Cyberjaya Lake Gardens, more affectionately known as Cyberpark, is a 500-acre natural wildlife sanctuary situated in the heart of Cyberjaya. The main attraction of the park is Malaysia's biggest floral clock, measuring 32m in diameter.

This was to be an odd setting, let alone the full moon, for a full-on party. It was in the middle of nowhere, so getting there was half the fun. You could expect to take a few wrong turns before arriving at the venue.

At the entry point of the park, by the lake, sits the sophisticated looking visitor information centre. If you had your night-vision goggles on, you would notice that the twin-canopied centre is shaped like a dragonfly. The centre lends a bit of modernity to the recreational area, which houses an exhibition centre, amphitheatre and, most importantly, proper toilets. This was to be the venue of the latest edition of Tempo’s Regenerate parties.
 

Next to the dragonfly-shaped information centre is the ‘Ginger Collection Garden’, another popular attraction. It is home to Malaysia's largest collection of herbs from the ginger family, scientific name, Zingiberaceae. Amongst the 80 species grown here are Alpinia, Costus, Curcuma, Globba, Hedychium, Kaempferia and Zingiber.

But enough of this trifling information. On with the party.

However, herein lies the problem. From the sole perspective of music, which is central to any party’s agenda, there was not much to recount. Let us try however.
 

Alam, of the popular Obsession collective, was to warm up the decks before Atmosphere resident and new Channel V hostJoey G. The venue must have been uninhabited when Alam played because by the time Joey G was on the decks, the crowd was at best sparse.

Joey G tried to initiate the crowd into throwing some grooves but they seemed apathetic to what was going on; perhaps Ginger Collection Garden’s potent collection had overloaded their senses. Nonetheless Joey G kept on with his pumping, hard sound, albeit to an empty dancefloor.

Satoshi Tomiie must have turned up at about 1 a.m. and the venue came alight at the sight of the Japanese headliner. From the stables of Def Mix and SAW Recordings, Tomiie has a repertoire spanning close to 20 years. He is, without doubt, Japan’s most successful international DJ and house music producer.
 

Tomiie’s sets are known to be ever-evolving, and this was the case on the night. Filled with massive basslines and twisted electro hooks, his set was more electro-house than progressive- which seems to be the fashion these days. He set the pace early on, mixing one banger after another, but the crowd would agree that it was a lustre-less performance. It was not to be the phantasm-filled walk in the park that we were hoping for. There was also the possibility that he was dissatisfied with the DJ booth set-up as there were interruptions on more than three occasions.

And when it was announced that the night was to end early at 3.15 a.m., there wasn’t the usual “one more please?” chants from the thousand-strong crowd. Ben Katana and Eugene didn’t get to play; hopefully there will be another time.
 

But for one night, juxtaposed against captivating green-scapes, the Tempo’s Regenerate crew managed to fill a dragonfly shaped complex in the middle of nowhere. The fact that Malaysians are now taking full advantage of their underutilised parks, although in a rather unexpected way, is laudable.

- Word & pics by Faizal