What are clubs doing about the Venezuela earthquakes?
They are turning a normal weekend on the calendar into a fundraiser. On 24 June, two earthquakes hit Venezuela within seconds of each other, the second the strongest the country has recorded in more than a hundred years. The coastal state of La Guaira and parts of Caracas were hit hardest, with more than 1,700 people reported killed and thousands injured by the end of the month. Out of that, two pillars of the house world, one in Ibiza, one in Miami, moved quickly.
Solid Grooves is steering the proceeds of its 2 July party at DC-10 toward relief on the ground. Its residents Miguelle & Tons, who are Venezuelan, are donating their fees outright, and the promoter and the club are adding proceeds from the night on top. Across the Atlantic, Club Space in Miami is matching donations made to the Global Empowerment Network in the club's name, and has wired donation options into its DICE ticketing for the weekend's shows so anyone buying a ticket can add to the pot.
Why is this personal for Solid Grooves and DC-10?
Because the people on the bill are from there. "This is deeply personal to us," Solid Grooves said, "with Miguelle & Tons and members of our extended Solid Grooves family calling Venezuela home." That is the difference between a token gesture and a real one: the artists playing the party are giving up their night's pay for their own country, and the brand is matching the sentiment with its books.
When the people on the flyer are from the disaster zone, a club night stops being just a party.
It also says something about where dance music's money sits. Ibiza is one of the most lucrative dancefloors on earth, and a single DC-10 night can move serious sums. Pointing that machinery at a relief fund, even for one date, is the kind of thing the scene can do that few other industries can.
How can the wider scene help right now?
There are direct routes. Club Space has opened a donation page for people who are nowhere near Miami, and is matching gifts to the Global Empowerment Network. Solid Grooves says it will publish the specific relief organisations it is backing, so money can go straight to groups working in La Guaira and Caracas rather than through a middle layer. UNICEF has also opened a dedicated Venezuela appeal for anyone who would rather give to a large agency.
The simplest version: if you are out this weekend at either room, the donation is already built into the ticket. If you are not, the pages are open. Small amounts from a big crowd add up fast, which is exactly the kind of maths a global dancefloor is built for.
