Mezo Noir packed to capacity during the reopening. PHOTO/TONY MUSHOBOROZ
Two weeks ago, Mezo Noir reopened for business after almost a month of closure following the mysterious death of a 23-year-old patron, Martha Ahumuza, who collapsed and died while hanging out there.
Police temporarily closed the boujee pub in the leafiest part of Kololo on March 20, pending investigations into the death that shook the nation and it would stay closed until the night of April 17. It was a dark time filled with mystery for the pub whose name actually means dark mystery. The reopening had been advertised online for days. DJ Fully Focus, a Kenyan-American DJ (he is supposed to be a big deal) was slated to crown the night. By 4pm, the place was already a beehive of activity.
The cobbled parking lot was being given a brand new coat of black paint, moving head lights were being tested, minor repairs on furniture were being made and all manner of surfaces were being polished. By 4pm, the parking lot was still empty and there was no music playing, but you could feel a certain pizazz in the air. An aura of party could be felt long before the party started. Dozens of staff were rushing back and forth, making sure drinks were chilled and that all the shelves were populated with the right drinks.
Clearly a big celebration was about to go down. Mezo is a freakishly busy pub, loved by the very affluent of Kampala’s young people. This hangout has a magnetism that attracts sassy, elite people that look like they have never lacked. By 5pm, almost all the tables were marked ‘reserved’ with a name tag of the person that booked.
To have a great night at this spot, you have to book a table in advance (because it is a small pub on very high demand), or you will miss all the sweet spots and drink while standing outside. As the evening wore on, patrons started coming, as well-selected afrobeat, old school ragga and music that leans towards the African persuasion stared playing. Endless groups of nubile 20-something girls kept flocking in, one group at a time.
By 10 O'clock, staff were starting to ferry in more tables and seats, given that what they had originally arranged were completely occupied. On one of the tables, older men wearing expensive Polo shirts, started sipping on expensive whiskeys, while smoking cigars. Mezo is one of the very few places where you can smoke a cigar in a packed pub without anyone raising a complaint.
Which I find very interesting because usually, the strong cigar aroma tends to make Ugandans draw a line in the sand. The strong unprocessed tobacco smell of cigars tends to scare many about the dangers of secondary smoking.
Yet the same people would not bat an eye even when they encounter thick clouds of shisha smoke. By 11pm, it was a full-blown party, with most latecomers standing outside, drinks in their hands, as there were no more tables to place them. One very surprising aspect of that night is that they played more Ugandan music than Nigerian music. In today’s party landscape, where Ugandan pubs spend entire nights almost exclusively playing Nigerian music, this was absolutely refreshing.
By 11:30pm, there was a scramble for parking outside. Utter mayhem. Double parking. A gridlock leading to the entrance of a bar. People parking in every available space. Cars parked along the road, stretching hundreds of metres down the street. Watching the innumerable cars, one would assume that there was a high-level conference of millionaires inside. Big brand new Land Cruisers- read Mpenkoni, Range Rovers, GLE Mercedeses and, of course, all tribes of Subarus, the choice car for young money.
By midnight, the crowd in the overflow section of the bar was larger than the one inside the main bar, stretching almost to the parking lot. Girls had skins of alabasta. Young men in their prime, looked like the famous David Sculpture, smoking shisha without a care in the world. Younger men love shisha almost as much as women. It clocked 12:30 and the main attraction of the night, DJ Fully Focus, was still nowhere to be seen.
But this was alright because everyone was engrossed by the football game on the TV. The bar must have been full of Man U fans because that goal at 12:36 raised the vibe several degrees to a new high. When it was followed by another goal, barely a minute later, the noise was so loud it could easily be heard from Mars, likely.
When I left, long past 1:15am, DJ Fully Focus was still not on the turntables, but people were still flocking in. Watching people party hard that night of the reopening, it was evident that Ugandans lament about a harsh economy during the day on X (Twitter) and at night, they magically find the money to blow on drinks as expensive as Shs1m. God knows where they get this insane money from. It is safe to say, Mezo Noir had the biggest memorable party night.
Sold out tables
Booking the best spots.. By 5pm most of the tables were marked reserved, with a name tag of the person that booked. Clearly, to have a great night at this spot, you have to book a table in advance (because it is a small pub on very high demand), or you will miss all the sweet spots and drink while standing outside looking in.
