Being anti-social is all the rage in Ugandan nightclubs.

Record ID: 973868

  • Title: Being anti-social is all the rage in Ugandan nightclubs.
  • Date: 19th January 2018
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF A MUSICIAN, MAURICE KIRYA PERFORMING ON STAGE, WEARING HEADPHONES AND PLAYING GUITAR
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2018 13:46
  • Keywords: music headphones dicos silent quiet channels select
  • Location: KAMPALA, UGANDA
  • City: KAMPALA, UGANDA
  • Country: Uganda
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
  • Reuters ID: LVA0027YS1IL3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: This night club in Uganda's capital, Kampala offers a different kind of social experience.
    Known popularly as silent discos or silent raves, clubs like these hand out wireless headphones to let revellers access various playlists.
    Disco-goers can dance the night away in near silence.
    There are about 10 Silent Discos in Kampala alone and the number is expected to grow.
    "We started off with 150 headphones - we had to get more headphones, we got 300 headphones, 300 headphones became very little we got 500 Headphones, those became little, now we have 800 headphones. So it's self-explanatory, the business is now working in a sense of people have a good time because of just one thing, you have an up-close and personal relationship with the source of the music that you are listening to. Scientifically, if you put it in biological terms, if you have music that is going through your brain, it hits the entire system at once so you can't fail to have fun, that is the beauty about silent disco," said club manager, Mckenzie Sabiti.
    Silent raves have been around for years, starting off with only one channel of music, but they are fairly new in Uganda and now offer several channels played by different DJs.
    Critics say wearing headphones in a nightclub beats the purpose of enjoying the social benefits of being out with friends, but fans say it enhances the experience.
    "It is actually, you take control of your own music so you have fun, I mean if you come with a crowd, like your own friends and you keep telling them switch to this, switch to this, it's fun," said Octivia.
    Kampala is famous for its nightlife with a long list of bars and discos to choose from around the city.
    Silent disco promoters say the headphones can help reduce the number of noise complaints in residential areas, besides also allowing users to take a minute out of the music to talk or answer the phone.
    "Anyone who goes into a bar, you have only one choice, to listen to the loudest noise. With these (headphones), you can easily just do this and nothing is going on, so that is the beauty. This is the most healthy to actually listen to music," said Sabiti.
    It's not just the club goers that are appreciating the option of silence.
    Concerts are now also being beamed through wireless headphones.
    Award winning Ugandan musician Maurice Kirya says he enjoys playing at silent events because he can hear himself better and so can his fans.
    "You see there is a difference between hearing (and listening) because sometimes you go to the shows and people are hyped up and having a really good time that sometimes they miss the lyrics and the things that you are actually talking about. So here it was wonderful because you know that every note counts, every lyric goes straight to the heart, so I had a good time," he said.
    "It gives you of course some level of individual feeling and it is a false sense of feeling that this artist is performing for me in the audience," said Raymond Mujuni, a reveller.
    It seems strange to some - one blogger called silent discos plain 'weird' but Sabiti says it is the future of entertainment events in Uganda.
    He says he is working with other entertainers to organize a 10-hour concert featuring DJs and artists from around the world to be enjoyed through headphones in a massive arena.
    There have been several similar concerts held around the world but it would be a first for Uganda.
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