After Dark: Chaya Fuera

There has been something missing in Vienna’s live music scene. When his new club Chaya Fuera opened on 23 Mar., Stephan Ebner told the press "I like going out all over the world, but I was never really convinced by Vienna." In the middle of Spittelberg on the unpresuming Kandlgasse, this new club promises to give Vienna the venue it’s been waiting for. Ebner has turned a former print shop into a giant club space that still feels like a living room (well, except on the dance floor).

This could be good!

The life outside

The name is Hebrew and Spanish and literally means "the life outside," which Ebner says is a metaphor for breaking norms and celebrating life. The concept includes an impressive list of band names and a revered sound system, which concentrates the action on the dancefloor while allowing for civilised conversation by the bars. While it is too soon to judge, the club has already been successful in getting quality acts. On opening weekend, they hosted the world-famous U.K. indie rock band The Heavy, and the Austrian jazz-soul greats Count Basic, to name just two.

The owners had begun creating hype before the opening: They invited the German band Silbermond to perform a private concert two weeks before they opened. The sound system seems to have met expectations, but only time will tell if the location will continue to attract the wide range of artists they are hoping for.

Upstairs from the club he runs an impressive software company called Braintribe, which may be one reason Ebner sees the club as an "analogue social media platform for people made of flesh and blood." He aims to create a club in which musically-interested people can communicate, perhaps through the music, but also over drinks or a bite to eat at the bar.

"There's really nothing inbetween posh and grungy in Vienna," Ebner told The Vienna Review. "Nothing caters to the middle, and the middle is most of Vienna’s scene,"

David Schober and Oliver Horvath head Chaya Fuera’s snack-kitchen, serving up burgers, salads and sandwiches throughout opening hours, which at the moment are only when the club has booked an act. Schober thinks one of the main draws is the international acts, and staying real while still catering to Vienna’s internationals.

What to expect

Chaya Fuera plans to fill the weekday slots with cabaret evenings and other kinds of entertainment, but will continue to reserve the weekends for high-quality international and local live music acts within the genres Wienerlied, Electro, Jazz, Soul, and Rock. From September on, they plan regular weekend events, where there will be a fixed entrance fee. But at the moment the price depends on that evening’s act.

In May, the club has a great line-up in store: The Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, the local indie-rock hero Elija, the U.K. superstar Estelle, and the San Francisco-based indie-pop band Still Flyin’.

This club wants to do nothing less than completely "revolutionise" the club scene in the Austian capital. It’s hard to know how the Viennese palate will react to the variety of cultural flavours, but it may be just the ticket.

 

Chaya Fuera

Check website for opening hours

7., Kandlgasse 21

Reservations: tables@chayafuera.com

www.chayafuera.com