The Full Moon Beach Party at Green Bay (翡翠灣) in Taipei County last weekend felt like the last outdoor party of the summer. It was a bit depressing. Come 3am the sound was so low most people gave up dancing and wandered home or down to the beach for a sleep. The real action went at the hotels nearby where DJs, promoters, models and those with long pockets stayed until they were forced to check out late in the afternoon.
The party bumped along merrily enough and there were plenty of people, but corporate hands were everywhere. There was little but Heineken to drink, the staged events were mostly lame (except the lanterns and occasional fireworks), the
dancers couldn't move their bodies beyond the odd wriggle, and the two stages were set up so there was interference between the sound systems.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
The speakers for the hip-hop stage were atrocious. What was the point of inviting a DJ like Ronnie Herel to travel 10,000km plus and not be able to hear the records he had to play? It was embarrassing. Fatman Scoop, bless, tried his utmost. The 165kg American spent the first part of his set tweaking the speakers. Then he manically bounced around the party site attracting a crowd to the stage before blasting out his hits. There was so little bass and so much treble, volume and distortion however, that it was painful to listen to and as much fun as standing behind a revving jet engine.
The dance stage was better and Edmund got the party going before a posse of TV cameramen swooped and scattered the dancers, as everyone guessed the media presence presaged a police raid. Since there was no muck to rake -- the party was so sanitized by the corporate sponsors it felt vaguely like a school outing -- models acted up for the cameras instead. Despite the distractions, SL played a quality set, Victor pumped the crowd and Darren Pearce, aka JDS, was outstanding.
Moving on to this weekend's events: Since Marcus Aurelius first discovered The Source and introduced it to a straight crowd, it has become the place to go for those tired of checking out the usual suspects in the center of town (Luxy, Eden). Tomorrow, Sweet Beats presents a back-to-school party featuring a spot of electro from Morley, house from Adora and Scottyballer, breaks from Elements, and hip hop from Gunshow and Marcus Aurelius. It's an all you can drink affair, NT$500 for the boys and NT$350 for the girls.
Tonight, at the increasingly desperate Eden it's ladies' night. "Guyz" are being charged NT$350 before 12; tomorrow Beat Symposium will be weaving some mix 'n' match magic with Pierre and Marc. At MoS tonight its "Mod's Hair" (whatever) and one of the world's top-10 DJs Christopher Lawrence from the US on Saturday. Finally, hip-hop icon DJ Cam will not be playing tomorrow at Luxy, but don't despair Taiwan's first DMC champion, DJ E-Turn, will perform, along with Miss Angie and DJ J6.
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The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su