No more ‘Blue Elephant’

The curtains will come down on Blue Elephant, 'the night pulse of Colombo' on 21 April with a grand three day closing down bash at the Hilton.

The Blue, which is almost 20 years of age, will close its doors forever with a grand cocktail and three days of partying on 19, 20 and 21 April featuring all top Blue DJs. The icon of the Club, the massive wooden elephant will be auctioned on the last day, Saturday, 21 April and the proceeds will go to charity.

DJ Harpo, DJ Bunty, DJ Kapila, DJ Harith, DJ Wendal, DJ Nalin and DJ Danushka are billed to spin their discs for the last time at the Blue Elephant on this grand closing down bash.

Blue Elephant started its operation on 1 July 1987. At the beginning, the sound and lights were done by a Singaporean company called Inova. At the early stages Inova provided the Dee Jays and the first DJ was a female DJ Karen Askew from UK.

The very first Sri Lankan DJ at the Blue was Bunty Noordeen, who was also the first Sri Lankan to beat mix in a Sri Lankan night club. DJ Kapila who was trained by Bunty was next in line to take over as Resident DJ of the Blue Elephant and later he took over the Club as Manager. Kapila is the longest standing employee of the Club. During Kapila's period, DJ Ray, very popular and flamboyant in dress, also played at the Club.

Ray died of an untimely motor cycle accident while returning home after working for 'Flite Nite' which was a popular theme on Wednesday night at the Blue. After Ray's demise, DJ Harith, a hotel school student, came in as a trainee DJ. He took over as the resident DJ of the Club. Subsequently Kapila got a promotion as Assistant Food & Beverage Manager and Harith got a chance to manage the Blue. Harith is the second long standing DJ and Manager of the Blue Elephant, who is now managing ‘Spoons’, the signature restaurant of the Hilton Colombo.

The other notable DJ at the Blue was DJ Viran de Silva, who was very popular among the young crowd, especially among the fairer sex. He deejayed for over five years along with Kapila and Harith, and is now happily married and residing in London.

With Viran leaving, DJ Naushad, popularly known as Shad was flown down from Bahrain to perform at the Club. Naushad worked at the Blue for about eight years. This was the time that the trio - Kapila, Naushad and Harith formed KNH Project and released the first remixed CD 'Years of Deejaying' followed by the 'E-mix' for Shaggy's visit to Sri Lanka.

After Kapila moved on as Asst. F&B Manager and Harith took over the Club as Manager, DJ Monindra, known as Monie, came in to assist DJ Shad. Monie is now in New Zealand furthering his studies.

After Monie, DJ Thoshan worked for a brief period and Pradeep Kodikara who was the first resident DJ of Cascades Night Club - Lanka Oberoi, was recruited to the Blue Elephant. DJ Pradeep was with the Blue for about 3 years before moving on to another venue for better prospects. The last replacement was DJ Danushka, a very young boy of 22 years, who is still with the Blue to the very last day.

Harpo Gunaratne, one of the veterans in the scene was the Entertainment Manager of the Hilton at one time, was doing guest spots on a regular basis at the Blue. Popular DJ Wendal also had a 3 month stint at the Blue along with DJ Nalin of Perfect Beat.

'The time to relive good old days has gone. 'Blue Elephant' will be remembered for long time by many as the generation grew up with the place' said the management.’