KVU has a history as a community that stretches back to 24 June 1987, a date celebrated annually in their summer festival. Typically enough, with the organised chaos that surrounds non-hierarchical venture like this, I’ve not been able to determine how long they’ve had their present form as a well organised, cheap and popular venue. Reputed to be frequented by several well-known artists and musicians, they are very much a music lover’s venue, although I’ve heard they have a good quality range of alcoholic beverages too and serve VOKÜ every Thursday.
Style of music
Mainly punk, but open minded
Atmosphere
KVU’s decor has been described as ‘unique’: the DIY aesthetic of squatted or ex-squat venues has some unifying threads, but the main one is creative diversity! Admission to gigs is €3, with no concessions (unlikely to be a problem at that price). A friendly, welcoming atmosphere, and regular sightings of punks (‘vivid representatives of this species have been repeatedly observed at various events at KVU’ as the website has it) are key characteristics.
How to get a gig there
Contact for booking is by webform in the first instance (on the ‘Kontakt’ page of their website): prospective bands need to submit a demo to the ‘Bandrat’, a committee which is responsible for bookings. If you’re not German I’d advise getting a German speaker to help you compose the email as I got no response back when writing in English for more information.
Their standard gig rates are €50 plus €5 ‘per nose’, which I guess means per person, plus a case of beer. If you’re coming from outside Berlin they will pay €0.14/km travelling expenses. Bands need to bring drums and backline, PA and sound engineering is provided by KVU.
Website: www.kvu-berlin.de
Live Unsigned Listing:
http://www.liveunsigned.com/venue/438-mitte/1834-kirche-von-unten-kvu?page=&s=KVU









