The City Soul bus was robbed last week, and Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.. just donated $16,600 to push its GoFundMe over its initial goal.
City Soul has been a fixture in New York City’s dance music scene since its moving bus began to roll in 2020. This grassroots passion project’s mission is to bring as many free street parties to the people of NYC as possible while emphasizing diversity, inclusion, and equality. While many of the shows hosted by City Soul have featured local DJs and performers, they’ve taken a massive stride forward by partnering with established brands in the nightlife space like House of Yes, Elsewhere, SILO, and more.
City Soul Bus parties typically occur on Saturdays, with past editions featuring notable artists like BLOND:ISH, Nikki Nair, Anna Morgan, Ghastly, Reid Speed, Mary Droppinz, Wavedash, Riva Starr, Kasbo, Blossom, and more gracing its decks. They also hosted Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.. during their monumental run of shows in New York City last year, which helped catapult it into the hearts of even more dance music lovers.
Unfortunately, on March 14, Alan Gibson of City Soul discovered that the bus had been robbed. Stolen items included all of the DJ and sound equipment—three CDJs, a mixer, two powered speakers, and two subwoofers—as well as other essential tools that allow the bus to function. While City Soul was able to source the necessary DJ and sound equipment to host their Riddim Bus event this past Saturday, they’ve called upon the community to help get them back on their feet.
Hundreds of people have already begun chipping in with donations of all sizes after the GoFundMe launched yesterday while sharing their love and respect for City Soul in the comments. Today, just a few short hours ago, the goal was met after three massive donations came in from Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again, each of whom donated $4,200 for a combined $16,600. While the initial $20,000 raised covers the lost equipment, additional donated funds will go toward repairs, parking fees, booking fees, and more. A new goal has been set for $30,000 to help them achieve this.
“We’re just gonna go right back to partying. We’re gonna party in the daytime, We’re gonna party at night. We’re gonna party in the rain, in the sunshine, when it’s warm and when it’s cold—and we’re not going to stop,” Alan Gibson told Resident Advisor. “We’ll keep going and doing what we do in order to help to bring all of the communities together, bring joy to people and bring the relief that we think everybody needs.”
Want to donate to City Soul to help get their shows back on the road? Head to GoFundMe to donate.
