B 018, also pronounced in French B Zero Dix-Huit, is a nightclub that was established in 1994 in Beirut, Lebanon. Today, by staying true to its claim, "A Sound Ritual", B 018 offers an array of nights. From live bands to 80s night during the week and international and local house DJs on the weekends, the club feeds everything heart and ears desire.

History

In the 1980s while Lebanon was still amidst war, Naji Gebran believed in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

as therapy to ease the stress of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

.BO18, Beirut Night Life, Beirut night clubs, lebanon night clubs, night clubs in beirut
/ref> He started organizing parties, under the name Musical Therapy, at his

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-suppo ...

.Ryder, Bethan. ''Bar and Club''126, page According to Bethan Ryder in his book, ''Bar and Club'', parties were later code-named B 018 due to the chalet's location 18 kilometers north of Beirut. Others have attributed the name, B 018, to the security, access-code number of the chalet.''Le Petit Futé Liban'', page 127 Another urban legend claimed that the number or the address of the chalet was B 018. In any case, the parties became so popular and overcrowded that in 1993, Naji moved them to a warehouse in an industrial area of

Sin El Fil Sin el-Fil ( ar, سنّ الفيل / ALA-LC: ''Sinn al-Fīl'') is a suburb east of Beirut in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. Overview Etymology The name literally means 'ivory': "tooth" (''sinn'') of "the elephant" ...

in 1994. The club was then officially Christened B 018 the venues predominant musical policy during its first incarnation was centered on contemporary and traditional

Arabic music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also ma ...

, Acid Jazz,

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and World Music sounds. In 1998,

Bernard Khoury Bernard Khoury (born August 19, 1968, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese architect. His work has been extensively published by the professional press. Khoury started an independent practice in 1993. Over the past fifteen years, his office has deve ...

was hired to build a new home for B 018 at the Quarantaine, the neighborhood that witnessed some of the most horrific atrocities during the war. The plot of land where the club was built was believed to be the site of the former Palestinian camp. In his design, Khoury wanted to arouse bottled-up remembrances of the war and that was expressed in the club itself, which was sunk in the ground like a communal grave, and seats inside were shaped like coffins. The design of B 018 has been labeled as "war architecture". The design included a circular iron plate that could be moved to cover the entire hypogeal night club at closing time so that from a

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a d ...

, the club resembled a helicopter landing pad.Baglivo and Galofaro. ''Digital Odyssey: a New Voyage in the Mediterranean'', page 63 During operation hours, the same covering plates could be lifted up, transforming the club into an open-air discothèque where revelers on the underground dance floor found themselves suddenly dancing under the starry sky of Beirut and their gyrating movements where reflected on the mirrored surfaces of the plates.

Atmosphere

The club is one of Beirut's most popular

discothèque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s. Known for its liberal atmosphere, the club has always been popular with

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

and gay and lesbian patrons. It is often frequented by international celebrities such as,

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

and

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

. ''Wallpaper'' magazine chose B018 as one of the best clubs in the world in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Local and international DJ's, like

Danny Howells Danny Howells (born 24 November 1970) is an English producer and DJ. His music is often described as progressive house, though he prefers to associate more with tech house and is sometimes described simply as "deepsexyfuturistictechfunkous ...

and

Lee Burridge Lee Burridge (born November 1968) is a British DJ, producer, who helped launch the underground club scene in Hong Kong during the early 1990s, and today plays at nightclubs across the world. Renowned for his storytelling musical style in his D ...

, have played at the club.

Academic discourse

The club was the subject of

's lecture, "New Wars in Progress" that was given at the University of Michigan's, School of Art & Design in 2009. It was also the subject of

Khoury Khoury ( ar, خوري, or ), also transliterated as Khouri, is a Levantine surname that is common to Christians in the Middle East. The term Khoury means "priest" in Levantine Arabic. It derives from the Latin word ''curia.'' Although most pop ...

's lecture, "Combat Architecture", for the Lebanese Club at MIT in the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

In fiction

*''The Cyclist: A Novel'' by Viken Berberian :As I ride to B 018, a stench more putrid than death permeates the night. It tickles my urge for a steak, causes my appetite to ache. B 018 is an industrial dance club tucked in a deserted district called The Quarantine.

References

{{coord missing, Lebanon

External links