{"id":2089734,"date":"2026-08-12T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2089734"},"modified":"2026-08-12T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:00:00","slug":"refuge-nyc-to-celebrate-1-year-anniversary-with-monthlong-showcase-were-not-even-half-done-with-what-we-want-refuge-to-become","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2089734","title":{"rendered":"Refuge NYC to Celebrate 1-Year Anniversary With Monthlong Showcase: \u2018We\u2019re Not Even Half Done With What We Want Refuge to Become\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Billboard-RefugeNYC-2026.jpeg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tRefuge NYC is going all in on its 1st birthday, with the club planning a one-year anniversary celebration set to last a month.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Wednesday (Aug. 12), the club announced a stacked lineup for this four-week event, with the bill featuring Gabriel & Dresden, David Morales, The Martinez Brothers, 2 shell, a 12-hour set from Deep Dish and more. The 15-night run starts Sept 4 and ends Sept. 27 with Brothers Macklovitch, the duo composed of IRL brothers A-Trak and Dave 1 from Chromeo. See the complete lineup below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Sasha<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Founders of Brooklyn\u2019s Newest Club Refuge Say Every Weekend, Its Hi-Def Soundsystem \u2018Sounds a Little Better Than the Weekend\u00a0Before\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Bird<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tBird & Byron Fly Into Live Rounds on \u2018AGT\u2019 With \u2018Haunting\u2019 Original Song: Watch\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Olivia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tOlivia Rodrigo\u2019s Daisy Chain Fields Festival Has No Overlapping Sets: See the Full Schedule\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFounded by longtime nightlife figures John Dimatteo and Craig \u201cShorty\u201d Bernabeu,\u00a0Refuge NYC opened in September of 2025 with a vision for an intimate, dancefloor-focused space built around a state-of-the-art soundsystem. They\u2019ve surely succeeded, with Dimatteo and Bernabeu reporting that in the club\u2019s first year, the space has put on roughly 210 events that have collectively brought in more than 100,000 guests. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn many ways, we still feel like we\u2019re just getting started,\u201d the pair tell Billboard<\/em> in a joint statement. They in fact say they\u2019re only halfway done building the club to their vision, with the latest addition being a custom-built, four-corner analog sound system for Refuge\u2019s new outdoor space. This \u201cversion 1.0 of the Refuge Courtyard,\u201d as they call it, opens Aug. 15 with Dutch artist Julian Fijma, followed by Brooklyn\u2019s own Tee Em Dee on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0Billboard\u00a0<\/em>via email, Dimatteo and Bernabeu here discuss the first year of Refuge.<\/p>\n

What have been the highlights of the club\u2019s first year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe biggest highlight has been seeing Refuge grow so quickly from something embraced by our local community into a destination for the global dance music community. The fact that people have been making trips to come here blows our mind.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn our first year, we\u2019ve hosted more than 210 events and welcomed over 100,000 guests. Eventbrite data alone shows people traveling to Refuge from approximately 1,300 cities across 73 countries and six continents. It\u2019s also been exciting to see a healthy all-night and after-hours culture return to New York.
Ultimately, the highlight has been watching a real community form around Refuge, from our neighbors in Brooklyn to people traveling from around the world to dance with us.<\/p>\n

What have been the major challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe biggest challenge has been navigating an ongoing construction project while operating a busy venue at the same time. We\u2019re not even halfway done with what we ultimately want Refuge to become, and we\u2019re constantly balancing improvements with day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

\n\tRight now, we\u2019re in the middle of adding more bathrooms while continuing to host events every week. Behind that is a lot of work people don\u2019t see: permits, compliance, inspections and all the logistics that come with continuing to build while operating a venue almost around the clock on weekends. We opened Refuge knowing that the vision was much larger than what we could build on day one, so in many ways we jumped off a cliff and started building the airplane on the way down.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the same time, we\u2019ve had to scale our team and infrastructure without compromising the sound, programming, hospitality and attention to detail that made people connect with Refuge in the first place.
Ultimately, these are good problems to have. They\u2019re the challenges that come with growing faster than we expected while continuing to build toward a vision that is much bigger than what Refuge is today.<\/p>\n

What role is Refuge playing in the grand scheme of NYC nightlife?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNew York has always had a home for electronic music. You can trace that lineage from The Loft and Paradise Garage to Sound Factory, Twilo and the clubs that followed: places that stayed open well into the morning, welcomed people from every walk of life, introduced new sounds and helped push the culture forward.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs electronic music became mainstream, commercialization, bottle service and VIP culture changed much of the clubbing experience for our music, and some of the key fundamentals of our scene were lost in the interest of profits. We want Refuge to uphold the fundamentals of a proper dance music club: music and sound come first, the dance floor is sacred, everyone is welcome, and the experience is about the collective rather than status or exclusivity.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat also means challenging the outdated idea of what \u201cafter-hours\u201d means. Some people stay out until sunrise; others wake up early, grab a coffee and come dance at 6 or 7 in the morning. We see both every weekend. It\u2019s about respecting where the culture came from while helping push it forward for today and for future generations.<\/p>\n

How do you plan to keep innovating in terms of booking, sounds, etc.?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tMusically, we stay immersed in what\u2019s happening on the dance floor and in constant conversation with artists, labels, promoters and producers. We don\u2019t look at follower counts or Spotify statistics when deciding who belongs on a Refuge lineup. In fact, our founders don\u2019t even have Spotify accounts. We\u2019re not picking stocks. We\u2019re programming a dance floor.<\/p>\n

\n\tA lot of it is instinct, but instinct only works if you\u2019re paying attention. We combine our own personal taste with what we\u2019re seeing and hearing in the club. The dance floor ultimately tells us more than an algorithm ever could. We\u2019re equally excited by timeless legacy artists and emerging talent, both on a national and local level. That intersection between generations is particularly exciting to us. Great music doesn\u2019t have an expiration date. For us, innovation isn\u2019t about chasing trends. It\u2019s about trusting our ears, our instincts and the dance floor while continually evolving the Refuge experience.<\/p>\n

Is there anything else you\u2019d like to say?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe also want to say thank you. Refuge would not exist without the artists, our staff, our partners, our neighbors, the local community, the people who supported us before we opened, and everyone who has walked through our doors over the past year.<\/p>\n

Refuge One Year Anniversary Celebration Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tSeptember 4:
September 5: Gabriel & Dresden
September 5: David Morales
September 6: Natasha Diggs
September 10: Vanjee
September 11: Volen Sentir, George Hewek
September 12: Rodriguez Jr Live.
September 12: Cuttin headz with The Martinez Brothers
September 17: 2 Shell
September 18: Chris Liebing, Black Asteroid, Akua
September 19: Ahadadream
September 19: John DiMatteo + Serge Devant
September 25: Deep Dish 12 hour set
September 26: Victor Calderone, Shahar
September 27: Brothers Macklovitch<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Refuge<\/div>\n<\/div>
Refuge One Year Anniversary Celebration<\/span>Courtesy of Refuge<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/refuge-nyc-club-one-year-anniversary-event-lineup-interview-1236314399\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Billboard-RefugeNYC-2026.jpeg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Refuge NYC is going all in on its 1st birthday, with the club planning a one-year anniversary celebration set to last a month. On Wednesday (Aug. 12), the club announced a stacked lineup for this four-week event, with the bill featuring Gabriel & Dresden, David Morales, The Martinez Brothers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2089734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2089734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2089734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2089734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2089734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}