2008 or 2009… i can’t really remember, sorry. Our band, Seditius, was supposed to play a gig in an anarchist squat in the outskirts of Milan with another local band and an Austrian rock n roll band, straight outta Wien.
The place was just squatted, everything was dirty and only a few rooms of that old dismissed Alfa Romeo huge car dealer was available.
All the 3 bands played in this 40 square meters room, and it was a hell of a party!
That’s how we met Reverend Backflash and how we established some of the best friendships in our life.
Best Indiependent Guide to Wien (Austria)
A few months later we were driving up north to the Austrian capital, to play a gig together with our Viennese friends and party like crazy.
All through the years, these guys have remained the undisputed kings of the Rock n Roll scene in Vienna, Austria so… as you can guess… there was no better person than Mr Stevo Cannonball for this Underground Guide to Vienna.
P.S.: if you have in mind a band like the one described above, and you recall a 2,5 meter tall as-good-as-gold roadie… well that’s Palme, Reverend Backflash legendary roadie!
Make a short intro about WIEN (Vienna). You can talk about his history (music history, criminal history, and so on…) his streets, his food, his weather… really, what the fuck you want
Austria and also Vienna is famous for its classical music history.
However, in the 70ies, after seeing what the 60ies did to America, artists in Vienna started their own form of protest, in music, performings and paintings.
Not much of the musical side has spread over the boarders apart from Falco and several one-trick-pony-acts.
In The 2010ers, some bands/artists from Austria became bigger and know at least (but not only) in german-speaking countries, so there’s definitely a feeling of hope in the modern music scene now.
Nice place to hangout I guess, check out the Donauinsel (Danube-island), Museumsquartier, Prater (amusement park) and the locations mentioned below!
Tell us about the 3 best venues in VIENNA. Describe what you think it’s important for a musician. You can talk about everything, not just how many monitors are there.
a) The ARENA is a complex of several stages/halls built into an old meat-factory.
- It is managed by a democratic club
- Sizes range from about 80 to 4500 (80 / 150 / 300 / 1500 / 4500) people and it does a lot for the Rock/Metal/Punk/Stoner-Scene
- It also has a few Hip-Hop/Pop/Electronic music events
- Punk-Rock as fuck, but they have accommodations inside and usually treat the bands good
b) There are a lot of smaller clubs in the city located near the „Gürtel“ (belt) from Westbahnhof to AKH-Michelbeuern, that are important for smaller touring acts, having sizes from 50-250 people
As examples, I want to mention:
- the Chelsea B72
- and several others.
Good to play, good to the afterparty!
c) The Viper Room located in the 3rd district, that does a lot of metal- and rock-shows in a big cellar (around 300 people). Very true rock-place.
Tell us about the 3 best bands from your town. Why are they good? Why does the world need to know them?
There are a lot of good bands from Austria, but since I’m a R’n’R/Punk guy I want to mention those that do best in that style:
Igel vs. Shark – they are a fucking groovy Hard-Rock band with great songs and performance!
Best for drinking beer with your buddies.
Boogie Hammer – hammering out power-pop-punk-rocknroll songs with a distinctive raspy voice and killer hooks.
Recommended for everybody who likes Status Quo on speed!
Turbobier – a Punk-Rock band with catchy songs in german about beer and refusing to work, led by a man who is great in everything he puts his hands on, whether it’s playing guitar, singing, making his own beer brand or running for mayor in Vienna!
if you like to drink while improving your german!
Pick up one guy or one girl who’s doing a great job for the scene there. Tell us why he/she is great. Some stories about him or what he’s doing…
For the music scene in Vienna, bookers who do their job properly and with heart are very important.
Just as an example, I want to mention Mike Haeussler (Mike Ramone), who is running Musicjunky Bookings for small touring bands with all his time and energy – he’s got the real spirit.
I see him 3-4 times working and taking pictures at shows he’s organising, not giving a shit about money.
Tell us about 2 or 3 cheap restaurants where bands on tour can eat some local meals for cheap… hey don’t forget the vegans if you can, some of us are good guys anyway 😀
Oh, I’m bad at this but I try:
- Hawidere – they have lots of different beers and self-made burgers in some kind of pita bread. I like it!
- Pizza Mari – that’s the tone of the go-to pizza places everybody’s talking about. Never been there though.
- Saray Kebap&Pizza – there are a lot of Kebap places in Vienna, some are good but most are rather bad. This one was recommended by friends and should be a good one.
Is there any record store worth a visit? Some cool places where a record maniac can find something for his taste?
Definitely check out:
- Recordbag (very well sorted, lots of Indie/Rock/Punk) near the Mariahilferstrasse
- Rave Up Records and
- Totem Records (this especially for metal!).
I’d also recommend going to „Klangfarbe“, a really big music-shop where one can test/buy lots of musical instruments and get everything that you forgot in your rehearsal room.
Close to the motorway, so good to reach when arriving/leaving Vienna.