The streets of Berlin are alive with the sound of protest. After years of cultural and political strife, this year saw the city’s musicians getting behind some of the most important issues affecting our everyday lives, making themselves – and their sound systems – heard.
The past 12 months have seen great upheaval. There’s been social unrest, there’s been an increased presence of the far right, there’s been unprecedented ecological disasters caused by the ever-worsening climate catastrophe. It’s during these times that people come together to push back against the world’s cruelties. This year in particular we saw people step off the dancefloor and take to the streets.
2024 was the year when music became an act of protest again.
Electronic club music is inherently political – a scene that was born out of oppression in the US Midwest and brought together the marginalised. At the same time, protest music has always been a cultural underpinning of Berlin. Music has been an important pillar of protest since the Wall divided the city; punk concerts helped foster dissidents, while folk artists weaved political aspirations into their music. But since the turn of the century, the proliferation of electronic music in Berlin has diluted music lovers’ appetite for dissatisfaction, with partygoers and musicians largely forgoing the political notions and messaging of their music. Club music for the most part became apolitical. A source of freedom and a calling card for the alternative diaspora, but at the same time its wider messaging – for the most part – was vacant.
But this year, the streets of Berlin struck a different tone. Throughout the summer months, it was nigh-impossible to wander through the city centre without stumbling into some protest-parade, equipped with DJs, sound systems and troops of ravers. 2024 was the year when music became an act of protest again. Beyond the socio-political conversations, and micro collectives that support the rights of the marginalised, local musicians have also been working to tackle some of the larger points at hand.
The A100 Wegbassen amassed DJs, ravers and club owners from across the city to bring awareness to and fight against the expansion of the inner-city motorway – the same DJs, ravers and club owners who would have been most affected by the construction, with several of the city’s venues in line for demolition. Now in its second year, the movement has proven to be a force in helping fight against this culturally destructive operation.
It’s just one action of many. This year, there were also Zug der Liebe, Rave The Planet and more radical groups, including Ravers for Palestine, Bass gegen Hass! and the Fuckparade. As clubbing communities have been gathering across the world to shape a political discourse (especially in Tbilisi), Berlin is quickly collectivising, too, bringing the energy from the clubs onto the streets.
