Frictionfest
Friction Fest – the name reflects our mission: to create friction between different genres and styles of music, mainly within the rock realm, but open in any possible direction. We aim to establish an international forum for bands and artists who are committed to exploring new sounds and taking things a little step further than your average rock or metal band. In doing so, we intend to set a counterpoint to the prevalent festival routines which perpetuate musical boredom and mediocrity by offering only bands from a very narrow musical spectrum.
Friction Fest, instead, is a festival for music lovers – for people who love the King Crimson as much as the Swans and Nasum. A spirit of daringness and willingness to experiment and push boundaries is the leitmotif that unites all artists performing at Friction Fest and ourselves, the promoters. However, we never want to forget where we come from: the glorious land of rock n’ roll, home of the riff!
Friction Fest is taking place in Berlin, and there is a reason why. Berlin has long been appreciated as the alternative capital of Europe, by Berliners as much as by backpackers from all over the world. It is a city with a thriving underground music scene, not only in electronic regards, but also in terms of punk, hardcore, metal, post-rock, ambient, drone and experimental guitar music of any kind. Seeing that, it is hard to understand why Berlin does not already have a “Friction Fest”!
The festival premises are conveniently situated near Warschauer Straße right in the heart of alternative culture Berlin. They provide the perfect ambiance for a festival meant to be a little more than a music festival: a former train reparation plant where empty and ruinous factory halls emerged to one of Berlin’s most important places for underground culture. But only some of the innumerous buildings spread all over the humongous area have been given a new purpose keeping the decaying industrial look alive. One of the halls has become Berlins biggest skating facility, a former bomb shelter has been converted to a climbing tower and old offices are now artist’s workrooms. During the summer season people come together in the yard to enjoy the unique atmosphere while drinking a beer in the beer garden or watching a film in the open-air cinema.
But most importantly people come to this area because of the music that is presented in the various clubs be it live concerts or club music.
The mainstage for Friction Fest will be situated in the Astra Kulturhaus that accommodates up to 1800 People. The sound and lighting systems are state-of-the-art and among the best to be found in Berlin, the stage has a size of 8m x 9m. Additional stages will be in walking distance from the Astra at the venues Cassiopeia and RAW Tempel both with a capacity of 300 persons.
Also located on the area will be a art exhibition by artists from the music scene, a music market and of course we are taking great care of offering a large variety of affordable quality foods.
..and when the music gets too much, the beach bars of the Spree river are only a stone’s throw away… weather permitting.
Friction Fest is a 2-day Music Festival taking place in the city of Berlin on May 7th and 8th 2010. We are working towards establishing the festival on an annual basis.
Visit our other sites