I had so few expectations of this place. I'd walked past this graffiti-clad monolith before and was…read morepretty convinced it was a smack den. So imagine my surprise when a band from back home came to town and announced they were playing a show there. What I found was a phenomenal space for music and art in general. Surprisingly decent acoustics, awesome DIY setup, cheap beer, relaxed door policy (feel free to pop in and out, check out the bowl outside if the weather's nice), cool staff happy to put up with my broken German...the whole place just had a great vibe. The fact they wanted to knock this place down is crazy. This place is nuts.

The Rote Flora is, in my opinion, a must-see when you come to Hamburg. Even though it's in the…read moreSchanze area, it seems to be tied with the Kiez as half of the cultural heart of St. Pauli. The place is basically the centre for left-wing politics and also anarchists. It's where the yearly riot happens, with the nearby Haspa bank getting continually destroyed. It used to be a theatre, but now you'll find practice areas for bands, a café-type-thing and a dirty dirty electro club. I still haven't been for one of the club nights, but I really want to. It's pretty high on my list of things to do in Hamburg

Very bizarre place, this is. We went to see Ladytron here last night (see separate review) and were…read moreonly allowed into the concert hall a full 40 minutes after doors open. Sound was horrible throughout the night and the 40 minute intermission between warm-up band and main act was almost unbearable (I don't have anything against Johnny Cash, but 40 minutes of him straight through during the wait for an electro concert?). I'm not sure I'd want to come back here to see a concert. I was disappointed by the setup and the way the evening was logistically handled.

This is a biased review because this is where I died and went to heaven. I have returned to the…read moreland of the living for my family (and to write this review) but I want it noted that this is the scene of my first departure from this Earth. Honestly, I don't know if I'm used to everything being so expensive in San Francisco but I found this place to be incredibly inexpensive. I saw a concert and had a drink for less than €25. My import beer was €4. That is just insanely cheap. How are they making money? I nursed my one beer for fear of having to go to the bathroom and missing out on ANYTHING. I was upstairs in the beautiful but small concert area and wasn't about to lose my spot near the stage. And then the concert started and then I died. Surrounded by a bunch of sort-of-likeminded fans, it was a great place to feel like, "OMG. Can anyone actually survive from being this happy?!" By the nights end, some lovely gal finally convinced me to put my coat back on before going outside and probably actually freezing to death. Could I really freeze to death, though? When one is so overly blissed out from chatting with Matthew Mole, the best singer in the whole entire world, who is super entirely nice, and omg, so sweet, and wonderful, and amazing, and is so worth everything it took to get here... oh, my heart. How the Prinzebar was able to contain all of this is beyond me. The guy at the coat check counter was also super lovely. Great intimate venue, insanely cheap prices, and filled with tons of really amazing feelings. Swoon!

Fabrik is a brilliant concert venue. The roof is so high that it feels like a cathedral, but…read moreactually I think it used to be a factory of some kind. There are (at least) three levels, but when I was there they had only opened up one and a half. Even so there was loads of space. I can't believe that it took me a year to finally get along to Fabrik - I'll definitely be back - I'd like to go for one of their club nights

Was there yesterday (second time) to see Black Seeds from NZ. Great gig and the choice of the venue…read morewas perfect: 1) it's relatively small (it was about 500 people yesterday and it was full) so the band can interact with public and pass on the energy. When you're close to the stage - you feel it! 2) very informal, relaxed atmosphere. Drinks are sold at the bar, also there is a snack bar in the corner. 3) there are also places to sit and inner balcony/gallery upstares - need to try it next time! Verdict: great music venue, will go again. Darjeeling

SUPER DIVEY. AND I LOVE IT…read more Bouncers at the door, a dark hallway, upstairs, downstairs, and a tiny outdoor patio for beer and entertainment. Standing room only in a crowded venue might turn you off, but being outdoors while drinking beer and listening to live music offsets any discomfort one might suffer. Pins reminiscent of the 80s with the bar name and logo are given instead of coin to ensure the return of plastic beer cups. Cheesy? Not at all. This place has a little retro feel to it.

This was a super vibey venue! The people who worked here were very nice.read more

I am from Chicago, IL in the US and I went on vacation to Hamburg, Germany…read more I went out with my friend to have a couple drinks and we saw this place. We went up to the bouncer to ask him what time this place closed and he was very unfriendly, unwelcoming, and acted like he was discriminative. The bouncer said something in German and literally pushed me to the side. I didn't say anything to offend him so I was surprised why he even pushed me - let alone touch me! I felt disrespected and belittled and so I called the police. The police officer that came was a woman who surprisingly did not take the time to ask me why I called them. She immediately spoke with the staff of this night club and they spoke in German. She then came towards me to grab my cell phone to delete any pictures which I took of the bouncer who disrespected me by pushing me. She then sought the help of the bouncer to come and grab me to help handcuff me. Why did she hand cuff me when I called the police?! I kept telling her I'm the one that called the police for help and she disregarded me and had a smirk on her face. She told me the bouncer speaks German and that he told her that I was threatening them that I would kill them. Who would believe that someone who goes on vacation and just wants to check out this place would be accused of threatening to kill them?! How ridiculous is that? I told her take me to the police station because I don't trust you and I need to talk to someone else. When we got to the police station, she said to me everything is okay we won't arrest you but you have to pay me 120 Euros. I told her I'm not paying anything because I didn't do anything wrong! I told her I need to call my US embassy and after speaking to the US embassy they let me go. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE WHO VISITS HAMBURG, GERMANY! WHAT A GARBAGE PLACE! I have specific photos of those who treated me unfairly that work in this place in case anyone wants to know who these disrespectful people are! I really didn't want to select any stars but Yelp would not let me post this review without choosing even 1 star!!!

Grosse Freiheit 36 isn't my favourite concert venue in Hamburg, or even my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even…read more5th choice, but it still gets 5 stars! Grosse Freiheit 36 is where the mid-level to big bands often play in Hamburg. I was last here a few weeks ago to see Bon Iver, who were originally meant to be playing Knust (but I guess it sold out), they were then moved to Uebel & Garfarlich, and then finally to Grosse Freiheit 36 - this should give you an idea of the pecking order of some of the venues in Hamburg :) The place is pretty huge and on two levels - almost certainly an old theatre. There are bars everywhere, and while the alcohol choice isn't great, the prices are not so terrible (still expensive compared to a normal bar though). My only slight annoyance is that the toilets are annoyingly located just to one side of the stage, which if you're at the other side can mean quite a lot of pushing and "sorry" to get to.

I saw three pop-punk/hardcore bands here and I really liked the venue. Anywhere in the main floor…read morewill give you a good view of the stage, and there's some space at the back for merch and sitting/hanging out. Cloakroom is 1€ per item, Astras are just 2€ a pop (2,50€ inc. deposit), bar staff are very friendly (and speak some English if you get stuck) and, amazingly, the toilets are actually very nice. A personal highlight for me was the fantastic view onto the harbour. It all added up to create a fantastic gig space. One thing I'd said, although it might not be the venue's fault, is the band mix wasn't perfect. In particular, the guitars needed to be a bit louder. Only really an issue for audiophiles though. Would definitely come back here, no questions.

one of the oldest punk rock clubs, if not the oldest- in Hamburg. Near the harbor, it is less than…read moreten minutes away from the Reeperbahn. it's a dingy bar, cheap drinks, great music on any given night. Sound can get a little rough, the floor a little sticky, and the room very hot when the club is backed. the bar is disconnected from the music side. as far as I Can tell, an all ages venue. english is commonly spoken in the entire area, and most of the staff speak it fluently. I have been to the club numerous times and always have a great time.

The Markthalle is a bit of a Hamburg metal mecca. If a metal band has been to Hamburg, they've…read morealmost certainly played the Markthalle. It's a mid-sized venue, which (I assume) holds a few thousand people. There's no seating, thankfully, but around the stage the standing area is tiered by quite high steps, meaning that even the smallest person will have a good chance of beign able to see the stage. Tip: The beer is reasonably priced (for a concert venue) at EUR3, but you can easily bring that price down by picking up a few cups which all have a EUR1 deposit, which metallers don't seem to care about so much. Without trying to find any cups, or even moving from my spot, I brought the beer price down to EUR2 per beer :)

Great gig venue just near the Hauptbahnhof in the centre of Hamburg. It's usually metal-focused, so…read morereading the posters with the names of all the upcoming acts is amusing to say the least. If Skelton Warfare or diediedie are your cup of team (I just made those names up), then here's your place. We were here to see the Black Rebel Motorcycle club, and even if you are really short, you can still see them, because it's all tiered standing down to the stage. Great sound quality, good service at the bar, and it's a free sauna too!

Super unhöfliche Türsteher. Dir Barkeeper brauche gefühlt Stunden um einen Gast zu bedienen, und…read moreflirten lieber als Gäste zu bedienen Weil sie jemand Baby nennt. 10€ für ein Sekt zu verlangen und auf anfrage nicht zurück zu mehmen und ihn obwohl man ihn dann doch nicht will, ihn nicht mal in der Hand hatte ist einfach eine Frechheit.

I saw a post-hardcore band here and while I enjoyed the show, I found Docks had some very strange…read moreand frustrating organisation and design issues which haven't left me with a great impression. My main complaint is the cloakroom/coat check, which was an absolute nightmare and definitely the worst I've ever encountered. As soon as I had my ticket checked and went through the main door, bang, I was already in the cloakroom queue. And not only was this queue soul-destroyingly slow, it snaked around the whole venue, and that's not an exaggeration. It turned left past the bar, the merch table, another bar, the toilets, then it turned right up the stairs, went across the entire upper tier (going past another bar, naturally) and finally turned right down half a flight of stairs. When I got there, it was two guys in a 1 metre squared hole in the wall. For a 1,000+ capacity venue, that's absolutely ludicrous. By this time, I'd been queuing for half an hour and had missed the entire support slot, even though I was in the queue when doors opened. Another peculiarity was the standing area. Naturally it was riddled with mosh pits, which was fine for the most part. However, there's some funny tiered standing areas at the sides which are incredibly hard to see in the dark, resulting in a fair amount of tripping as the crowd churned. Luckily, everyone was quick to help each other up, so it wasn't a massive issue. Just something to watch out for. I'm not sure I'd come back here unless I was really keen on the band. And if I did, I definitely wouldn't bring a coat.