New Year’s Eve always provides a dash of madness for the masses, so it’s only fitting that a key member of one of the biggest groups in the world will be adding to that hysteria. Taboo (real name Jaime Gomez) is one fourth of The Black Eyed Peas, the hip-hop electro pop outfit that has been flooding the charts with its catchy anthems for the past decade. He will be ringing in the New Year at Luxy by singing, dancing and deejaying.
Because of their dominant status as international superstars, many people don’t know that The Black Eyed Peas started off in 1988 as backpack rappers. In an e-mail interview with the Taipei Times, Taboo said that superstardom is great, but his favorite part of his career was its humble beginnings.
“All we had was a dream and our friendship. We were hungry and young and it was all about the music and trying to make it,” he said. “It was surprising to be an underground group from LA and then to becoming globally successful. It has not been easy for me. Working more and being away from my family is hard but all and all it’s been a blessing.”
Photo courtesy of WAM Asia
As a Prince and Michael Jackson fan from a young age, Taboo has looked to them as inspiration for his role in The Black Eyed Peas.
“I’m the showman,” he said. “I love the live performance aspect of our group. I feel like I set the tone live and we feed off each other’s energy. Live performing is my biggest asset and largest role in the group.”
With a slew of crowd-friendly songs like I Gotta Feeling, Boom Boom Pow, My Humps and The Time (Dirty Bit) to choose from in the The Black Eyed Peas’ catalogue, Taboo doesn’t only play his own songs when he deejays.
Photo courtesy of Dance Rock Taipei
“I think Party Rock Anthem is the biggest right now. I like the dance element and to see people recreate their version of the shuffle,” he said. “Plus it’s an international record that gets a reaction everywhere I go.”
* Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas performs a live DJ show tomorrow night at Luxy, 5F, 201, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段201號5樓). Call (02) 2772-1000 or 0955-904-600 for reservations (English service available). On the Net: www.luxy-taipei.com. Advance tickets are NT$1,200 (available at the venue), or NT$1,500 at the door. Open bar before midnight. The admission price includes one drink after midnight. From 10pm to 4am
Tonight things will get grimy at Revolver because the bar is bringing back the Shanghai-based producer ConRank, and this time he’s got a few friends with him. ConRank will be performing for the first time ever with Lo-Fire, the group that he produces and deejays for, which consists of beatboxer Double and rapper Shen Yi (沈懿).
In a Skype interview, ConRank said that he had started looking for people to work with in Taiwan six months ago. At a dinner, one of his friends called Double and the project took off.
“Double is damn good at what he does, and Shen Yi is so versatile. He also does Beijing opera,” ConRank said. “This was exactly what I was looking for — people who were keen, passionate, and talented.”
ConRank has been in Taiwan since Wednesday preparing for Lo-Fire’s debut. He said the name of the group came about because of the low-end sounds that emit from the speakers when they play. “Most of our tracks are pretty bass heavy, and as our first song states, we bring the fire,” he said.
* Rankadank presents Lo-Fire, ConRank, Double and Shen-Yi tonight at Revolver from 11pm to 5am, 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號). On the Net: www.revolvertaipei.com. Admission is NT$250, which includes a drink
The 2012 NYE Golden Party with Christian Smith and Dave Seaman takes place tomorrow from 7pm to 5am at ATT Show Box1, 6F, 12 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路12號6樓). Advance tickets are NT$1,300, available at www.ticket.com.tw/infor/ticketing03.asp, 7-Eleven ibon kiosks and Family Mart’s FamiPorts. Admission is NT$1,600 at the door.
Luxy has invited back Justin Michael to kick off the big weekend.
“As far as production and remixes, this year I’ve worked with Kascade and Deadmau5, and collaborated with Bruno Mars. I’ve also produced some tracks for local pop stars like Vanness Wu (吳建豪) and Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒),” said Micheal.
* Justin Michael plays at Luxy tonight, 5F, 201, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段201號5樓). Call 0955-904-600 for reservations (English service available). Admission is NT$300 before 11pm and NT$600 after, which includes two drinks
Skeet Skeet, real name Trevor McFedries, is currently on tour with Katy Perry, but he will be playing alongside Jason Smith tomorrow at Myst Nightclub. If seeing Taipei 101’s fireworks spectacular is important to you, then this could be just the ticket.
“I have to brag about the view — it’s spectacular. We’ll have the best view ever of the fireworks,” said Jonathan Huang (黃振和), supervisor at Myst. “And our new balcony is huge; it wraps around the whole corner of the club. There is even a bar out there.” Tables at Myst are already booked out, but tickets are still available for NT$1,500, which includes three drinks.
* Skeet Skeet and Jason Smith play tomorrow at Myst, 9F, 12 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路12號9樓). Call (02) 7737-9997 for reservations. For English-language inquiries, send an e-mail to jh@club-myst.com. From 10pm to 4am
If one night of partying isn’t enough to ring in the New Year, Dance Rock Taipei is doing something different and throwing a party the day after all the others.
More! 01 takes place Sunday at The Wall (這牆) with Style of Eye (real name Linus Eklow) from Sweden and BeatauCue, a DJ duo signed to the hot French label Kitsune.
The party’s organizer, Spykee Fat, real name Chin Hung-chieh (金弘杰), hopes that people will beat their hangovers and think of Monday as a holiday. “We used to get additional days off for the holidays, but this year it was cut short. So I hope that … people can give themselves an extra day. We deserve it,” said Spykee. “Besides, other countries have a pretty strong Sunday scene. This time it’s our turn.”
Spykee, dINO, MadBrain, SwingChild and Neonkidz are also on the bill.
* More! 01 is at the The Wall, B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Tickets are NT$1,000 in advance, available from the venue, and NT$1,200 at the door. The party runs from 11:30pm to 4:30am
If you’re into underground house music and intimate party vibes, then The Soho’s New Year’s Eve party fits the bill. The lineup includes Yoshi, K.J. Stone and Fokker. The dress code is black or gold.
* Yoshi, K.J. Stone and Fokker play tomorrow at The Soho, 149, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段149號). On the Net: www.thesoho.com.tw. Admission is NT$800 at the door. From 9pm to 5am
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