9 November 2026
Nearly €100,000 worth of stolen equipment has left the venue’s sound system inoperable and forced the cancellation of Groove Atelier’s 14 November programme
Amsterdam nightclub The Other Side has been hit by a burglary, with nearly €100,000 worth of technical equipment stolen. The theft has left the venue’s specialised sound system inoperable, prompting the owners to launch a crowdfunding campaign to support its recovery.
One of the club’s owners, Doeshka Vrede, said she was woken by the security alarm at around 2am and immediately called the police. The venue is equipped with a specialised sound system, and the technical equipment used to operate it was among the items stolen.
“They took the sound mixing desk, lighting console, all the DJ equipment, mixers and even the smoke machine,” Vrede told Dutch newspaper Het Parool.
Although the club’s 36 speakers were left untouched, the theft of the equipment needed to operate them has rendered the entire system unusable.
An initial assessment put the damage at €80,000, but the estimated losses had risen further by Monday evening. Vrede said the number of intruders and the exact duration of the break-in remained unclear.
“From the CCTV footage, it looked like there were between two and four people, but the images were very unclear. I think they were inside for around 15 minutes.”
Vrede and fellow owner Jasper Löwik arrived at the venue approximately half an hour after the break-in, but police initially prevented them from entering.
“They thought someone might still be inside, but that wasn’t the case. They had just missed them,” she explained.
The incident has left the owners deeply shaken. “My heart was racing all night. It feels like such a violation. I could do nothing but cry, and everyone else was in shock,” Vrede said.
She suspects the intruders were looking for cash, unaware that the club operates on a cashless payment system.
“They even took wallets from the lost property box.”
The break-in also caused extensive damage to glass fixtures and wooden structures. Vrede said she and Löwik had to board up the venue that same night. “Jasper stayed at the club all night to keep watch.”
“We want to reopen as soon as possible, but we can’t do it alone,” Vrede said, explaining that the scale of the financial losses had prompted the owners to launch a crowdfunding campaign.
“We refuse to throw in the towel. We don’t know when we’ll be able to reopen, but we will open our doors on Friday for a community dinner, because we could really use all the support we can get right now.”
Due to this unfortunate incident, we regret to announce the cancellation of the debut edition of our ‘The Art of Sound’ series, originally scheduled to take place at The Other Side in Amsterdam on Saturday 14 November. All ticket holders will receive a full refund.
Police are continuing their investigation into the burglary.
