Cologne corner shops turned into impromptu concert venues

By Daniel Grochow Dec 1, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Cologne - An amateur musician living in the western German city of Cologne has been the inspiration for an unusual project where small shops are transformed into impromptu concert venues.

Who is going to appear on stage each evening is always a mystery while the viewing public is mostly made up of people who happen to stumble across the event by accident.

On this particular evening, Dromo Iluvu and his fellow musicians have congregated at a newspaper kiosk in Cologne's Ehrenfeld district carrying a variety of instruments, including guitars, saxophones and harmonicas.

The members of the audience sit on upturned beer crates as the man working in the kiosk continues to go about his business. Outside on the pavement, passers-by stop to observe the curious goings on inside the small shop. 'The stage is now open. Whoever wants to play music, read or do something they like is free to do so,' says Iluvu.

The stage actually consists of a section of floorspace that Iluvu and his friends cleared around half an hour earlier. 'Everything lives from this level of spontaneity,' he explains. 'Anybody who wants to can perform. I've no idea what will happen today.'

As it turns out, the whole concept developed as spontaneously as this evening's concert. 'It all began around a year and a half ago when I was once again in my favourite shop and the owner asked me if I was interested in playing some music there,' remembers Iluvu.

It went down very well with the customers and the idea of free concerts was born. Since then, around 50 different artists, including actors and poets, have performed in various shops across Cologne.

'It remains a mystery what will happen next in the evening,' says Silke Brandt as she stands in front of the stage. The atmosphere in the shop takes a melancholic turn as as a musician sitting on a beer crate starts playing his saxophone.

The venue isn't exactly comfortable but this disadvantage has to be weighed up against the fact that entrance is free and drinks and snacks can be bought at low prices on site. Customers continue to make their way through the group to the shop counter while the concert goes on. 'Oh, they're playing music here,' says one old man to his wife on entering the shop. After a couple of minutes, the couple are still there and seem to have completely forgotten why they came into the shop in the first place.

Student Philipp Suess loves the relaxed atmosphere and regularly plays guitar at the impromptu kiosk concerts. 'On the one hand you might have a doctor who only came in to the shop to buy a packet of crisps while there might also be a group of young people on their way out for the evening dropping in for some beer,' he says. 'Music brings these people together in the most unusual of places.'

Iluvu, who gives short notice about where the concerts will take place on the internet, is annoyed that cultural events normally cost so much money. 'Although the number of cultural events going on in cities keeps increasing all the time, this in no way means that everyone is in a position to appreciate it. The objective is to bring music to the people,' he says. 'It looks like we certainly achieved this today.'