Berlin concerts: The best live music in September 2024

Photo: IMAGO/NTB

With the outdoor festival season coming to an end and days getting shorter, it’s time for Berlin’s live music enthusiasts to return to the overcrowded, sweaty, smoke-filled, magical mosh pits of this city’s countless concert venues. From grungy synth wave anthems by up-and-coming alt pop singer Ari Abdul to head-spinningly fast guitar solos by South London jazz prodigy Mansur Brown, here’s what the Hauptstadt’s buzzing music scene has got to offer this month.

Sep 1

Weedpecker

On tour with their upcoming fifth studio-album, the four-piece stoner rock band from Warsaw is back in Berlin to turn Kantine am Berghain into a psychotropic wonderland. Since 2012, the band has been creating ethereal guitar-heavy soundscapes, somewhere between Pink Floyd and Truckfighters.

Berghain Kantine, Rüdersdorfer Str. 70, starts 20:00, details

Sep 3

Ari Abdul

Since the viral success of her debut single BABYDOLL, Brooklyn-based singer Ari Abdul has consistently put out exciting new music (banger after banger as they say), growing into her own style of dark alternative pop. Smashing synthwave hooks, hard-hitting basslines and the occasional trap beat make her digital anthems feel like a grittier Billie Eilish.

Lido, Cuvrystr. 7, doors at 19:00, details

Sep 5

King Hannah

Indie rock duo Craig Whittle and Hannah Merrick have been producing music together since 2017. The Liverpool band’s second album Big Swimmer is a warm, slow, eerily nostalgic record, inspired by the duo’s experiences of touring across North America.

Lido, Cuvrystr. 7, doors at 19:00, details

Sep 6

Nick Cavoli Quartet

After graduating from theJazz University of Rome in 2019 and relocating to Berlin, Italian trumpeter Nick Cavoli has been touring renowned jazz clubs across the globe. Returning to his chosen home, Cavoli will be joined by saxophonist Artur Rutkevich, bassist Giacomo Tagliavia and drummer Malte Wibel for a show at Waldorf Astoria’s chic art deco bar.

Waldorf Astoria Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 28, starts 21:00, details

Sep 8

Adam Wendler

Canadian multi-instrumentalist Adam Wendler is known for ditching conventional genre expectations. After all, the energetic solo act is less about fitting into a certain box and more about creating those universally understood, laid-back, folksy feel-good vibes that fans keep coming back for.

Flügel’s Hof, An der Fangschleuse 3, Grünheide, starts 19:00, details

Sep 9

Einstürzende Neubauten

After 44 years of exploring, expanding and shattering subcultural norms, Blixa Bargeld’s Einstürzende Neubauten – one of the most important bands in German music history, period – have come up with an entirely new genre for their new record: alien pop music. It’s improvisational, poetic and as cryptic and creative as ever.

Columbiahalle, Columbiadamm 13-21, starts 20:00, details

Joep Beving & Maarten Vos

When pianist Joep Beving and cellist Maarten Vos join forces to create music, the result is more than just the sum of its parts. Mixed by neo-classical legend and label head Nils Frahm, the Dutch duo’s first collaborative album Vision of Contentment is a serene journey through stages of grief and transition, deeply mournful at times, strangely uplifting at others.

silent green, Gerichtstr. 35, starts 19:00, details

Sep 12

Kassa Overall

Seattle-born hip-hop jazz fusion artist Kassa Overall is no stranger to show business. Before self-releasing his debut album in 2019, the drummer and rapper collaborated with big names such as Christian McBride and Ravi Coltrane and briefly joined the house band on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. His newest album Animals is an electrifying genre-mix, more eclectic and imaginative than ever.

Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19-21, doors 19:30, details

Sep 13

I Hate Myself Because

Ukrainian underground artist Maksym Semeniuk (alias: I Hate Myself Because) creates the kind of pure, unrefined garage rock that will make you want to start smoking again. Zesty guitars and vocals equally distorted, Semeniuk radiates an effortless swagger that has become rare these days.

Monarch, Skalitzer Str. 134, starts: 19:00, details

Sep 14

The Vampires

Formed by four young jazz disciples in their final year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Vampires have been cooking up virtuosic, light-hearted world roots jazz for almost 15 years now.

ZigZag Jazz Club Berlin, Hauptstr. 89, starts 21:00, details

Sep 15

The Shivas

Oregon rock’n’roll group The Shivas visit Berlin to collectively teleport us into an alternative, much cooler, 1960s America. Somewhere between garage, surf and psychedelic rock, their eighth full-length studio release Can’t Stop Coming Around oozes retro charm without feeling worn-out or repetitive.

Sep 16

WOMBO

Are we tripping or just listening to the new WOMBO record? The Louisville trio’s indie sound is a delightfully strange genre blend, contrasting unsettling, dissonant psyche art rock instrumentals with the tranquil, fairy-like vocals of bassist and singer Sydney Chadwick.

Sep 17

Romare & Maria Chiara Argirò

On September 17, club Gretchen features two exciting artists, pushing the boundaries between electronic and analogue live music. Romare, known for his complex experimental sampling collages and Argirò, who seamlessly blends jazz, electronica and classical music, come together for a unique double concert.

Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19-21, doors at 19:30, details

Sep 18

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Hamburg-based vocalist Derya Yıldırım and her international band combine traditional Anatolian folk music with elements of psychedelia, pop, prog rock and jazz to create a captivating, cosy, retro sound that ultimately speaks to the beauty and opportunity of multicultural collaboration.

Metropol, Nollendorfplatz 5, doors at 19:30, details

Sep 20

Lawns

Celebrating the release of their debut long-player Be A Better Man, post-punk infused indie rock trio Lawns are ready to bring the house down at 8MM bar on September 20. As the album title suggests, the explosive 12-track record offers a raw, unfiltered look at topics like fragile masculinity and mental health.

8MM Bar, Schönhauser Allee 177B, starts 19:00, details

Frollein Smilla

Female-led indie pop group Frollein Smilla is loud, cheerful, poetic, at times political and always accompanied by some banging brass sounds. In celebration of their new album Keep Smiling, the Berlin-based band is playing a special show at club Gretchen.

Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19-21, doors at 19:30, details

Sep 21

Jimmy Whispers

The startling contrast between Jimmy Whispers’ dreamy, uplifting synth melodies and his painfully honest lyricism – reflecting on issues like police violence, mental health struggles and the general fuckery of living in modern capitalist America – ultimately makes for some really compelling pop music. “I wanna say everything will be okay, but we are living in a hellscape”, Whispers shouts into the microphone while euphorically jumping around on stage. Bleak Cynicism or a wake-up call? You might want to listen for yourself.

8MM Bar, Schönhauser Allee 177B, starts 19:00, details

Bambie Thug

Easily the most memorable act at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the deliciously devilish Irish singer is single-handedly bringing back the satanic panic. Coining the term “ouija-pop” to describe their dark offshoot of internet-era hyperpop, Bambie Thug is combining their unique demonic sound with haunting visuals to put on a thrilling show at Berlin’s famous queer club SchwuZ.

Sep 24

Marlene Kuntz

To say that noise rock veterans Marlene Kuntz have been around the alternative music scene for a while would be a gross understatement. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Catartica, the Italian group are touring around Europe, thankfully making a stop at Frannz Club before heading over to the UK.

FRANNZ Club, Schönhauser Allee 36, doors at 19:00, details

Sep 25

Pole & Rainer Kohlberger (AV) + Masha Dusapin

Combining experimental soundscapes by Düsseldorf-based dub-tech artist Pole and Berlin-based experimental musician Masha Dusapin with visual works by filmmaker Rainer Kohlberger, this triple feature promises a transcendental experience for (almost) all the senses.

silent green, Gerichtstr. 35, doors at 19:00, details.

Sep 26

Juanjo Mena at the Berliner Philharmoniker

Experience a refined evening of French classical music led by conductor Juanjo Mena. From Pierné’s vibrant overture to Ravel’s enchanting ballet, and Tailleferre’s innovative harp concerto, this programme offers a captivating journey through the turn-of-the-century French repertoire.

Berliner Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan-Str. 1, Tiergarten, through 28 September, details.

Mansur Brown

Watchingguitarprodigy Mansur Brown unleash head-spinningly fast riffs with perfect precision and heartfelt emotion is an awe inspiring experience. Making waves with his unique flavour of flamenco-inspired hip hop jazz fusion, the classically trained guitarist has made appearences at important venues around the world, including last year’s Montreux Jazz Festival.

Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19-21, doors at 19:30, details

Kiasmos & Rival Consoles

Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen (aka Kiasmos) have been bewitching crowds with their ethereal, deeply emotional minimal techno for over a decade. Their second full-length album Kiasmos: II is a mesmerising, otherworldly yet familiar journey of a listen. For their Berlin show, the Icelandic-Faroese electro duo are getting support from an old friend: Rival Consoles, the British modular DJ who helped produce Kiasmos’ first collaborative EP back in 2009.

Columbiahalle, Columbiadamm 13-21, starts 20:00, details

Sep 27

Art Brut

Listening to the eclectic Brit-Rocker’s last record Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! feels like sneaking off at a family gathering to secretly smoke pot with that charming uncle who’s always saying odd stuff. Seven years after the release of the rousing album, the Berlin-based band returns to the stage in Kreuzberg “to remind us of our insatiable, adolescent appetite for music”.

Lido, Cuvrystr. 7, doors at 19:00, details

Sep 27

The Goblyns & Keshavara

With uniquely imaginative approaches to their respective genres, melodramatic Kraut-Pop icon Keshavara and psyche groove trio The Goblyns are a perfect match for a fun double feature at Neue Zukunft.

Neue Zukunft, Alt-Stralau 68, doors at 20:00, details

Sep 29

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

It’s Nick Cave. And the Bad Seeds. With not much more to say, all we can do is express our deepest gratitude to the Australian alternative goth rock daddy for gracing our wretched little city with his awe inspiring presence.