Tanamur: Long Gone however Not Forgotten
Tanamur Sign by Joe Mud
“Every dog has its day” goes the old saying.
Yes, of which’s certainly true for Tanamur – a Great number of years have right now passed since Tanamur’s popularity reached its zenith in 1997/98.
I always loved Tanamur. Unlike virtually all different nightclubs in Jakarta, Tanamur was located in its own building along with not within the safety of a large along with anonymous shopping mall, or worst still, in some antiseptic along with thoroughly cringe-worthy 5 star hotel. As a result of of which “structural” freedom, the owner of Tanamur (*) was inside position to allow his establishment to become pretty much whatever the item wanted to be: ultimately a highly egalitarian madhouse where all were welcome to enjoy long, wild nights accompanied by a gut-wrenching house-music boom.
Yes, Tanamur had a life of its own alright; the item was like an untamed, uncontrollable beast – yet possessing a strong heart – which was resolute in its defiance to the conservatism along with authoritarianism of the day. The hedonism will be here to stay! of which was best exemplified by the in-house “sexy dancers” who would certainly dance erotically in specially designated areas, high above the ecstatic crowds below. the item felt like ancient Rome in there I can tell you – except without the grapes.
You could meet all sorts of people at Tanamur. the item genuinely was of which sort of place: through CEOs of multinational corporations to hard-nosed working girls; through shop assistants to celebrities, through SPGs to airline stewardesses, through gays, lesbians along with cross gender types to investment bankers along with lawyers. The list goes on.
Anyone who ever visited Tanamur has stories to tell. Mine could fill a book. Some are unrepeatable, others scary, however most simply wacky. I’ll never forget the time, for example, when I’d gone that has a friend to watch an Indonesian eleven take on Signori along with his mates (Lazio) in an exhibition game at the huge football stadium in Senayan. After the game, we’d intended to put the icing on the cake by visiting Tanamur, which, as the item was Sunday, was also Ladies Night.
We hadn’t been in Tanamur for of which long when suddenly a bunch of Italian guys showed up! The girls were screaming like mad – yep, you’ve guessed the item –some bright spark had dragged half the Lazio team down to Tanamur to give the players the chance to genuinely experience the warmth of Indonesian culture firsthand! I bet Signori hadn’t been happier all day.
Saturday nights were the genuinely busy nights along with sometimes you could barely move in there. If there’d been a fire, no one would certainly have stood a chance. The worst thing about Tanamur was the parking area outside. The combination of well-heeled pleasure seekers along with impoverished hoodlums will be not always the greatest mix, along with I once remember a thug grabbing a machete through the man who used the item to chop up ice, before pinning a horrified expat against the wall with the blade of the machete only inches away through his neck.
Thankfully a couple of different hoodlums quickly broke the item up, however for a fleeting instant I had the vision of of which foreigner being chopped up into lots of little chunks of flesh – which would certainly later be skewered along with then barbecued –anyone up for sate bule tonight?
What a great place along with what heady times.
Tanamur RIP.
(*) Tanamur will be of great historical significance, being the first real disco to open inside whole of South East Asia. due to of which great achievement we should honour the vision of Ahmad Fahmy, an Arab Indonesian, who got the idea of opening Tanamur after a visit to Europe where he had studied textile production. Ahmad Fahmy passed away in 2008; his legacy, many happy memories.
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Tanamur: Long Gone however Not Forgotten
Tanamur: Long Gone however Not Forgotten