Six nights. Various labels. A proper venue. And an amplifier that goes all the way up to 11. Indie Label Week is where Mozart would hang out if he were alive today.
- Music festival at the Reigen Wien venue
- Typically 2-3 indie bands and acts every night
- Genres range from hip hop and electronic to heavy rock and punk
- 2021 dates: TBA (was Oct 19-24 in 2020)
- See also: Vinyl & Music festival | Waves Vienna
Six strings, one plectrum
Back in the early 19th century, no A&R man sat in the Palais Collalto twiddling his cravat and thought, “This Mozart kid has promise; we should get hold of a demo tape”.
Music has changed. And Vienna with it.
Once in a while, it pays to look beyond the stylish classical concerts and magnificent operas, and dive into the city’s independent music scene. For example, at the Austrian Indie label Week. This took place for the first time in 2019, repeated in 2020, and so looks set to be a regular date on the annual calendar.
The six-day event gives independent Austrian labels a night each to showcase some of the talents in their care. And the rock magazine, Stark!Strom!, usually shares Friday night duties for an evening of music of the heavier kind, followed by an aftershow party.
Labels featured last time out included Rhythm & Poetry, Mai Lei Bel, Silvertree Records, monkey./Blind Rope Records, Mars Music Productions and Problembär Records.
The venue for Indie Label Week is the Reigen, also home to most of the gigs in the Vienna Blues Spring Festival. If you want to combine your visit with something a little older or furrier, then Schönbrunn Palace and Schönbrunn Zoo are close by.
2021 dates and tickets
I don’t have dates yet for the Indie Label Week 2021, though expect them to fire up the amplifiers sometime in October.
Tickets are available direct from the Reigen venue.
How to get to the Reigen
We can thank the forward-thinking city planners of the late 1800s for planting an urban rail line right opposite the Reigen.
Subway: take the U4 line to Hietzing station and it’s about a 30 second walk, depending on how long it takes for the lights to change so you can cross the road
Tram: the 10 and 60 tram lines also stop at Hietzing station
Address: Hadikgasse 62, 1140 Vienna | Website