Liquid Silk's band night needs some redemption

May 21, 2016

When I asked about the sound they said it would be fixed, but shouldn’t they have fixed it before the band started playing?

MUSIC & PLACES

I knew it would be a different kind of night when by 8pm all tables had either been taken up or reserved. I had always planned to go check out Liquid Silk's Saturday band Nights, and since Myko Ouma and Friends was the advertised act for last Saturday night, I decided it was time to do so.

The band was supposed to start at 9:30pm, so I thought 8pm would be good enough to get a decent place, as I had planned to have dinner first as I waited for the band. Wrong call, as it turned out, and all I could get was a place at the small counter near the entrance.

As I ordered for my dinner (pork chops, as I hadn't had pork for a while, and parsley potatoes), I wondered how Ugandans had finally got into the ‘going out for dinner' thing. Many of the people had actually dressed up, and the staff was kept very busy as they served different dishes to the full packed outside area (that's where the band plays).

The house music was not very loud, and I thoroughly enjoyed my food, which was surprisingly served just about 15 mins after I ordered. That does not happen in many places I have been, and I had a good feeling about the night.

Then the band started playing at 10pm, and the good feeling disappeared. The sound was really bad, and from my perch at the counter all I could hear was the bass, which often made my wine glass vibrate. And the band was at the far end in darkness. What's the use of a live band if you can't see it?

Myko Ouma (far-right) and friends performing at Liquid Silk. (Credit: Kalungi Kabuye)


When I asked about the sound they said it would be fixed, but shouldn't they have fixed it before the band started playing? Liquid Silk is owned by Elvis Sekyanzi, who also owns Silk Events, one of the top events companies in town. Surely he would know how important good sound is. The sound did seem to get better after a bit, or was it the wine?

Eventually somebody switched on the lights where the band was, and we could see them. Ouma, the ultimate perfectionist, did not seem happy and I fully felt with him. There was a female vocalist who seemed to be trying really hard, but with the bad sound it was hard to tell.

But looking around the people did not seem to be very perturbed, and they were buying expensive wines and whiskey by the bottle. Next to me was a group celebrating somebody's birthday, and it reminded me of the days of Fang Fang restaurant, which for a long time was the favoured place for important celebrations. Now it seems it is Liquid Silk.

Last time I was at Liquid Silk that outside bar was not there, and it has really cramped things up. And the staff kept on bringing in more seats for the guys that came late. It did not help that the bar stools were of the hard type, even the guy nearby with a definitely higher BMI than mine occasionally stood up for relief. Plus the waiter kept on asking if he should bring my bill, which irritated me no end. At the end he brought back the wrong change, and I wouldn't have noticed if the bar man, an old buddy from the Club Silk days, hadn't pointed it out. I'd like to think it was a genuine mistake.

There are very few decent places in Kampala one can dine at which are not overpriced, but sadly it seems Liquid Silk is just another Kampala hang-out place. The washrooms here are in the inner restaurant, which had extremely loud music, and cigarette smoke hanging in the air.

In spite of all that, though, Ouma's guitar still rang inside my head long after I had given up and left, around 11pm.

 

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