Black Coffee Gets Another Shot at Brooklyn Mirage as Pacha’s Opening Weekend Headliner

By Michael Gonik

Pacha New York might not have much built on the empty lot it inherited from Brooklyn Mirage earlier this year, but that doesn’t appear to be of much concern to the shuttered venue’s successor on Stewart Avenue.

Following a weeks-long countdown to the announcement, Pacha has revealed it will be reopening the space on June 20, ending the guessing game its ready, but understandably wary, patrons have been engaged in for months. The ribbon-cutting weekend will feature a performance from British DJ Michael Bibi on opening day and South African producer Black Coffee on Sunday, June 21, the latter of whom was initially booked for a multi-month residency in 2025 at the previous iteration of the club, but we all know how that dark summer went by now.

It is, however, potentially good news for any of the myriad artists whose shows were pulled from the Brooklyn Mirage calendar as it was going nuclear last summer. Dozens of shows were relocated or cancelled, including performances from Peggy Gou, Sara Landry, The Martinez Brothers, and The Chainsmokers, many of which were probably looking for similarly structured venues for the NYC stop of their respective summer and early fall runs. Coffee, admittedly, has some old debts to square with Mirage and its parent company, Avant Gardner, which is certainly at least a component of Pacha’s booking calculations here. The venue’s bankruptcy filing indicated it owed the South African artist about $1.8 million for the cancellation of his shows last year. There were others still owed from that period as well, so don’t be too surprised if some names from last year’s Mirage program pop up on the calendar for this year’s Pacha debut.

The announcement also represents some of the clearest communication yet about what to expect from the Pacha takeover. Just a few days ago, the new-ish kid in East Williamsburg’s club corridor sent 30,000 “goodwill coupons” to fans still holding unrefunded tickets from Mirage shows that never happened. The club’s website claimed the vouchers could be used “across shows, food, drinks, merch,” but when asked for clarification, a Pacha rep pointed out the fine print: they can be used on anything but tickets to shows.