FLINTA* Music Force Showcase 2026: Packed house, big emotions, and four artists who brought the Schmidtchen down

A queue stretching around the corner. Entry halted. Our FLINTA* Music Force evening at Reeperbahn Festival 2026 made it clear pretty quickly: This was not going to be an ordinary Wednesday evening.

But of course, there was much more. So let’s review this evening together. In all its beauty, in all its importance.

We had big plans for September 16th. Together with Music Change Germany, we wanted to show again in 2026 (we first collaborated in 2025) how diverse FLINTA* artists can sound. We wanted to create a stage for four artists who couldn’t be more musically different. And we wanted even more.

This time, even before the first concert, a space was to open up where it wasn’t about streaming numbers, releases, or the next career step, but primarily about people. About encounters. Exchange. New connections. And that’s exactly where the FLINTA* & Friends Reception came into play, which we were allowed to participate in for the first time this year.

What we didn’t know: how many of you had apparently been waiting for exactly that.

Because shortly after the start of the FLINTA* & Friends Reception, it was clear:

The place was packed. And it stayed that way.

Let’s talk: FLINTA* & Friends Reception

One hour before the first concert, the doors of the Schmidtchen at Spielbudenplatz opened for the FLINTA* & Friends Reception – a format that Music Change Germany co-created with Keychange, MEWEM, the Bundesstiftung LiveKultur, fæmm, music is her passion and the FLINTA* Network. The idea behind it was actually quite simple: Before we celebrate music together, we create a space to connect. No huge conference program. No ten panels in a row. Just encounters.

And this encounter was embraced.

A queue formed in front of the Schmidtchen.

A rather beautiful problem.

And one that simultaneously shows how great the desire for such spaces within the music industry is. Inside, people talked, met new faces, reconnected, and networked.

FLINTA* is not just another word for “women”

That’s precisely why a substantive moment was important to us that evening.

Nebou spoke about the term FLINTA* itself – and about an observation we repeatedly make: where FLINTA* is advertised, in perception and sometimes even in actual representation, it still surprisingly often refers primarily to cis women or “Female Artists”.

Yet FLINTA* stands for more. For women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender people – and thus for diverse identities, perspectives, and experiences.

A term alone does not create diversity. And visibility also means constantly questioning: Who do we actually mean when we talk about visibility? And who might still be missing? An important thought we take away from the Reception.

Then it was 9 PM.

Time to let the stage speak.

Charlotte Colace: Had an international star just flown in?

Charlotte Colace kicked things off.

And we’ll tell it like it was: You might have thought we had just flown in an international star to the Schmidtchen for the evening. There was an artist on stage who didn’t have to fight at all to be heard.

Everyone just did. Everyone. Charlotte Colace captivated the room with her voice, soul, and incredible naturalness. In front of her, a packed Schmidtchen – and yet, at times, that rare feeling arose that you can’t plan at concerts:

Everyone was listening. The crowd hung on her every word. No big fuss needed. No show for the sake of the show. Just a damn good musician and an audience that understood that within minutes.

What an opener.

Mine: Please squeeze in a little more!

If we thought at this point that it couldn’t get any fuller, we had (once again) underestimated the already great momentum of this exceptional artist. Because when Mine took the stage, the Schmidtchen proved us wrong.

By now, the club was definitely threatening to burst at the seams. Outside, entry was still halted; inside, a crowd that wouldn’t voluntarily give up an inch. And then Mine, standing on stage with a friend and musical duet partner ELEO.

There are artists for whom, after a few minutes, you understand why they have been so fascinating for years. Mine is one of them. Of course, there were her songs. Old, new, familiar, beloved.

But because a Mine concert apparently can’t just be a Mine concert, she had something else with her. Her “sweet instruments”.

Anyone who follows Mine on Instagram knows her series about special, curious, and sometimes quite wonderful instruments. At the Schmidtchen, she told their stories, explained what she had brought along – and then, of course, played them. Thus, a festival appearance became a small musical journey of discovery.

Approachable, funny, nerdy, and absurdly good musically.

Unique probably describes it best.

lùisa: And suddenly the 80s are back

Then came lùisa. And with her, the energy in the room completely shifted once again.

If Charlotte had drawn us in and Mine had sent us on a musical journey of discovery, now came movement.

The power of the 80s met cinematic indie-pop, big pop moments met an artist who clearly had no intention of simply standing still at her microphone.

lùisa was a whirlwind. On stage. In the audience. Everywhere.

A pop singer par excellence, who doesn’t just sing her music but tells it with her whole body. And at some point during this performance, this image stuck: It felt like watching a magical witch awaken.

Wild. Powerful. A little ethereal. And yet completely present. A performance that once again showed why we wanted this lineup exactly as it was: No one should sound like the person before them.

Miss Marla: From 244 applications straight to the Schmidtchen

And then one more was missing. An artist whose identity we didn’t even know at the beginning of our planning.

We had advertised the fourth slot of our FLINTA* Music Force Showcase – as a wildcard – together with Music Change Germany. 244 applications later, we listened, discussed, and listened again.

And in the end, there was: Miss Marla.

With her current releases, she combines contemporary trap productions with her own aesthetic, striking vocals, self-assured lyrics, and a healthy dose of East Coast retro attitude. And anyone who thought our wildcard winner would cautiously step onto the stage that evening and have to introduce herself first had underestimated Miss Marla.

The fanbase? Solid. The energy? Equally so.

Miss Marla took the last slot and made it her own. Trap, club sound, hooks, attitude – and in front of her, people who knew exactly why they were there.

For us, that was also a special moment. Because issuing a wildcard is one thing. But then watching the winner stand in a renowned club, the Schmidtchen, at the Reeperbahn Festival and simply crushed it, is something else entirely.

We were happy. Sometimes it’s that simple.

Four Artists – and no box big enough

Charlotte Colace. Mine. lùisa. Miss Marla.

Soul with groove. German pop with depth. Cinematic indie-pop. Rap between trap and East Coast influences.

Four artists who, on paper, might not make the most obvious joint lineup. And that’s precisely why they form one. Because FLINTA* is not a genre. There is no FLINTA* sound.

We wanted to show how diverse music, art, personality, and perspectives can be.

That evening, you could hear it. And see it too.

We won’t forget that queue anytime soon

Eventually, this evening also came to an end.

After a full reception. After an important conversation about the term under which we had gathered. After four concerts. After old and new songs, “sweet instruments”, 80s power, trap beats, encounters, conversations, and many people inside and outside the Schmidtchen.

What remains?

Of course, the performances. Of course, all the people who made this evening possible.

But perhaps also this one image:

A queue in front of the Schmidtchen, stretching around the corner. Entry halted repeatedly for hours. People who wanted to get in. People who wanted to stay. People who experience music together and clearly need spaces like these.

The FLINTA* Music Force Showcase 2026 and the FLINTA* & Friends Reception were a complete success for us.

Not just because it was full. But because this evening showed what can happen when visibility, exchange, and music don’t happen side-by-side, but together. And even Musikwoche found our topic so exciting that they reported extensively on us.

Thanks to all artists, partners, initiatives, friends, and of course, to you who helped us pack the Schmidtchen. Thanks ByteFM for presenting us and thanks to our supporters from superlifepromo and Pro Musik.