The essential trip of Berlin’s Thursday–Sunday run, October 29 through November 1, comes on Halloween Saturday: Mark Guiliana brings Beat Music to Gretchen on October 31. It is an unusually well-timed appearance. Gretchen is marking 15 years with a full October programme, while Guiliana has just issued BEAT MUSIC 2.0, the latest chapter of a project built around drums, electronics and composition. The room has presented him under the paired tags of jazz and electronica, which gets straight to the appeal here: this is a concert where pulse is the main event, treated as melody, structure, texture and physical force. Kota No Uta opens the evening, adding a local live set before Guiliana’s headline performance.[1][2][3][5]

A project designed around the drum kit’s edges

Guiliana’s work gives a useful answer to the habitual question of where jazz ends and electronic music begins. His official biography traces a practice across acoustic jazz, experimental electronics and rock, with collaborations including David Bowie, St. Vincent, Brad Mehldau and M83. His recent records have widened the frame further: 2024’s MARK used percussion alongside piano, vibraphone, synthesizers, drum programming and spoken word; the 2026 Beat Music release credits Guiliana on drums, percussion, electronics, keyboards, guitar and vocals. Those details matter because they describe an artist who treats the kit as one part of a larger sound-design system. At Gretchen, the headline is Beat Music, a group project whose stated language combines composed forms, open improvisation and acoustic-electronic materials.[1][3][4][5]

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Why this Saturday belongs to Beat Music

BEAT MUSIC 2.0 supplies the immediate context. Guiliana’s site describes it as an eight-piece continuation of the Grammy-nominated 2019 album BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC!, while its credits bring keyboards, electric bass, electronics and vocals into his compositional world. The record is recent enough to make the Berlin date feel connected to a current body of work, yet the longer Beat Music history gives it depth beyond a release-cycle stop. Gretchen’s own programme describes the project as an ongoing engagement with rhythm as compositional material, with structured writing held in active contact with improvisation. That combination is the evening’s real draw: close listening has a place here, though the music is equally built for the shared sensation of a room locking into a beat.[1][3][5]

The practical route to Gretchen

Mark Guiliana and Kota No Uta play Gretchen, Obentrautstraße 19–21, on Saturday, October 31. Doors are listed for 7:30 p.m., with the show at 8:30 p.m.; Gretchen lists the concert as a 16+ event and gives advance-ticket tiers alongside a door price. For a Halloween night where the city’s late programme quickly becomes dense, the early concert hour makes this a useful anchor: arrive for the support slot and let the headline retain its full arc. Check Gretchen’s official event and programme pages again before travelling for ticket availability, entry information and any changeable schedule details.[1][2]

These concerts happened on 31 October 2026

The next dates at these venues: Gretchen

Sources

  1. 15 Years Gretchen: Mark Guiliana – Beat Music — Gretchen
  2. Gretchen programme and visitor information — Gretchen
  3. About Mark Guiliana — Mark Guiliana
  4. Mark Guiliana – MARK — Edition Records
  5. Recordings — Mark Guiliana