Lebanon’s club scene was perhaps the most vibrant in the Middle East, but the explosion that rocked its capital last month has silenced it. We spoke to promoters and DJs picking up the pieces
Beirut’s people are broken. The catastrophic blast that tore through the port and surrounding areas on 4 August obliterated any remaining optimism in the city, long eroded by economic problems and regional instability. Of the 2.4 million inhabitants, more than 300,000 are now homeless. Almost 200 people died; 6,000 were injured. The cost of the devastation is currently estimated to be $15bn. Parts of the city closest to the centre of the explosion are in ruins, including the nightlife district, which has been virtually wiped out.
The city’s club culture, once the finest in the Middle East, was an antidote to the misery of an unravelling economy, and to hostilities spilling over from the Syrian civil war during the last decade. Rend Shamma, 34, art director of nightclub Überhaus, says clubbing “was one of the biggest outlets we had, to just dance it off. We had all the different religions under one roof together. I don’t know what that void will be filled with, but right now it’s filled with anxiety.”
Continue reading…Lebanon’s club scene was perhaps the most vibrant in the Middle East, but the explosion that rocked its capital last month has silenced it. We spoke to promoters and DJs picking up the piecesBeirut’s people are broken. The catastrophic blast that tore through the port and surrounding areas on 4 August obliterated any remaining optimism in the city, long eroded by economic problems and regional instability. Of the 2.4 million inhabitants, more than 300,000 are now homeless. Almost 200 people died; 6,000 were injured. The cost of the devastation is currently estimated to be $15bn. Parts of the city closest to the centre of the explosion are in ruins, including the nightlife district, which has been virtually wiped out.The city’s club culture, once the finest in the Middle East, was an antidote to the misery of an unravelling economy, and to hostilities spilling over from the Syrian civil war during the last decade. Rend Shamma, 34, art director of nightclub Überhaus, says clubbing “was one of the biggest outlets we had, to just dance it off. We had all the different religions under one roof together. I don’t know what that void will be filled with, but right now it’s filled with anxiety.” Continue reading…