Bootshaus

Cologne has its fair share of underground dens, while Kompakt and Damiano Von Eckert's Ava are just two labels with alternative takes on house and techno. Also striving for something better inside Germany's fourth-largest city is Bootshaus. Set up 10 years ago inside a venue (previously called Warehouse) that once used to store ships and boats, this slick, jet-black emporium of overhanging Funktion One stacks and spellbinding flashing lights sets an example most others can only dream of following. Bridging industrial underground values with mainstream electronic sounds, Bootshaus, Cologne's biggest proper club, is a place reserved for the fresher, more edgy end of EDM, d&b and trap — the likes of Netsky, Carnage and Yellow Claw — while pitch-black techno, like Extrawelt, and full-on trance (Markus Schulz and Paul Van Dyk) all got a look in recently too. Now with a third floor decked with old machinery, fitted six months ago, it's expanding. And with fans recently embedded in the floor of room two, it's constantly improving too. Get your boots into Bootshaus.