amNYEsia aftermath

December 31 2005, Kuala Lumpur – More than 400 turned up at amNYEsia 2005 which was organised by Nocturnal as a private an exclusive party for the future rich and influential power blood of KL. If you wondered where some of the regular high rollers and beautiful women usually seen in the VIP sections of clubs like Velvet Underground, Cynna, Sugar and The Loft, chances were, they were all possibly at amNYEsia or outside KL travelling.

amNYEsia was organised by a few of these influential club socialites as a follow up to the successful “The Birthday Party” titled events in 2003 and 2005. Originally held in Sobranie Cinema / Café Citron Garden off Jalan Stonor, The Birthday Party was attended by the who’s who of the KL clubbing and socialites. Special CD Invitations with a DJ mixed compilation were exclusively customized and given out to over 300 close friends and guests as a preview of the night to be. A multimedia show welcomed guests into the venue and the open bar promised a night to remember or very blurry for everyone who attended. Two rooms were filled music with R&B and House featuring celebrated DJs of our local and international circuit coupled with exotic dancers. The successful event is still much talked about as THE birthday party to beat even until today.

The 2005 birthday event was held on Nov 11 at the new Café Citron on Jalan Eaton. Similar to the first “The Birthday Party” but improved in concept, it was expanded to celebrate birthdays of the five organisers. Music was supplied by established DJ’s including the likes of Jungle Jerry and JD who took guest on a trip of Retro, R&B and Deep Disco House. As expected, the future VIP’s of the KL social, business and political world and the accompanying beautiful women came as guests under private invitations.

“Celebrities such as Gol and Gincu lead actor Ashraf Sinclair, model and host Shamser Sidhu, Sazzy Falak of Beat TV, model Hannah Loh, Pillow Talk host Jojo Struys, 8TV hosts Marion Caunter and Adam Carruther, Miss Malaysia runner-up Chermaine Poo, Miss Chinese International 2005 Jolene Chin, MTV hosts and twin models May and Choy Wan were among the star-studded line up of guests that partied with us at The Birthday Party”, said Kean Au, one of the organisers for the event.

“We arranged divans together with plush cushions on the lawn where people could chill out and have their drinks together with their shishas. Naturally, it made sense to do one for NYE. That’s how amNYEsia concept came about”, added Raphael Hamzah and Sheridan Shan of Nocturnal.

The venue was converted into an indoor and outdoor garden party under the stars with a breathtaking view of the fireworks at KLCC. The guest list was strictly by qualification of friendship to the organisers and recognised VIPs or beauties in the clubbing social circle. Even a few notable guests and beautiful ladies latecomers without tickets were denied entry and attempted to pull strings to get in. Yes, it was that exclusive.

“We had no choice but to maintain a certain high quality luxury standard to protect the amNYEsia™ brand and ensure the comfort of our distinguished guests”, commented Nizran Kudus, the leader of the organising group Nocturnal.

amNYEsia pre-sale tickets (RM100 for ladies and RM150 for men) were sought after even before the event, as it was sold out within a few days before NYE. Marketing was done via the online community on Friendster, SMS and via word of mouth. With an open bar free flow on all beverages policy until late in the morning and a lavish RM250 dinner package thrown in by Café Citron, attendees had a great time celebrating NYE amongst familiar friends and faces.

The music was upbeat fresh and funky keeping everyone dancing indoor and outdoor in the garden. DJ duo, Mr Q (one time resident DJ at the White Room in Bangsar) and foreigner DJ Miska with his funky blonde dreadlocks kept the crowd going as they both took turns at the decks with deep house. Then another duo DJ combination of the famous Jungle Jerry and JD took to helm together dropping a recipe of infectious tribal electro beats and fusing memorable club classic anthems from the likes of Moloko, White Stripes and Stardust keeping the crowd truly entertained as they surprised them with each track.

Jerry came fresh from DJ’ing at the outdoor UCountdown party at 1-Utama while JD rushed all the way back to KL after spinning at the Celcom Xpax 3G street party in Menara DNP, Johor Bahru, just to make it for their duo set at amNYEsia.

“We had an absolutely amazing time. This is our first time here at amNYEsia and we weren’t sure what to expect but it’s turned out to be the best New Year’s party for us. Everything from the venue to the superb music was so well organised! We simply love it”, said foreigners Jo Fairclough and Finton who were in KL for holidays and stayed on until the end.
The amNYEsia multimedia tagline summed it correctly for all their 400 guests as a memorable night to remember: “We dare you to forget”