It is official; the Asylum Night Club has closed its doors, after a 12-year run of being an institution on the Jamaican Dancehall landscape. May 26, 2009 the once hottest nightclub in Jamaica welcomed its last set of patrons and slipped quietly in the annals like its predecessors such as Cactus and Mirage. Open six nights per week it hosted theme nights such as everybody free between 17:00 to 20:00 lines long so till it bend cause ole niggah love freeness After Work Jam on Friday nights. Girls Gone Wild and Ladies Night held on Sunday and Tuesday respectively which in its hay day was the definition of ‘Gal Bush’ sadly for the guys anyway the caliber of women slowly fell off. Arguably Thursday nights became the most important night after the inception of Bembe as it became the habit for patrons of Bembe who were not done partying to matriculate to Asylum.
To be honest this closure doesn’t come as a surprise. The end of Jamrock came amid much speculations and false closure dates which made for such conversations such as:
“Yu hear say the British dem a keep a thing up a ‘Sylum?”
“But wait ‘Sylum nuh lock down already?”
Eventually Asylum went the way of anything and anyplace that lost its newness and shine. It felt much like a sweet pepper to borrow from Pampute, it was big but it stopped being hot. Sadly the last memory of Asylum for me anyway is leaving from Bembe after making many a detours and silly stops along the way only to find an almost empty club. Which made us all wonder, “Are we early?”, but we weren’t, we were just witness to a slow death of an entity with a very full life.
In a release by Nite Time Promotions (Brian 'Ribbi' Chung et al) stated;
"Nite Time Promotions will eventually be reopening the venue at the opportune moment under a new name with a great new image. The space that formerly housed Asylum will now be available immediately for rental by the owners of the property. We wish to thank our extremely loyal patrons, staff, promoters, sponsors and all other partners that have shared the journey and the dream with us over the last 12 years."
To be honest this closure doesn’t come as a surprise. The end of Jamrock came amid much speculations and false closure dates which made for such conversations such as:
“Yu hear say the British dem a keep a thing up a ‘Sylum?”
“But wait ‘Sylum nuh lock down already?”
Eventually Asylum went the way of anything and anyplace that lost its newness and shine. It felt much like a sweet pepper to borrow from Pampute, it was big but it stopped being hot. Sadly the last memory of Asylum for me anyway is leaving from Bembe after making many a detours and silly stops along the way only to find an almost empty club. Which made us all wonder, “Are we early?”, but we weren’t, we were just witness to a slow death of an entity with a very full life.
In a release by Nite Time Promotions (Brian 'Ribbi' Chung et al) stated;
"Nite Time Promotions will eventually be reopening the venue at the opportune moment under a new name with a great new image. The space that formerly housed Asylum will now be available immediately for rental by the owners of the property. We wish to thank our extremely loyal patrons, staff, promoters, sponsors and all other partners that have shared the journey and the dream with us over the last 12 years."
Geez, Asylum has been closing down for over the past 3 years...it's funny though, that 'club' was way past it's expiration date. And I've been through that same scenario, where I'm there to me what is considered late and the place is empty and the employees bored. The only time that place seemed alive was on a Friday where it was after work and free to get in, especially at month end. Great blog though, enjoyed reading it. You are my source for all dancehall news, more entertaining and believable than the Star...lol
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