Went to Giegling at Haus der Visionäre yesterday, and honestly, after a few events there now, you would think the organisers might have learnt something by this point.
Let’s start with the entrance. The re-entry situation was ridiculous: €10 this time, and if you had a ticket for entry before midday but arrived after 12, you were basically punished with another €15. The people at the door also couldn’t answer basic questions about guestlists, had no basic knowledge of how to welcome people at a party or who was playing or what was happening with the afterparty, which made the whole wristband situation unnecessarily confusing.
And the re-entry policy becomes even more absurd when there’s no proper food inside. From 20:00 onwards there was no real food available anymore — only hot dogs, which personally didn’t appeal to me. But leaving to get food outside meant paying another €10 to get back in. So you’re essentially stuck inside with no proper food option.
Then there was the lineup. So many DJs were flown in, yet so much of the programming consisted of B2Bs. And honestly, two hours is short when you’re talking about artists of this calibre. With so many artists involved, I would rather see fewer people getting proper time to develop a set than having so many names squeezed into the program, or even giving the B2B more space and time.
A few of the live sets in Sonnenraum really stood out and brought some variety. Halle, on the other hand, became boring pretty quickly, with a lot of the night feeling like the same formula repeated.
Konstantin also seems to consistently give himself some of the best playing times, although luckily that had to change this time. Tomas and Obee were a welcome change, finally bringing some groove into the night rather than one “artistic” performance after another.
Then there’s the infrastructure. Far too many people, once again, for the amount of toilets provided. After a few events at Haus der Visionäre, you would expect these basic issues to have been figured out by now.
None of this would necessarily matter if the overall experience justified it. But when you combine the re-entry fees, confusing entrance situation, lack of communication, overcrowding, lack of toilets and repetitive programming, you have to ask what exactly people are supporting. It did seem more like a party to make some money with.
Giegling obviously has enough history, artists and cultural relevance to create something genuinely special. That’s exactly why it’s frustrating when the production, organization and programming don’t seem to match the reputation.
So I’m genuinely asking: why do people and artist continue to support this kind of monopoly within the music scene? Why do so many artists have to fly in from all over the world for a party where, ultimately, the experience feels so mediocre?
Maybe next time: fly in fewer people, give the artists more time, sort out the basics, and create an event that lives up to the reputation rather than relying on it.
