Lovers' Day should ensure that it will be a busy Saturday night this weekend, as clubs seek to entice couples and hopeful singles to while away some hours before returning home for a climax of bedroom gymnastics.
Luxy has co-opted all the major dance-music promoters from around the nation for the third annual "Sweet" party. A total of 27 DJs, many of them on the local A-list, will be doing half-hour sets, with something to please everyone in terms of musical styles.
"This year is pretty special because we've got three rooms," said Luxy's Alan Hsia. "In one room we will have house, techno, breaks and trance. There's going to be drum 'n' bass in the lounge, hip hop and MCs in the galleria. Almost all the production crews that we could put together are getting it together."
As if music being the food of love was not enough, 100 "Sweet" girls will be parading around the club giving out free CDs, stickers and lollipops. There's also a game for singles: Get a color sticker on entry, find a mate with a matching sticker, get one free drink and two straws.
Jimmy Chen is one of the big-name local DJs who has been asked to do a set at Luxy for "Sweet," but afterwards he will be heading to his new club, X-Direction on Jilong Road, for "Love is the Message." If a couple wears matching T-shirts or is dressed the same, then it's two-for-one entry. When it was mentioned that hardly anyone wears tops at X-Direction, Chen replied, "We're not all gay, you know."
Tonight, DJ Stone gets his turn in the spotlight with "Stone Age," a four-hour set from the former TeXound master of trance. The alternative is tribal house with DJ Vertigo and Victor Chen at "The World" at Luxy.
At Ministry of Sound tonight and tomorrow, it's G-club, with decks, keyboards and percussion, for a show that has converted tens of thousands of ravers in UK dance circles.
As a Lovers' Day special, earlier on Saturday evening beginning at 7pm, there will be a concert in conjunction with Wave Radio, featuring Taiwanese Mando-pop singers and rising Japanese R 'n' B outfit, Soul 'n' Out. Local chanters and chanteuses include Landy (
At Eden, DJ @llen will be getting his freak on with "Love Groove" -- spinning funky house, backed up by West Coast house from Nina and old-skool hip hop from the UK's Da. One bottle of Champagne free, if you buy two.
Speaking of the burgeoning dance music scene in Taiwan, @llen said the development of the big clubs had been a good thing but "the underground scene has to develop. It's not balanced, the commercial scene is much more dominant now."
"On the other hand, we can see different styles of DJs. Before everyone wanted fast yaotou-type music, so now they know that foreign DJs play a lot of different stuff," he said.
The Summer Splash event at Baishawan Beach (白沙灣) that was canceled last week and renamed the "The Last Party of the Summer" is going ahead this weekend, weather permitting.
On the lineup are 45 DJs and bands such as Machi (
A bit further afield is a free party on the beach at the ghetto Hamptons surfer enclave of Dahsi tomorrow night, featuring seven DJs spinning all varieties of house music and hip hop. The music starts at 9pm and will go until the morning sun starts to warp the vinyl.
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