Students organise morning parties with coconut matcha and a saxophone player. ‘It doesn’t screw up the rest of the day’

When most people sleep in after a night out, a large group of individuals gathered at Bonza Koffie last Saturday for a music-infested morning party. The purpose is to ‘create an alternative for people wanting healthier mornings and no hangovers’, said Mela Konarska, Psychology student and cofounder of AM Club.

By 10 in the morning, Bonza Koffie was open for business. On this casual rainy Saturday, the shop filled with customers. Some for their morning coffee, others waiting for the fifth volume of AM Club. A wave of people crowded the DJ set in anticipation on the opposite side of the entrance, whilst swarming the bar on the right side, ordering special edition coconut milk matcha, lattes and coffees.

What is AM?

AM Club is a morning party organisation founded by Psychology student Mela Konarska, and IBA students Filip Latoszek and Mateusz Spirydon. Envisioned a couple months ago, it brings trending American and Australian morning parties to Rotterdam, alongside a no-alcohol policy. “We want to show that you can have fun, meet new people and dance to music without the need for drinking”, said Mela.

DJ and saxophone

With warm, cold or fizzy drinks in hand, the DJ started playing. A mix of house, jazz and techno, suiting all types of music tastes, mimicking the diverse architectural style of Bonza Koffie, from factory-like pipes to hanging plants.

This edition featured a live saxophone performance. The musician walked out onto what had become the dancefloor and started jamming music. Quickly, he was the centre of attention, tuning music like the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

New format

Soon, a crowd swarmed around the musician. What was a cozy cafe minutes ago quickly turned into a club scene. Franek, an IBEB student, believes that ‘the crowd is less aggressive, you don’t have people jumping over you’: “I am more used to going out at night, but with this format I don’t get headaches, and I feel more energized throughout the day.” His friend from Amsterdam, Iga, thinks that it could be a more social event, and she has just the thing: “I feel like it needs a special martini to get the socialness going.”

Sanya and Andrea, both students from Erasmus, never came to an AM Club event before. “We saw it on TikTok and thought it seemed interesting and fun”, said Andrea. What did they think of it for their first time? “We love this format”, said Sanya. “We’ve been going out at night, but this has better vibes.”

Multiple generations

AMClub was founded by students, but not only for students. Luke from India and Jordan from the US were students ‘back in the day’. “We came to their first event, and we fell in love with the vibes, the socialness, and the fact that it doesn’t screw up the rest of the day but rather fills you up with energy to tackle it”, said Luke. Used to many hangovers, he compared morning and night partying as apples and oranges. “They’re two different ways of partying, which yield different results, but are both super enjoyable”, said Luke.

“We don’t care if we’re not students anymore, we’re here because we enjoy the vibes, and we just want to have a good time”, said Jordan. Mela, the cofounder of AM Club, aims to attract as many people as possible: “We want to mix the generations, to open it for as many people as possible, so that everyone can have fun.”