Blow Up

And there is a third fact, the one that matters most to this Archive: under the headline one reads “Música: miniteca x La Seguridad Nacional”. The night was carried by a rock band and a miniteca, unnamed. It is the direct connection between this room and mobile sound, even if the specific outfit remains unidentified.

The rest of the flyer portrays the scene: “1ra fiesta del año con la nueva música de Seguridad Nacional” —the first party of the year with the new music of Seguridad Nacional—, admission “súper económica” at Bs. 300, three drawn characters —Guru, Cangrejo and Yatu— and a biting dedication “para corruptos y santos”, for the corrupt and the saintly, aimed at “todos aquellos que piensan que por hacernos la guerra —empresarios, disck-ceeys, salas de teatro, etc.— nos van a detener”: all those who think that by making war on us —promoters, disck-ceeys, theaters and so on— they are going to stop us. It closes by promising “el rocknroll dañado y callejero de la ciudad”, the damaged, street-level rock and roll of the city.

The sign that survived

Of Blow-Up something more than mentions remains: its sign. A triangular sheet-metal sail, held with turnbuckles to the façade of a Caracas building, with the word “DISCOTHEQUE” written vertically in thick metal letters and, below, “BLOW-UP” in blue inside a cloud outlined by a double row of neon tubes.

The detail photographs show the state in which it arrived: the vertical letters eaten by rust, the neon dark and broken in stretches, the brackets and the wiring exposed. The sign even keeps the signature of the workshop that made it, in the lower corner. It is, so far, the only documented physical trace of the room — and the one that fixes its full spelling: “Discotheque Blow-Up”.

Article in progress

Article in progress…… On record are its role as a matinee of the youth circuit of the 70s (magazine + the account of Oscar Hernández), its location in Altamira Sur and its activity in 1992 (flyer), the photograph of its sign and its link with mobile sound. Missing are the year of opening and of closing, the exact address, the ownership, the resident discjockeys and the name of the miniteca that ran that party.

Did you know it or do you have material? Contribute flyers, advertisements, photographs, addresses or accounts that make it possible to expand this entry without guessing.

Social media

• · Social media and contact: being sought — do you have information? Write to us through the contact form

Credits and sources

• · Mention based on “La Revista de las Minitecas” (DJ Vladimir Medina edition), p. 38, and on the entry “Oscar Hernández” of the MiniTK Archive (a matinee he frequented).
• · Independent mention on the nostalgia blog Venezuela de Antaño (venelib-antao.blogspot.com) — a memory source, not a documentary one.
• · Photographs of the original sign —general view and two details— contributed to the CMTK Archive. They fix the full spelling “Discotheque Blow-Up”.
• · Location in Altamira Sur, activity in 1992 and music in the hands of a miniteca: original flyer of the Seguridad Nacional party-concert of Thursday, July 16, 1992, contributed to the CMTK Archive (primary evidence).
• · Under documentary verification: years of opening and closing, exact address, ownership, resident discjockeys and the name of the miniteca that ran the 1992 party.