Unscene Berlin

Wands: the ultimate NoG dancefloor accessory A woman in a body-hugging indigo stocking and skirt outfit twists a hoola hoop around her torso, shoulders, upper thighs.  A shock of yellow yarn  sways under her indigo headscarf, like doll's hair. She seemed to be in a trance.  Even if it's not your kind of music, one glance at her and you'll start to feel the beat... I had a pretty bad time at Nation of Gondwana the first time I went there in 2011 .  This is mainly because it was freezing cold (7 degrees Celsius in July... hard to imagine that now).  There also weren't many people there and the people who were, were understandably grim.  However, I've finally seen NoG the way that it is supposed to be: a sunny, rambling, warm pressure cooker for Berlin's precociously artistic clubbing community, and I am a convert.  I might even apply for a passport, or at least a temporary, annual residency at the nation of Gondwana.  While the music in ...

I have unfortunately just joined the growing ranks of people who can no longer use my Facebook page.  I logged in today to learn that my page, Club Alien Berlin, had been unpublished by the technological genii at Facebook (because we all know how they just love to change our default settings every time the system's downgraded changed).  Also today, I learned that the new 'publish page' button, which is supposed to fix this issue, does not work.  No, not even if you press it 37 times (and counting)! Since none of my Facebook updates are currently available to the public you can probably see how it doesn't make sense to keep on posting nightlife tips on it.  So if you have come to this blog in search of listings, please continue to do so in the future.  If you want updates on the go, please find me on Twitter (@UnsceneBerlin).  I LOVE Twitter and try to update it whenever I am out and about and see something interesting. If you are on the town in Berlin an...

Unscene Berlin is currently penniless (thanks, Ibiza) but that didn't stop her having brunch and taking a cabaret (read: puppetshow) for free in Boxhagener Platz, Friedrichshain.  Read on to find out how... A breezy, polite hippy in a tidy ponytail came up to my friend and I in Boxhagener Platz, today.  Leaning over us and smiling, he said, "English or Deutsch?" "Depends what you're selling," I quipped. This is an ingrained reflex... I work in the Mitte, after all, which is home of Berlin's biggest 'Speak English?' begging community.  But the hippy dude recoiled like I'd tarnished his idealistic credentials, and cried, "We are selling nothing! I only wanted to invite you to have some free food, if you like."  Then he turned to my mate and explained, in German, that he is part of a group that collects brunch-buffet munchies (brunchies?) from the cafes and restaurants surrounding Boxhagener Platz, and hands them out for free...

This week Unsceneberlin is partying in Ibiza, but the podium dancers there don't seem to be having as much fun... Add caption On Amnesia: love the club.  On Cream, loved the music.  But one comment I heard over and over again was, "What's up with those podium dancers?  Why aren't they actually dancing?"  The 34-22-34 sized women that you see standing around on their podiums are so tightly bound by the 'ideal' male fantasy gear that they probably can't breathe, let alone move with anything like the freedom of an actual dancer. Yes, even the men I spoke to were less than enthusiastic about them.  In fact, it was most often a guy who turned to me and wondered loudly why those women were even up there - they were obviously not into the music. How could they be, when they reputedly earn about 45 Euros a night for working in one of the world's most famous clubs, on one of the world's most expensive party islands? There was a time when go-go...

There are two reasons why I haven't been blogging regularly about Berlin's party scene lately: one good, one bad.  The good reason is that I've been extremely busy plugging away at a book about the rise and fall (and rise again) of London's underground party scene.  I will be publishing that novel in E-book format this spring, with free excerpts and a special price for all Unscene Berlin readers.  Stay posted for updates! The 'bad' reason is that, to be honest, nothing much has changed in Berlin's party scene in a-g-e-s.  There are still tons of parties in Berlin every weekend, and they are still as cheap and liberal as ever, but the sound hasn't changed.  The DJ's haven't changed.  The venues and party names haven't really changed very much either.  Thrill-seeking novelty-junkies like myself are hard-pressed to find a fix in this town, these days.   I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a bit of consistency, but wh...

Unscene Berlin recently met with artist Penny Rafferty to talk about her new collective, Punk Is Dada.  What is Punk Is Dada, though?  Is it art, movement, festival or anti-fashion statement?  As it turns out, Rafferty’s not too sure herself.  That’s part of what makes it so exciting... Still from Punk Is Dada's new video 'Just F*ck It' Unscene Berlin first encountered Penny Rafferty, artist and co-founder of Berlin's Punk Is Dada collective, in December 2012.  She had organised an anti-consumerism Christmas spectacle at Mitte's ZMF club entitled Cult of the Personality .   Every product that was on offer at the event - from the clothing to the zines to the music by the drag dance band that played at the end - was created to articulate a clear viewpoint on a social or political issue that its creators believed in.  And not one of the artists involved in the event resorted to the textbook tedium of politic...

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”   Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas For the New Year's party listing, please scroll down. If you believe that the mid-winter holidays are about sharing, relaxing and hanging with friends and family, you may be feeling a bit like a Cindy Lou Who in a world full of Grinches right now.  Every other news broadcast seem to be tracking pre-Christmas sales like they're the pulse of an ailing patient, and the unseasonably warm streets have emptied of people, while the artificially-lit sweat shops of Ku'damm et al are full of shoppers grimly chomping up deals like pie-eating contestants about to explode.  Not caring about money and, well, stuff at this time of year almost feels like sacrilege, and wanting to share for sharing's sake feels a little bit naive.  But if you...