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The Vinyl Word

MC Davi and the Luxy girls rip it up in Kenting last weekend. Organizers said some 12,000 revellers attended the Springwave and Moonlight parties. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LOOP

Although he lost his DJ Mag spinmeister crown last year to Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto (aka Tijs Verwest) remains at the top of his game. In the galaxy of superstar DJs he's pulled off a roll call of firsts. The only DJ to play at the opening of the Olympics -- a televised set at the Athens Games watched by an estimated audience of hundreds of millions ? he regularly packs gigs with tens of thousands of fans and has built up an impressive remixography.

His critics compare him to a rock star, and say he has turned himself into an object of worship ? a living god. Hyperbole aside, even his detractors acknowledge his shows are spectacular and his technical skills highly impressive. Tomorrow night he's stepping up to the wheels of steel to spin some magic at Nankang 101 (南港101) at 71, Hsinan St, Nankang Dist, Taipei (台北市南港區興南街71號).

Tiesto's credentials speak for themselves. So what about the venue: Can it accommodate the Dutch avatar of trance?

"Nankang 101 has a bit of a history. It was Taiwan's first superclub about 10 years ago, then it got shut down because it was too happening," said Alan Hsia of The Loop, the organizer of tomorrow's trance-fest. "It was reopened for concerts by TVBS and is now owned by the Eastern Broadcasting Group. It's a proper venue."

Tiesto's last gig in Taipei was at the World Trade Center 3, a venue with a less than impeccable party pedigree.

"We chose Nankang 101 because the World Trade Center was taken. Channel V used to do parties there and they were cursed by a bad sound system. People wouldn't go because of the shitty sound," Hsia told the Vinyl Word.

The sound system to be used at tomorrow's party is the EV line array, which has "wide horizontal dispersion and coherent wavefront summing in the vertical plane," according to the makers' Web site. Come again. The system allows technicians to determine the sound's projection so it won't bounce off the walls.

Tiesto is slated to spin for around three hours, and will be supported by Joe Ho and Vertigo who will play along with live vocals and drummers.

Presale tickets are NT$1,200 and can be purchased at Luxy. Entry on the night will set you back NT$1,500. Call 0930 158 324 or visit www.springlove.com.tw for more details.

If trance, no matter how good, doesn't tickle your fancy, then at the Wall tonight it's junglemania with Moving Fusion, FunkStar, Da, Elements and Zeon. The night is a valiant effort to put drum n' bass on the nightlife map.

"There's enough people who like drum n' bass to make something happen," Elements said. "The big clubs haven't been playing drum n' bass; they have a lot of sway. Anyone who's ever liked a punk riff or a metal tune, or even hip hop could find something in drum n' bass."

At Deluxe tomorrow, the Vice crew return with a night of funky house. Megan and Junior, Coffey, Hooker, 006, Saucey and SL will be in the mix.
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