Music & clubs

Edge of ’17

Rejoice, 2016 is almost over! Here are your options for taking shelter from the street carnage. Exberliner presents you with its guide of where to go for Silverster. Have a happy New Year!

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Photo by Viktor Strasse

Rejoice, 2016 is almost over! Here are your options for taking shelter from the street carnage. 

This year, you’ll have to go the extra mile to make that magical night, on which all of 2016’s dreadful antics will be washed off in a sticky shower of cheap Späti booze, extra special. Guess what: this year’s New Year’s Eve falls on a mediocre Saturday. Even worse, New Year’s Day falls on a bloody Sunday, which means there’s very little time between the day you’ll promise yourself to change your life forever and become a better person and that first epiphanic workday of the new year when you realise there’s no chance it’s going to happen anytime soon. So, buckle up and turn those few hours of self-inventive denial into sheer bliss. Here are some of this year’s choices: 

You’re brave enough to spend New Year’s around Schlesi and Warschauer Brücke? Suicide Circus throws its annual Suicide New Year shindig with a variety of household names on the bill, from Samuel L. Session to Mike Wall. Next door, it’s probably going to get crowded with Dominik Eulberg, Dirty Doering and more getting behind the DJ booth at Astra Kulturhaus’ pun-heavy Happy New Yeah party. 

You made it across Warschauer Brücke and Oberbaumbrücke alive? Then don’t hesitate to check out Lido, where the notorious Fleshdance DJs and others will ignore the last two decades of music history and go straight for that 1980s and 1990s trash you love so dearly after three Mexikaner.

Fifteen floors, 30 DJs, rooftop fireworks… what more could you wish for?

Close by, Chalet rings in the new year a little more seriously with Borrowed Identity, Die Vögel, Sofia Kourtesis and more. Make sure to drop by next door, though. New Year’s Eve is your last chance to get rowdy at Birgit & Bier for a while. After a two-day farewell party with plenty of residents, the techno biergarten will close up shop for the winter months. 

A bit further west along the Spree, DJ Ipek will get behind the decks at Radialsystem V, while the Karrera Club boys’ new stronghold Bohnengold invites you to a free-of-charge night of disco, soul, indie and plenty of booze. With Recycle and Appetite, Gretchen throws some bass into the mix, while Ritter Butzke continues its Hippie New Year tradition with the usual suspects Andhim, Wankelmut and more. 

If Halloween went by too quickly for you, go to Mitte and check out Grüner Salon’s horror fairytale-themed cosplay party with a historic dancing class and other shenanigans of the goth variety. 

Up north, Bassy caters to jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll lovers as usual with Jakkle taking the stage before midnight. You want it a little bigger? Then Silvester at the Kulturbrauerei is right up your alley. Fifteen floors, 30 DJs, rooftop fireworks… what more could you wish for? 

If your answer to that is “more Depeche Mode”, hit the Great Depeche Mode party at the former GI stronghold Silverwings before joining the crowd on the DM-Partyschiff in Schöneweide. On top of your favourite band’s hits and other 1980s classics, cheese soup and potato salad are included in the admission fee here. Must be Dave Gahan’s favourite dishes. 

For better food and a wee bit of retro charm, throwback Clärchens Ballhaus is always a safe option, serving its annual three-course meal and plenty of ballroom dancing. 

Enjoy, see you in 2017 and let John Waters’ words be a mantra to us all: “Help me to be brave on this night of glamour!”