This post was updated Tuesday, June 8.
Miami Dade College’s Tower Theater opened its doors to music and movie fans alike Wednesday night for an evening of music trivia in collaboration with the Vinyl Social Club DJ collective.
The event, "Name That Tune Night," was conceived to promote the Tower Theater’s upcoming premiere of Questlove’s music documentary "Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Coordinators at the theater enlisted founders of Vinyl Social Club, a Miami-based traveling vinyl party.
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Vinyl Social Club deejayed the event and provided trivia material. The carefully-sourced soul cuts chosen were aimed to highlight the legacy of African American music, as documented in the film.
Lauren Cohen, the MDC Tower Theater's programming co-director, says it's important for independent theaters to creatively promote films for niche audiences because they often don’t get mainstream attention at bigger theaters.
“Indie cinemas bring attention to those movies we cherish” she said. “Having an event like this, it makes it a little more special to come out to the theater.”
On the b-side, there’s Vinyl Social Club, a roving DJ collective keen on reintroducing the unique qualities of vinyl music into Miami’s music culture at large. Marc Melton, a founding member of the collective, hopes that they are encouraging Miami’s small community of vinyl enthusiasts to share their love of music with their community.
“Music heals people,” he said. “Especially after the last year, sharing music has become even more universal and vinyl helps raise vibrations.”
The event served as the dawn of what will be a busy summer for the theater as they are gearing up for a slate of music-related movies focused on minority groups, including the premiere of "Summer of Soul " and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s highly-anticipated film "In the Heights."
Vinyl Social Club meanwhile continues to spin their records at bars and events all around the city. Follow their respective Instagram pages (@vinyl_social_club_mia_ and @mdctowertheatermiami) for more information on upcoming events.
