NIGHT-TIME in the city appears to be more serene these days. In fact, since the introduction of the Night Noise Abatement Act, the number of dances taking place has decreased significantly, as has the number of dance halls.
Kingston once had a reputation as a dancing city. Today, roadside dance hall sessions are on the decline. One of the main factors is the charge levied by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) on persons intending to stage dances. A minimum fee of $3,500 (rated on the size of promotion) is charged and people like Leroy "Nya" Thwaites of 25-year-old sound system Grotto Swing, says the cost is too great. He now concentrates primarily on bar sessions.
"When you don't have a dance hall where people have to pay to enter, it is impossible to spend that kind of money and make a profit. If you have a bar session and you have to pay the sound it is already difficult. I think the fee should be less."
The days of arbitrarily stringing up a sound system on the corner to stage a session are over. Nowadays, any person with the intention of holding a street dance has to apply to the Superintendent of Police in charge of that area for permission. After investigations of the promoter's character, his ability to control the expected crowd, inspection of the premises and social consequences, the Superintendent makes a ruling, whether the dance can be held. If the promoter is favoured, then a fee has to be paid to the KSAC and a receipt received. This receipt must be presented to the police if requested at any time during the session. Failure to produce a receipt gives the police the right to turn off equipment at the session. If the promoter is unsuccessful in his bid, then there is a seven-day period during which he may file an appeal.
Inspector Hopeton Baines of the Kingston Central Police says, the system has been successful thus far and the Night Noise Abatement Act has been working wonders in ensuring a quieter nocturnal city.
"The people have been very co-operative. Whenever we go out and ask people to turn down, they usually do. We have had a few cases where we have had to seize equipment but it seems that most people out there know and respect the act."
Violence
Still, this is not the only reason dance hall business has plummeted. Violence, contends Sassafras, veteran promoter and artiste manager, has kept patrons away. "People prefer to go to clubs where there is greater security. In the dance hall there were the guys with the cellular phones mapping out the big spenders and their friends would target them and rob them on the way home," he said.
He also remembers the days when Kingston was teeming with nightlife, sound systems used to play out seven nights per week (as against mostly weekends these days) and dance halls were located all around the city. Among them were Curphey Place, Jay Cees Headquarters, New Kingston, Skateland, Half-Way Tree, No. 6 Richmond Ave., Tropics, Wildman Street, Blinking Beacon, Mountain View Ave., Flamingo Hotel, House of Leo, Club Gazebo, 121 Maxfield Avenue, Moonlight Terrace on West Kings House Road, Memory Lane and the top Corporate Area schools which doubled as dance halls. These days numerous go-go clubs dot Kingston's landscape, while back then, the preference was to go to the dance halls to listen to the top sound systems play pre-releases.
"People rather stay home and hear the music on the radio," says Father Gemmi of Gemini Disco. "People have even stopped making dance hall cassettes. The whole thing has taken a beating."
Sassafras adds that to make matters worse, the Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP) has been approaching dances demanding a percentage of the gate receipts as royalty payments for the records played.
"Promoters are being turned off and the economy is being hurt. In the House of Leo days for example there would be no less than 20 vendors at a Stone Love or Gemini dance. People depended on that to send their children to school. The cane man, the peanut vendor, the orange man who sells oranges - this was their livelihood. It's all gone now," he told Showtime.
Head of the Entertainment Advisory Council to the government, Kingsley Cooper, has had mounting problems with his Trafalgar Road venue, due to the Night Noise Abatement Act. He told Showtime, the property is now up for sale as it has lost specificity of purpose. "It is no longer suited for the purpose it was intended for. The regulations have made it difficult for us to have events here and the special value of the property was as a show venue.
Events
With the night noise act now being enforced, it is just like regular office space. Now we have to be keeping most of our events at the Hilton Hotel. We could have easily made a million dollars annually from the property, just renting once or twice monthly at rates between $80,000 and 100,000 per event. Now people keep calling and we can't rent them the venue because their events are certain to be locked off."
The number of dance halls around Kingston is small right now and the prices do not encourage promoters. For example, the Countryside Club rents for $65,000 if you allow them to sell the food and drinks or $130,000 if you keep the bar and kitchen. In Portmore, La Roose rents for $60,000.
