After two months of intense competition, the Taiwan 2015 Red Bull Thre3style DJ battle is over. The dust settled on May 22 at Myst, and Mr Skin (real name: Lai Chung-hung, 賴重宏) was declared victorious, earning a trip to the world finals in Tokyo, Japan in September. His 15-minute winning set consisted of an eclectic mix of Mandarin songs, Run DMC with Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Bee Gees, Red Hot Chili Peppers and even Bon Jovi for good measure. It was the exact opposite of what Myst’s patrons hear regularly — one of the reasons Mr Skin caught the judges’ ears.
Mr Skin let the Vinyl Word in on some of the preparations he made for the competition. Before the battle, Mr. Skin, along with DJs Question Mark and Ground, decided to call themselves the Agreement Team Boys and promised each other they would meet in the finals. It worked, and all three DJs made it through their qualifiers. Mr. Skin and DJ Ground even worked closely together, listening and critiquing each others’ sets before they performed.
Mr. Skin says he never hesitates to reach out to others for feedback on his sets.
Photo courtesy of UpAgainsttheWall.Asia
“When I first raised this very cheeky proposal directly to DJ Ground, I thanked him for agreeing with it,” he says. “I think it allows us to have a healthy competition and has many positive benefits.”
OMNI-POTENT
On May 20, OMNI held its soft opening, with the weekend as the actual grand opening. Both of these openings were delayed by construction for a few weeks, but word on the street is that OMNI, which used to by Luxy, has a huge chance to reclaim the best-club-in-Taipei championship belt that Luxy held before it closed in March. For starters, OMNI has stunning video screens that wrap around the DJs, making customers feel like the future is now. Also, one of the biggest complaints about Luxy’s main room was the positioning of the bar, which took up most of the space in the back. With the bar gone, there is now more room to breathe.
Will OMNI follow Elektro and Myst and start booking DJ Mag’s top 100 acts to bring in the punters, or will they create their own way forward? It is too early to tell, but OMNI has a lot of potential.
UPS AND DOWNS
A decade ago, the Black Eyed Peas were on top of the world with hit singles, sold-out global tours, and universal radio play. The group once played the Super Bowl and sold 10 million copies of their record, Monkey Business. Things have changed quite a bit in 10 years. Tomorrow night in Taichung at Show House, a club known for being filled with Eastern European strippers, Taboo, one-third of the Black Eyed Peas’ original line up, will be reliving the early-2000s by playing his favorite EDM, pop and hip-hop songs as well as a ton of his own material.
■ DJ Taboo is at Show House tomorrow night from 8pm to 5am, 161, Daguan Rd, Taichung City (台中市大觀路161號). Admission is NT$1,000 at the door.
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