After 27 years, Multiforo Cultural Alicia — an iconic music venue and counterculture hub in the Mexican capital — closed its doors forever on March 12. For many, it marked the end of an era and signaled gentrification’s toll on the city in recent years.
Inside, a young man frantically scrolled over a list of names and prepared the entry hand stamp. It could have been any nightclub on a Friday night in the bustling city, but the whole line knew it was their last chance to set foot in what had become an iconic music venue and counterculture hub in the Mexican capital.After 27 years, Multiforo Cultural Alicia closed its doors forever on March 12. For many, it marked the end of an era and signaled gentrification’s toll on the city in recent years.
The Mexican political system was shaken in 1994 when the Zapatista Indigenous rebels from Chiapas, in southeast Mexico, led a brief armed uprising to demand greater rights. The Zapatista movement ignited young Mexicans’ political participation. A new generation emerged, looking for outlets to express themselves. Music and cultural spaces like the Alicia became that outlet for many.
“We always considered ourselves a political space, rather than a music venue,” he told the AP. “We did something that nobody was doing.”Soon, the Alicia became one of the very few libertarian, anarchist, self-managed spaces in Mexico City. Abraham “Muñeko” Torres, the frontman of Nana Pancha, one of the most prominent ska bands in Mexico, first played at the Alicia when he was 16 years old.
“Thanks to the Alicia, a lot of music bands like us learned to organize concerts and build our own spaces,” Torres said. “For us is a safe place, our learning place. It taught us we could live off music.”The late 1990s to mid-2000s saw a growth of self-managed concerts in Mexico City to avoid depending on commercial event producers. Everything from pamphlets, ticketing, security and production was organized by the bands themselves, supported by political collectives.
Fernando Rodríguez, 32, was 15 when he first walked through the Alicia’s doors. He said he couldn’t miss one of the very last concerts of the Mexican punk-rock band Seguimos Perdiendo at the venue. “It’s sad to think that there will be generations that won’t get to know the Alicia and that their first concert will never be here,” Torres said.Pineda said one of the main reasons he chose to close is because he doesn’t like how the neighborhood around the venue has changed. A recent wave of digital nomads mostly from the United States has increased gentrification; long-time residents and businesses have been replaced with AirBnBs and hipster coffee shops.
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