Urban Spree

Urban Spree in Berlin-Friedrichshain is a 250-capacity concert room within a 1,700-square-metre arts compound at RAW-Gelände. Its distinguishing feature is the collision of a gig space, a 400-square-metre urban-art gallery, artist studios and biergarten around an outdoor Artist Wall, 15 metres long and eight metres high. A show here arrives framed by working visual-art spaces, street art and room to linger outdoors before the set.

A railway-yard conversion with a painted calling card

Urban Spree announced its arrival in June 2012 after a year of scouting and planning, taking root within the RAW compound. Pascal Feucher later described the parcel as fenced off and vacant in 2012; its buildings had trained railway drivers and engineers, hosted occasional raves and squatting, and sat empty for about five years. By December 2012, Feucher and Nicolas Defawe were operating Urban Spree, with Defawe handling concert booking.

A vivid early marker came in November 2014, when French street artist Zevs painted the façade hot pink with a neon-yellow hammer-and-sickle motif for the “Polish Urban Art” exhibition. The installation put Urban Spree’s public-facing art practice directly beside its concert activity, a useful snapshot of the venue’s hybrid character: gallery programming, resident makers and live music occupying the same former rail-yard setting.

What the room delivers now

Urban Spree describes its Concert Room as predominantly rock ’n’ roll oriented, while Berlin’s visitor bureau places garage and psych rock alongside cutting-edge electronic music in its live spectrum. Third-party festivals and cultural events also use the site. Gigs take place in a separate concert-room building from the gallery; the adjacent biergarten adds local and German craft beers, street food and Thursday-to-Saturday DJ sets. Expect a compact indoor show space with an expansive, art-covered outdoor prelude.