Berlin’s concert week of Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, October 18 begins with its strongest single proposition on Thursday: Acid Arab DJ-Set at Gretchen, joined by live appearances from Cem Yıldız, Sofiane Saidi and Benboo. Listed as the first night of Gretchen’s 15 Years Gretchen: La Hafla Weekender, it has the shape of a club night while carrying the personnel and connective tissue of a concert. Doors and show time are both 19:30, setting an early, concentrated frame for a bill whose musical languages are already intertwined on record and onstage.[1][2][4]

That overlap is the reason to make the trip. Acid Arab’s 2023 album Trois pairs the collective with Sofiane Saidi on “Leila” and Cem Yıldız on “Döne Döne”; the release credits identify Yıldız’s saz on the latter. The Gretchen bill gathers those collaborators in the room, placing Acid Arab’s selectors and electronics beside two artists whose live practices supply distinctive vocal and instrumental grain. This is a specific live configuration, built around relationships listeners can trace through the music itself.[1][2]

A DJ set with a live perimeter

Acid Arab’s work is rooted in electronic dance music yet shaped by collaborations across North Africa, Syria and Turkey. Trois presents eight guest vocalists and maps a vocabulary that includes Algerian gasba, Anatolian trance, synthetic dabkeh and bionic raï. Radio France has similarly described the collective through the friction of Arabic musical forms and machine-driven club sound. At Gretchen, that framework becomes immediate: Acid Arab take the DJ-set role, while Yıldız, Saidi and Benboo are each billed live.[1][2][4]

Cem Yıldız gives the evening one clear musical focal point. Gretchen situates his work between Anatolian tradition and electronic sound, highlighting his bağlama and an improvisation-led performance approach that moves across concert, ritual and dancefloor. His contribution to “Döne Döne” is concrete evidence of his place within Acid Arab’s recent catalogue, confirming a central guest role in this programme. Expect the night’s instrumental vocabulary to remain audible within its club pacing, with the long-necked lute acting as a line of contact between acoustic attack and programmed rhythm.[1][2]

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Sofiane Saidi brings the raï connection into focus

Sofiane Saidi’s presence deepens the bill’s Algerian thread. His own biography describes a practice shaped by raï, groove, tarab and electronic contexts, and identifies his collaboration with Acid Arab and Kenzi Bourras on “El Hafla” from Musiques de France. Gretchen also names that track as emblematic of the bridge between inherited musical forms, present-day experience and club culture. With Saidi billed live on the same night, La Hafla arrives as a living reference point within the anniversary programme and its event title.[1][3]

Benboo completes the Thursday lineup with a Tunisian angle: Gretchen describes the project as singer Bouthaina Nabouli and producer-DJ Benjemy, combining Arabic vocal tradition and twentieth-century repertoire with beats, percussion, lute and electronic machines. That gives the first La Hafla Weekender night a coherent arc across its four names. The value lies in hearing several approaches to the same broad question—how voice, regional repertoire, strings and club electronics share a dancefloor—within one room and one evening.[1]

Plan the Thursday entry

Acid Arab DJ-Set, Cem Yıldız live, Sofiane Saidi live and Benboo live take place at Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19–21 in Kreuzberg, on Thursday, October 15. Gretchen lists doors and show time as 19:30, with advance tickets offered in several price tiers and a limited reduced-price allocation. This guide covers October 15–18, yet Thursday’s opening night is the week’s flagship because the bill joins longstanding collaborators in a focused club-scale setting. Recheck Gretchen’s official event page for ticket availability, entry information and any schedule changes before leaving.[1]

Sources

  1. 15 Years Gretchen: La Hafla Weekender Day 1 — Gretchen
  2. ٣ (Trois) — Acid Arab on Bandcamp
  3. Biographie — Sofiane Saidi
  4. Acid Arab: podcasts et actualités — Radio France