More than a decade after the popular Beirut Groove Collective first brought global soul-fuelled records to the Lebanese capital’s underground nightlife scene, the DJ duo behind the famed club night have moved their signature sound to London.
Co-founded in 2009 by internationally renowned DJ Ernesto Chahoud, the vinyl DJ collective used to run one of Beirut’s hippest weekly parties, the BGC All-Nighter, playing obscure 1960s and 1970s clubbing records from around the world. The collective’s range of eclectic sounds regularly packed the dancefloor with hearty partygoers until dawn and became a staple of the famously nocturnal city’s social scene.
Chahoud, who has one of the largest vinyl collections in the Middle East, specialises in Arabic and Ethiopian music, and has a taste for little-known gems and obscure dancefloor stompers.
Widely credited for introducing funk and soul to the city, the music researcher says the promotion of vinyl culture is about “digging” into new music.
“They call it digging-type club nights where there's always a new thing you're listening to. The records we play are mainly rare to find … it is also about digging into obscure records from the Arab world, Africa and elsewhere that we unearthed. This is the point of strictly vinyl. It basically means that the first time you are going to hear them will be at our club night,” Chahoud tells The National.
He and his wife, fellow BGC DJ Natalie Shooter, recently moved to London, a plan they put in motion well before last year’s blast in Beirut and subsequent economic collapse precipitated matters.
“We were lucky that we weren’t in Lebanon when the explosion happened because our club is just by the port … I don’t even want to really think about it, I was really lucky,” says Chahoud, trailing off. The couple's home and his record store, Darkso, were also damaged by the blast.
Shooter, a British DJ and music journalist from Derbyshire, had been living in Beirut since 2010 when she moved on a whim after picking up a copy of Zena Khalil’s book, Beirut, I Love You, in the library.
After a decade living and DJing in Beirut, Shooter, who ran the BGC's club nights with Chahoud, who she met and married in the Lebanese capital, was ready to move back to the UK. The couple have now made London their new home and want to bring the eclectic sounds they cultivated for years in Beirut to the city.
“We don't stick to one specific genre. We're very wide now we play basically anything that's good for the dance floor, mostly from the '60s, '70s, '80s and from literally all over the world. Sometimes Ernesto will play Soviet jazz records,” says Shooter.
“Basically anything that is obscure and designed for clubbing!” Chahoud jumps in.
The duo are coming close to the end of their four-week residency at the Palestinian-run Finch Cafe in London Fields and have upcoming sets booked at other clubs around the city. Their first performance this summer with soul DJ Malayka Erpen was sold out. Shooter admits it’s exciting for them to be part of the recent reopening of clubs and bars and the reception from revellers has been positive so far.
“We get a lot of reaction from people here because I think we are introducing sort of a new sound to the clubbing life in London with all of this authentic Arabic, clubbing music, that’s rare and mixed with Ethiopian, African, Armenian music,” says Chahoud.
The collective is catering to a crowd that’s more interested in sampling alternative funk-driven music than the typical beat-heavy pop tunes of other Arab music nights, he says.
“It's not the same as the typical Beirut clubbing experience, but it’s a Beirut underground music experience that fits everybody who's looking for a different kind of music.”
BGC will perform at Finch Cafe, London Fields, on Friday, September 3. More information is at instagram.com/beirutgroovecollective
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
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Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
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Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
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The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
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Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
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5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m | Winner: Ajwad, Gerald Avranche, Rashed Bouresly
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England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
