What began as a spontaneous idea among four friends in 1995 has grown into one of Luxembourg's most cherished live music venues – den Atelier, where artists and audiences alike revel in rare closeness.
On an average show day, Luxembourg's iconic concert venue – den Atelier – looks deceptively quiet.
"It's still being cleaned after last night's sold-out show", explains Jette Kaiser, a long-time staffer and marketing/communications manager, as she guides our colleagues from RTL Télé through the empty hall. "It looks smaller empty. When it's full, you need much more time to get from one side to the other", she says.
"The balcony permits artists to sometimes jump into the public for stage diving. Wherever you're standing, you're always incredibly close to the stage – it creates intimacy you can't find everywhere else", she adds.
The special stage, with its angled trapezium shape, uniquely intimate layout, and decades-long devotion to live music, is truly something rare in Europe.
1995: The beginning of the Atelier
The name of the venue comes from Atelier Mécanique, the former garage that once occupied the site. Founded in 1995 by four friends frustrated with always having to travel abroad for gigs in Brussels or Paris, the venue grew from a garage-turned-concert-hall into a beloved institution.
Laurent Loschetter explains that they all had jobs, but when they saw the 'hall', they knew they had to act.
"We had no idea how it would work, we just said 'let's do it'", he recalls. "We were looking for a big enough room to have concerts in the city."
They eventually rebuilt the entire hall and opened up – starting as a club/disco, which they soon realised they didn't like that much. Live music was where their passion lay.
From makeshift renovations and late-night disco experiments, they quickly turned to live music. Some people from the early days are still part of today's crew, nearly 30 years later.
Loschetter praises the team spirit, reminiscing about old concerts. "Some you like yourself, some are really impressive – you have small concerts that you liked, and then you had Rammstein."
Loschetter went on to describe the Rammstein performance as an eye-opener, spotlighting areas that still needed improvement.
Enter Rockhal
For 10 years, they were alone in their own room – but then Rockhal opened its doors. "We helped, since we were quite happy to finally have a place where 6,000 people could go listen to a concert ... instead of just 1,000 at Atelier", Loschetter recalls.
After that, they wanted to create a festival – which is when Rock-A-Field in Roeser came to life, followed by Siren's Call in the capital. Then came the idea to go even bigger in the summer, with a capacity of 16,000 – leading to LuxExpo Open Air.
"Atelier is our home base, our offices – but we're going out quite a lot for concerts as well", says Loschetter
On the first and second floor is the backstage area, which is rather big compared to the room downstairs and other venues, explains Kaiser. "A big part of an artist's life is waiting: in the tour bus, on planes, etc. They're always together in small spaces, so this is a welcome change."
Artists always travel with a rider – a list of requests ranging from accommodation to beverages and the like. According to Kaiser, the team then needs to go out and buy things before the artists arrive.
"Our hospitality team tries to fulfil as many of the requests as possible."
Sex, yoga, and rock 'n' roll
Fabienne Dimmer, event manager, takes care of everything artist-related – making sure everything is ready for when they arrive. She is in direct email contact with them weeks before. Everything that isn't production, essentially.
According to her, German bands used to love Haribo sweets back in the day – but the health trend is catching on here too: "Artists are asking for light beer, since it has less sugar and fewer calories. They want protein bars. They do yoga in the backstage area, rolling out their mats."
Since 2008, a lot has changed in the music world. Artists used to publish an album and then work around that — marketing, PR, tour – explains Michel Welter, managing partner of the Atelier. "The goal of the tour was to sell the album." That model doesn’t really work anymore. These days, the main source of income is the tour itself.
"Nowadays, you need to tour", explains Dimmer. "You don't sell CDs or vinyl anymore. This is how you make money – and through merch. If you look at their schedule, you need to have a healthy lifestyle, considering they're here one day and somewhere completely else the next."
The sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll stereotype – while still around – is not quite what people may expect from rock stars. Rather, it has become "sex, yoga, and rock 'n' roll", as someone in the background of the conversation joked.
Atelier is actually a group of two companies – one with two employees, one with nine, explains Welter. So only eleven in total – which makes it quite impressive that they sell 200,000 tickets a year.
For their 30-year anniversary, Atelier went all out – with a Luxair plane showing off their logo: "We're running into the garden to take a look when we know it's flying above us."
To properly mark their 30th anniversary, a big birthday celebration is planned for October.
Watch the first part of the video report in Luxembourgish:
A typical show day with the Eagles of Death Metal
The day our colleagues visited the Atelier happened to be a show day – and they got a glimpse behind the scenes as the mighty Eagles of Death Metal were getting ready to perform that night.
Loschetter explains that they actually know the band quite well. "They recognise us, we recognise them."
The group has visited Luxembourg often, and lead singer Jesse Hughes' mum even came along on tour once, baking cookies for everyone. Jesse himself says he truly loves some of the people in Luxembourg, calling it one of the most beautiful places – because some of his dearest friends are from here.
Dimmer has known Jesse and the Eagles of Death Metal for over 20 years. "They first came to Luxembourg as a support act for Queens of the Stone Age." She and Jesse still communicate via Instagram, and their sons used to play football together.
Their bond deepened after the 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan in Paris, when a group of attackers carried out a mass shooting and took hostages during an Eagles of Death Metal concert attended by 1,500 people. A stand-off with police followed.
"They needed years before they could come back to a stage", says Loschetter. "We're happy they're back."
Jesse tells our colleagues that his very first show in Europe was actually in Luxembourg – at den Atelier. "I've been coming to this club and playing in this club for over 20 years."
His message for the Atelier's 30th birthday? "Some of the horniest adventures I ever had were within the walls of this club", he laughs. "So please stay horny – so the next time I return, I can have further horny adventures."
Watch the second part of the Atelier series here for more bits and bops from what a typical show day looks like for a band like the Eagles of Death Metal (their interviews are in English and definitely worth checking out!).
