Fridae

Carnaval 2001: Feather & Leather
March 31, 2001

I was late as usual. Oblivious to the Malaysian custom of arriving well after the time you're supposed to show up (in this case the party started at 9 pm), I had expected to see a huge crowd when I made my big entrance at 10.30pm. To my disappointment, I was greeted by an empty dance floor and uninterested eyes. "Shit, now I'm gonna have to make my entrance again", I said to myself as I walked out.

When I found myself inside the club again at about 11pm, the crowd was picking up. O*range is too huge to be a regular weekend club, but perfect for a big event like this. The setup was simple and practical, gay but not overly camp-there was the main stage, a main podium with two more further away at its sides, and feather and leather motifs everywhere.

Those who have been to the club would agree with me that it has the best sound system and lighting compared to the other gay and gay-friendly joints in KL. And I don't know if this is just me, but the fog machines produce smoke that smells like delectable and ripe�you guessed it�oranges.

The crowd consisted of mostly Liquid-goers who would have spent their Saturday night at the popular gay joint if it weren't for this event that the club organized under their Saturday Sensual banner.

I'd say probably three-quarters of the crowd walked in with costumes or wore something related to the "feather" and "leather" theme. Surprisingly at around midnight, a group of about 20 to 30 men marched in with matching costumes wearing camouflaged army pants, leather restraints, and peacock feathers that were amusing at first but irritated the hell out of people when they started getting in their faces.

The performances started around 12.30pm (but don't quote me since I was a little tipsy and losing track of time by then). Most of the show was nothing much to shout about and not unlike what you can find in Blue Boy, Velvet, or The Ship on weekends.

However, certain acts did catch my eye: the one with the drag queen in white who bared her silicone breasts in the end (they were perfectly round), the boys with the six-packs in tight shorts (ay papi!), and the Indian traditional dance complete with peacock feathers and raging fires (with Madonna's Shanti/Ashtangi playing in the background).

The height of the evening was of course Ultra Nate's performance that did not disappoint anyone. The Baltimore, Maryland native performed a few tracks from her successful Situation: Critical album, including her hits Free and Found A Cure. She did not leave without singing Desire, the new single from her upcoming album Stronger Than Fiction, and If You Could Read My Mind (her duet with Amber and Jocelyn Enriquez from the movie 54) which had everyone in the house singing along. All she could say was "You guys sound so good."

People from the crowd were chosen to dance on stage for her final song, including Mari Ramos from CNNi (as he is preferred to be known as), who spotted an S&M outfit with nothing left to the imagination. Ramos' outfit included a flashlight mounted on his head that Ultra Nate commented on, which he probably used to shed light to the "nether regions" he explored that night (sorry, I couldn't resist).

I'm not too sure when the night ended. The crowd died down a little by 3am but was still going strong by the time I left, which was close to 4am.

For more photos, go to fotos@fridae.