but not the people that work there. But I hope that this list (which will be updated) can help you.
To ensure ease of use, I've arranged the clubs by city. The link associated with each club name directs you to their homepage, followed by a link to their Instagram profile.
These clubs I mentioned are mainly for the kinds of music I put on my playlists – shoegaze, punk, indie-rock, metalcore. I haven't included other specific genres (yet).
Aachen
- Name: Autonomes Zentrum • Instagram
- Great venue for punk-rock, indie-rock, post-everything, shoegaze...
Bonn
Cologne
- Name: Blue Shell • Instagram
- Great venue for punk rock, indie-rock, shoegaze, all kind of noise!
- Name: Stereo Wonderland • Instagram
- A great intimate bar focused on indie-rock and shoegaze...
- Name: Sonic Ballroom • Instagram
- A legendary club focusing on rock, hard rock, punk, rock'n'roll and indie-rock
- Name: Tsunami Club • Instagram
- Great venue for all kinds of rock, punk and shoegaze
- Name: Bumann & Sohn • Instagram
- Great venue for all kind of indie rock, post-punk, punk, noise, indie-pop, shoegaze...
- Name: Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld (CBE)/ YUCA • Instagram for CBE • Instagram for YUCA
- These two clubs are basically linked, they're right next door to each other. Perfect for indie pop, electronic pop, gazey vibes, and modern pop sounds.
- Other great venues in Cologne (slightly bigger) are: Carlswerk Victoria/ Club Volta • Gebäude 9 • Luxor
Duesseldorf
- Name: Ratinger Hof • Instagram
- Legendary club in the old town (Kraftwerk, Die Toten Hosen), now under new management by Concert Team. All types of indie rock, punk...
- Name: Weltkunstzimmer • Instagram
- Great venue for all kind of indie rock, shoegaze, indie pop...
- Name: JugendKULTURCafé Franzmann • Instagram
- It's a really tiny place, but super nice. Franzmann is an open youth hangout. (Mostly indie-rock, shoegaze, punk)
- Name: Kulturschlachthof • Instagram
- Great venue, but please be patient for an answer, it may take some time... all kinds of indie-rock, post-punk, gazey stuff...
- Name: Bilker Bunker (Schleuse 2) • Instagram
- Great club, very artful, I think they are open for a lot of styles!
Bochum (Ruhr Area)
- Name: Die Trompete • Instagram
- Great venue for indie-rock, post-punk, pop-punk, shoegaze, noisy stuff...
- Name: Rottstr 5 Theater • Instagram
- Great venue for indie-rock, post-something, shoegaze...
Duisburg (Ruhr Area)
- Name: Parkhaus Meiderich • Instagram
- Great venue, I think especially for metal/ metalcore and harder stuff
Essen (Ruhr Area)
- Name: Freak Show • Instagram
- Great venue for all kinds of punk-rock, rock'n roll...
- Name: Don't Panic • Instagram
- Great venue for punk-rock, rock'n roll, metalcore...
- Name: Jugendkulturzentrum Hüweg • Instagram
- Youth and cultural center, all kind of metal/ metalcore, punk-rock..
- Name: Emo Keller • Instagram
- Great venue, very small, for indie-rock, punk, post-everything, shoegaze, emo
Gelsenkirchen (Ruhr Area)
- Name: Hier Ist Nicht Da • Instagram
- Great venue for all kinds of indie-rock, indie-pop, punk-rock, shoegaze...
Oberhausen (Ruhr Area)
- Name: Drucklufthaus • Instagram
- Best venue for all kinds of punk, but also indie-rock, shoegzae, metalcore
Krefeld
- Name: Kulturrampe • Instagram
- Best venue for shoegaze, punk-rock, indie-rock, post-everything...
Solingen
- Name: Waldmeister e.V. • Instagram
- Once a month, the club members listen to the stuff and decide who gets to play on stage... all kind of punk, indie-rock, post-everything, shoegaze...
Wuppertal
- Name: Bürgerbahnhof Vohwinkel • Instagram
- Great venue for shoegaze, indie-rock...
If you want me to add a venue to the list, please write me!
If any of the above links don't work, please let me know: blackmarket@mail.de