End of the party as Florida comes tumbling down

The building that housed New Florida Night Club (F1 Club House) on Koinange Street in Nairobi and was a masterpiece of architecture, was Thursday undergoing demolition. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The name “Mad House” given to the club was because its shape resembled a traditional African mud hut. Later on, revellers changed the name to “Mad House”, mainly because of the erotic dancing during the daily one-hour Show Time at 1am.
• The club has nurtured some of the biggest names in Kenya’s DJ history. The general manager, Steve Aziz, just before the club shut down for relocation, started off as a DJ there. Other popular names include DJ Tubbz, DJ Cliff, DJ Hussein Abdallah, DJ Magic Myke and DJ Mdosi.
• Current popular reggae DJs like DJ Kriss Darlin and the Dohty Family, as well as DJ Jah Key Malley of Jambo Sounds, started off at “Mad House”. Taxi drivers who depended on tourists and other revellers coming out of the club have been hit too by the closure.

By JOHN MUCHIRI
More by this Author

Nairobi revellers are “mourning” following the end of an era of one of the most popular clubs, the New Florida Club, popularly known as “Mad House”.
Located next to Chai House on Koinange Street, the mushroom-shaped club has been going through a slow and “painful” demolition in the past few days.

Pictures of the demolition have been posted on social media by people who mostly frequented the club, arousing emotions and memories of a bygone era.
But the question is: Why is this club so dear to many party-lovers?

To begin with, all you needed to do was to have Sh500 as club entry and be over 18.

“The club didn’t have a VIP section, so everybody who got in was treated as one,” says DJ Kareez, who worked in the night club for 18 years both as DJ and entertainment manager.

“At ‘Mad House’, as long as you could afford a drink while inside, everyone was equal.”

Most people loved the night club because of its design.

“It’s round shape inside, made most first timers get lost as they tried to locate the exit,” says a reveller who requested anonymity. “One would get out of the dance floor and forget where they were seated.”

DJ Kareez also says that while the dance floor was in the middle of the club, the DJ’s booth was also next to it, unlike in other clubs where DJs are always in a corner. “This made the revellers have easy access to the DJ as they requested for their favourite songs.”

Most Nairobi tourists made the club a ‘must visit’ and international celebrities also made the club their number one stop.

Music legends like Burning Spear and King Yellowman made frequent visits to the club whenever they were in Nairobi. Congolese musicians too, like Tabu Ley and Madilu with the OK TP Jazz crew shot music videos in the club.

“Muzina by Tabu Ley was shot at ‘Mad House’, and I’m even featured there in the DJs booth,” recalls DJ Kareez. Wenge Musica group, Koffi Olomide and American and Jamaican stars like Ja Rule and Tarrus Riley, were frequent revellers at the club.

MANY PROSTITUTES
Perhaps the one issue that many would not like to talk about is the high number of prostitutes who frequented the club. Located on the infamous Koinange Street, Kenya’s red light district, revellers could not miss to see the many prostitutes all night.

According to one of the night club’s managers, who requested anonymity, the club had no problem with letting anyone who could afford the cover charge and buy their own drinks, into the club.

DJ Kareez echoes the sentiments and insists the prostitutes who were on Koinange Street were not the same inside the club. “The ones inside the club could afford to pay the cover charge and pay for their own drinks. However, if anyone needed their company after that, there was no problem,” he says. “Those outside remained there because they were cheap and could not afford to get in.”

The name “Mad House” given to the club was because its shape resembled a traditional African mud hut. Later on, revellers changed the name to “Mad House”, mainly because of the erotic dancing during the daily one-hour Show Time at 1am.

The club has nurtured some of the biggest names in Kenya’s DJ history. The general manager, Steve Aziz, just before the club shut down for relocation, started off as a DJ there. Other popular names include DJ Tubbz, DJ Cliff, DJ Hussein Abdallah, DJ Magic Myke and DJ Mdosi.

Current popular reggae DJs like DJ Kriss Darlin and the Dohty Family, as well as DJ Jah Key Malley of Jambo Sounds, started off at “Mad House”.
Taxi drivers who depended on tourists and other revellers coming out of the club have been hit too by the closure.

The franchise of Florida Group that owns several cubs in Kenya, including Mombasa, was opened in 1979. Before, owners of the club whose official name is New Florida Night Club, but is also known as F1 Club House started Florida Club, Mombasa, in the early 1970s. In 1983, Florida 2000, located on Moi Avenue, was opened. It still operates.

Three years ago, Florida Group went to court to block their eviction from the premises by Kenya Tea Development Authority. They were given three years to vacate. They did that last December 31. As the building comes tumbling down, it shall surely go with many secrets and memories alike