Jet Set is an aging disco, just block from Santo Domingo’s ocean, and is a place on Monday night.
This Monday is no exception.
The country's bold face names (from bankers to retired Major League Baseball players to politicians) are eager to lift their heels and party, and even on school nights, Rubby Pérez is the “loudest voice in Merengue.”
Hundreds spent $32 to buy tickets to admire the famous Dominican artist, who recently celebrated his 69th birthday.
Live music from jets is a tradition in the Dominican capital, where enjoying life and a preference for good music helps nightclubs thrive with locals and tourists.
“The jet scene is a symbol,” said singer and former Dominican culture minister José Antonio Rodríguez. “You have to understand: The Dominicans are a party member. They love to be together with friends – Jet Set is a place like this.”
The decades-old Monday night ceremony ended in the disaster this week, when the roof of the building crashed during Mr. Perez's performance. The video showed him singing and dancing while people were yelling to know what was falling from the ceiling. Then, the thunderous boom puts the show into a disastrous pause.
The tragedy has so far been killed by at least 124 people, including Mr. Perez, which has devastated a country known for its beaches and rapid dance moves. Disco turns to the Volkswagen Cemetery now known as “Ground Zero”.
The victims include one of the most prestigious banks in the country, the owner of his wife and sister, whose recent wedding became the cover of a local lifestyle magazine. The groom who also died is the son of the U.S. Secretary of Public Works.
Monte Christie Governor Nelsy Cruz was one of the earliest dead, with two former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco also killed. Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martínez said in a social media post that several of his family members are still in the club’s rubble.
Now, the Dominicans are lined up to donate blood as hundreds of rescuers wearing yellow hard caps and fluorescent coats pass through the rubble to find survivors or bodies. Teams from Puerto Rico, Mexico and Israel arrived.
Authorities did not say how many people would attend the concert, but said they were “triangle farming” with the number of tickets sold along with the number of people in the hospital and the morgue to find out how many people might still be trapped in rubble. Rescuers found 20 other bodies in the ruins, but had not been deleted by Wednesday afternoon.
After more than 150 rescues, no one has been alive since Tuesday afternoon.
Santos, a television and radio producer in Santos, called the disaster the biggest blow in the history of the Dominican Republic's entertainment industry.
“The tradition of performing music groups in the capital is buried with jets,” Mr Santos said. “At present, no club has a time of history, trajectory or time.”
The JET suit opened in another location in the 1970s and moved a few years ago to the former cinema in the Malecón neighborhood off the sea wall. It can accommodate up to 700 people – if the table is removed, this capacity will increase to 1,000 people.
It is known as the upscale gathering place for the urban elite business and political classes that top artists perform.
“It’s iconic,” recalls South Florida singer Rosa Rabin, who once performed there. “No group of people didn’t go there.”
But she would miss Mr. Perez in particular, who she described as a charismatic entertainer without her own self.
“He is a very important figure in our music and culture,” Ms. Rabin said. “He is a part of our culture.”
Mr. Santos said Mr. Perez's career began as the lead singer of the famous Melenger band head, Wilfrido Vargas, who recently began singing Christian music.
In the video Mr Santos saw, he said his friends looked happier than they usually did on Monday night.
“He looked more active, more enthusiastic, more happy,” said Mr. Santos. “He even danced in ways he wouldn't normally do. His face looked really pleasant, happy.”
He was the only act performed on Jet Set on Monday, owned by a well-known family in the entertainment industry in Santo Domingo. Through the representative, the owner refused to answer the question.
“For you, mother, father, father, siblings, children and loved ones, you can count on us,” said boss Antonio Espaillat in a video posted on social media. “Everything we do now, every decision, every step has a purpose: live up to your pain and be with you.”
People living near the nightclub said they have been fighting noise complaints and smoking for years in club generators, but they say they found the family’s political influence and connection too hard to beat.
But after the deadly roof collapse, politicians and journalists are interested in their problems.
Ms. Garcia said: “When we knocked on the door and asked them to protest against the protests we had against them, they said: 'Jets, untouchable.'”
The noise even shook the furniture in their homes, she said. Neighbors tried to file a complaint with authorities, but the results were very few.
She and other neighbors said that after the recent renovation, a large number of air-conditioning condensers were placed on the roof, making the situation even more dangerous.
“The lights reach the bed and the vibrations reach the windows,” said Lourdes Artiles, who is behind the club.
“The only night we had to rest was Tuesday,” she added.
Authorities say it is too early to determine the cause of the disaster.
“I think the jets are history,” said Mr. Rodríguez, former Minister of Culture. “It's too painful. I don't think it can recover.”
Hogla Enecia Pérez Reports in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
