Kenyan clubs have changed a lot from the days of boogie dancing to the current sports-bar fad. Like celebs, some are hot for just a moment while others reliably draw crowds year in, year out. Charles Otieno studies the changing clubbing scene for clues as to what works for the clubbing public.

At about ten o’clock on a Friday night, Grace Moraa is anxiously waiting for her friends outside the Tropez bar on Nairobi’s Banda Street. Tropez, Grace will tell you, is ‘kicking’. After a few minutes on the phone, the skimpily dressed Grace wiggles past the bouncers and into the overflowing club. She meets her friends upstairs dancing to the Shakira’s hit ‘Hips Don’t Lie’. Deejays Space and Gordo of M.O.B Deejays are at the turntables. Her friends sip their beers while standing. The bar is packed and dancing space is minimal due to seats strewn all over the place.

Unlike the late 1980s and early 1990s when every club had a dance floor, the invasion of Premiership soccer and other sports on the silver screen has seen the emergence of sports bars without dance floors. Clubs are now little beer halls, maximising on floor space by filling it with chairs. Everyone is confined to drinking while seated or dancing next to their seats (if there is no game going on). There are no dress codes: everyone with cash is welcome.

Gone are the days when every club had strobe lights, mirror balls, ultraviolet lamps and smoke cans. And it’s not because they have lost their appeal. As Nonini states in Kuta Vitu: "Ile light ya purple inaweza kukudanganya/ ukadhani umeangukia mtoto wa power/ kumbe mtoto mhandi.../ Utakutaje mtoto anakaa kichalichali?"

Today’s hot clubs rarely invest in such lighting. They only have to make sure that the music is oh-so-cool. The Nairobi CBD and its environs rock with bars like Tropez, Rezorous, Tamasha, Clubb Soundd, Winkers, Fridays, Alfajiri and Chillers. The main attraction is good music and a carnival mood. In Winkers at Kenya Cinema Plaza, one will find Pulsers getting down in styles. Beware if you are a Pulsater: you might look like a Michael Jackson in the crowd.

"We love the club because it is where our age mates hang out," says Hellen, a reveller we find there. "It also has good music." Tropez has karaoke while Zeep has rock. The advantage is that people can easily bar hop from one hanye to the other if it gets boring, plus it is good for those without cars.

"The ambience and location matters a lot for any club to kick," says Nyota of Black Star Entertainment. "You must also invest in good sound."

The other popular club that has attracted relatively hip party animals is Rezorous. Most of the clientele love new things and trying out places. But for the club to stay hot, it must avoid the path to perdition of other clubs in the area which rose and waned in popularity.

The Bar Code, for instance, barely lasted one year, a death that probably began on its opening night when they were charging a bomb for booze. Radio personality Maina Kageni was famously heard complaining about the scotch: "For 450 bob a double shot, it should strip." Later, it got a reputation for letting its more arrogant elite patrons get away with too much. The Pulse-reported pistol-whipping of designer Fundi Frank within its premises scared off a lot of other customers. Club Qatika is basically just surviving, while the formerly popular Sohos is now just lukewarm.

"Some of the clubs die because of mixed target audiences," says DJ John Rabar of Homeboyz. "It is difficult to target the youth and (at the same time) make beer expensive. Guys are also comfortable hanging out in bars because of convenience in distance (from their homes). Lazima watu wajipange."

The only club that has survived through lean times and sprung back stronger than before is the Crooked Q in Westlands. Others, like Midas and Club Sikiliza, are no longer the talk of town. Pavement, also in the Westlands area, is doing well after the culling of the once-kicking Banditos. Now it provides fancy theme nights — including the New Orleans Jazz Night organised by Sound Africa, a Salsa Nite and Rock Nite among others — for a cosmopolitan crowd.

As new bars and clubs rise and fall, a few older establishments have become institutions. The Floridas, for example, have withstood the test of time. In fact, visiting musicians and celebs often plan to spend an evening in any one of them from Florida in Mombasa to Nairobi’s F2, F3 and F1 (Florida Night Club), the lattermost along the infamous Koinange street. The clubs opened in the early 1980s and have maintained the discotheque atmosphere.

"We get good word-of-mouth advertising abroad," says Emily Maina, the marketing manager. "We have great music and ambience. We are the only discotheque atmosphere. The midnight shows have been always popular."

The Carnivore has excelled in organising events and throwing the best parties. Other clubs that have managed to stare death in the face to make a strong comeback include Psys and Choices. They are known for rock and soul and attract Pulsaters with some money. Today, Kachoi (as it is affectionately called by its patrons) remains one of the most popular joints to hang out at in Nairobi.

Maina, one of the club’s proprietors, says: "We have the most disciplined bouncers in the business, the friendliest waiters, the quickest barmen, the best deejays and the cosiest club atmosphere."

Another club that has made a surprise turn around is the Klubhouse (K1). While barely alive at the start of year, K1 is once again kicking like a wild mule. It’s sister, K2 is not faring as well. After the popular Kenya Night theme nights that brought together shows, talent, local celebrities and the pulsating public, all action is now pretty muted. The introduction of redeemable vouchers at the door may have something to do with it.

Other spots that were once red hot and are now in limbo include Green Corner and Spiders (who goes there anymore)? Another club that seems to be gaining ground is Dodis in Kenya Cinema, and the ever-happening Zanze Bar for older chaps.

One new club that is already being watched keenly is Galileos. This state-of-the-art joint has already had some drama in its short existence. Their bouncers have been accused of manhandling patrons (including, we must confess, the Smitta) and have been known to deny even the likes of Jua Cali entrance for their hip-hop dress style. To take off Galileos must break the jinx associated with Museum Hill. In the span of a few years about four clubs have come up and died in the same premises. After the legendary Bubbles, the scene changed to Mamba and later Club Silk, the last which barely lasted four months. Silk shut down and the place was re-opened as Banditos, a brand it limped under for a few months before closing down. Another club — Dunnes — took over but, despite an excellent concept, barely lived for four months before closing shop.

Revellers will have poured out a drink for many a dead club: the Sting Club (Safari Park), Dimples in Nakuru (following Dr John Nyamu’s legal woes), Rib Shark and Zig Zag, Sahara City, Visions. In Kisumu City, the only place to have survived the test of time is Octopus. Bottoms Up and Mamba in Mombasa rock, with Bob’s as the hangout joint for the Nairobi crowd. Well it seems that, sometimes, today’s hit club is tomorrow’s sweet memory. Just like the song charts — some clubs last, while others just go bust.