Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Show is over for many nightlife venues as some Saudis recoil at what they see as the seedy side of kingdom’s liberalisation
As patrons in the dimly lit venue took their seats and inhaled their hookahs, the Egyptian singer — a former talent show contestant dressed in a black off-the-shoulder gown — took to the stage for the late-night show.
Against a glittering backdrop, she grabbed a microphone and began to sing, asking the audience of middle-aged men and women to clap along to a medley of contemporary Saudi and Egyptian songs.
Such was the scene on a recent night at one of Saudi Arabia’s so-called lounges, music venues that have proliferated since the conservative kingdom embarked on its ambitious liberalisation programme.
Lounges, where both male and female customers can typically come to enjoy live music and smoke shisha, offer affordable entertainment to Saudis and foreign workers alike in a kingdom where concerts were long banned and gender segregation strictly enforced.
But for many lounges, the show is over: authorities in Riyadh and Jeddah have in recent weeks closed at least two dozen such venues.
Though officials have cited “serious violations” to public health and hygiene codes, some see the campaign as evidence of a backlash against lounges, which conservative Saudis consider seedy institutions whose dark rooms offer discreet places for men and women to consort, drink illicit alcohol or even take drugs.
“Look at these women going into the lounge, just across the street from men’s houses in a residential neighbourhood,” Falah al-Masrede, a conservative singer, complained of one lounge near his apartment in eastern Riyadh in a viral Snapchat video last month.
“I went to the police, they sent me to municipality. I went to the municipality, they sent me to the oversight authority,” he said. “I want my voice to be heard. I’m tired.”
The very existence of the lounges underscores the stark contrast between the Saudi Arabia of today and a decade ago, when the feared religious police enforced a conservative interpretation of Muslim values that barred unrelated men and women from mixing in public and outlawed cinemas and other forms of entertainment.
Shisha cafés were not allowed in populated areas, pushed instead to the periphery of cities to assuage parents who feared they would attract teenage sons.
All this changed radically following the ascent of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who — after stripping the religious police of its powers in 2016 — eased curbs on women’s liberties and opened the kingdom to concerts, sports competitions and even raves.
Authorities in the capital built Riyadh Boulevard, a complex of restaurants, music halls and other attractions, which in turn encouraged the growth of more entertainment venues.
To their patrons, lounges offer an honest and affordable means of entertainment for lower-paid Saudis and expats to smoke shisha. Though alcohol is still banned in the kingdom, lounges are among the rare places where smoking is allowed indoors.
A typical cover charge of SR80 ($21) includes shisha and a juice or soft drink. Payment is only required from men, while women and mixed couples enter for free. Some families even bring their children with them, while others are styled like high-end discos: one venue in the capital’s diplomatic quarter describes itself as “Riyadh’s first ever nightclub”.
Those who visit lounges “would find them to be beautiful places to spend quality time away from the stresses of daily life”, columnist Akl al-Akl wrote recently in the Okaz daily newspaper. “The existence of these ‘lounges’ contributes to quality of life in all cities of the world.”
But their ubiquitous presence along the streets of big Saudi cities has also turned them into a source of unease for those uncomfortable with the rapid top-down modernisation.
“Some of these lounges seem seedy and shady so I wouldn’t want to be seen there,” said one father of two in Jeddah, “but they seem pretty popular”.
In closing down some lounges, authorities appear to be seeking to strike a balance between continuing to open up — which is seen as essential for economic growth — and dealing with the tensions and unintended consequences of such changes.
The interior ministry this year set up a unit to police “immoral acts”, arresting dozens of suspects for crimes such as prostitution and begging, which some saw as an attempt to revive the religious police.
To critics, many of them religious or social conservatives, the lounges represent the rapid decay of social norms.
But Andrew Leber, of the Carnegie Middle East Program, said the spread of lounges ultimately represented “what Saudi society is demanding” — particularly for those who want to enjoy newfound liberties but cannot afford large music concerts or Formula 1 races.
“It’s capitalism . . . People just want to go hang out in a club somewhere and smoke,” he said. “They don’t necessarily want to go to Riyadh Boulevard because they don’t have hundreds of riyals to spend.”