For this week's City Scenes we’re staying right here, for the letter L we’ll be looking around us at the wonderful music scene that we have right here in Luxembourg.
Where are the best spots to watch local music?
The Philharmonie is a magnificent building in Kirchberg that more often not plays host to classical music, avant garde and jazz music, hosting orchestras, ballet, and opera and a good place to find the best of Luxembourgish music in those genres.
The Rotondes is located in Bonnevoie behind the trains station and this is the place to be if you fancy catching the best in Indie, rock and electronic music. In the coming weeks and months some great local acts that you can catch playing there include electronic artist Andrea Mancini, Post rock band the cookie jar complot, Luxembourgish rapper Maale Gars and electronic pop producer napoleon gold.
De Gudde Wellen is a 120 capacity club and concert space where any given night of the week you can catch the best in up and coming indie and rock bands and dance the night away to the best local Djs the city has to offer every weekend. Some upcoming local gigs at the venue include the bobby bieles band, creatures on mars and raftside and if you’re into clubbing I’d recommend trying to get to the next Travel on the Beat party where you can catch local DJs Paulinska and Gustavo Morales spinning the house disco and techno.
Other local venues where you might catch local acts often supporting big names, include Den Atelier, one of Luxembourg’s main big room venues with a capacity of 1200 people, the Rockhal in Esch which can hold up to 6500 people and Kulturfabrik in Esch and Opderschmelz in Dudelange.
Who is releasing Luxembourgish Music?
A music scene isn’t just about the bands that make music. Without labels to push the music and support artists you can’t encourage a local industry. De Läbbel has been releasing Luxembourgish Hip Hop for over a decade. For cutting edge pop music from luxembourg you need look no further than Beast Records who have put out music by the likes of Chaild and Edsun, two extremely talented pop singers that are both pushing the boundaries for luxembourgish pop music.
Bonus Noise is a label that has been running since 2009 out of a out of a recording studio run by Edwin Van Veen, they’ve released music by artists like Charlotte Bridge, In The Atlas, Timelord and Lumi and most recently they released a great compilation of electronic music called make synths not war. If you are an artist looking to record in a professional studio with a friendly atmosphere, then Bonus Noise Studios would be a great place to look.
What festivals should I check out?
Throughout the whole month of August, the Rotondes hosts nightly concerts, showcasing the best of Luxembourgs’s local music scene and exciting up and coming touring acts at the Congés Annulé festival.
Another good Summer one is the Siren Call festival programmed by Den Atelier and taking place in the breathtaking setting of the Abbey Neumunster in The Grund. Here you’ll find Huge headliners like Phoenix, The Hives, Metronomy playing next to local acts like Claire Parsons, Chaild and C’est Karma.
In Esch you have the out of the crowd festival which consistently books brilliant Indie and alternative rock line ups, for fans of Exerimental and Electronic music we would recommend checking out the upcoming Multiplica festival that is happening at the end of February at Rotondes
And a recent addition to the festival landscape here in Luxembourg is the Usina festival that took place for the first time last year as part of the Esch 2022 European Capital City of Culture celebrations. This festival brings together the booking teams of all of Luxembourgs main music venues to programme a festival together. Last Year saw the likes of Kings of Leon and Caribou playing next to local artists like Charlotte Bridge and Francis of Delirium.