For the past decade, promotion company The Loop has been the epicenter of Taiwan’s dance music scene.
The outfit, which was instrumental in nurturing the nascent genre here, and brought dozens of top-drawer acts to these shores, including the likes of Laurent Garnier, Takkyu Ishino, Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, Timo Maas, Armin van Burren, Tiesto, Deep Dish and Ferry Corsten, to name but a few, and operates clubs Luxy, Primo, and Xaga, celebrates its 10-year anniversary tomorrow with the Fantasia Waterpark Festival from noon until midnight.
The party is being held at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸), and a lineup of almost 30 acts will provide the entertainment.
“Throughout the decade, The Loop has been fortunate enough to be always at the front, bringing clubbers and party animals the latest and greatest party experience,” said co-founder David Hsia (夏天浩). “I guess when it comes to spoiling the crowd, we’re the one to blame. Nowadays people come out to party with a wild collection of expectations, and it’s become more and more difficult to satisfy all of them.”
With that in mind, tomorrow’s blowout has three stages. International acts include Playboy’s official DJ KayJay and 2008 centerfold playmates the Essex Twins, Billboard top-selling artist Fat Joe, electro-hop turntablist Craze, house producer Dan, Hed Kandi DJs and Treasure Fingers.
Live bands and MCs run the gamut from down-tempo hip-hop by Soft Lipa, underground rap by Dog G and Young Souljaz, to electro-dance-rock by Go Chic, Kraftwerk-inspired music from UFP, ghetto hit-pop by Daximen (大囍門) and Allen Wes’ underground metal.
Add to that a bevy of local DJs, notably Reaz:on, J-Six, Hooker, Cookie, Skunkrice, Xuan (劉軒) and Matty D.
There will be a bikini contest made up of a catwalk and talent show, followed by competitive games such as Hot Chick Boxing, with the overall winner taking home a grand prize of NT$20,000. Five runners-up will each receive NT$5,000.
Writing about the Fantasia Waterpark Festival is a bit like being a game show host: “And that’s not all ...”
Other events include a mechanical bull-riding competition, the Floating Log Dash, for which contestants cross a log bridge while being shot at by water guns, and a wet T-shirt contest hosted by Liquid Lifestyle Promotions.
Since 2001, The Loop has been putting on huge events. Some of the biggest include Spring Love, Winter Love, Godskitchen’s Halloween Massive and the White parties at Taipei’s World Trade Center.
Hsia describes starting out “as a bunch of party kids with no connection, no funds, nothing. We were nobody, trying to throw parties where we could dance our asses off.”
He said the last 10 years were “a hell of a bumpy ride.”
“It was this wild ride — the ride that saw nightlife itself elevated from the shady corner of society to an essential part of civil recreation — that we [are] most proud of,” he said.
His brother, Alan Hsia (夏天倫), co-founder of The Loop, moved to the US two months ago to invest in the Supperclub chain, which integrates fine dining with parties and DJs.
Both David Hsia and Luxy investor Marco Lapka have closely followed the evolution of dance music.
“We saw the skyrocketing of European dance music in the first half of the decade, and then we witnessed the booming of American hip-hop and rap in the latter half,” said David Hsia. “Now ... we find American hip-hop knocks on Europe’s door for some friendly cultural exchange.”
“Three years ago we’d snap at the thought that hip-hop would eventually sound like dance music and dance music would feature more and more rap,” said David Hsia. “So now what have we got? David Guetta spinning at Black Eyed Peas’ gigs and Three 6 Mafia rapping for Tiesto ... It would have sounded mental a few years back.”
Lapka agrees: “Now we see that hip-hop is morphing into electro-hop, BPMs are speeding up, house/techno/trance are coming back into the mainstream.”
Over the years, The Loop team has drawn inspiration from some unlikely places. At an early Spring Love party in Kenting, they borrowed Sony’s PlayStation shuttle bus and christened it the Love Shuttle: “You pushed a button and the 32-foot-long [9.8m] truck simply converted to a shining stage, Transformer-style,” said Hsia.
But the free party they threw near the main drag was shut down. They hadn’t booked rooms, so “we boys had to cram into the container of the truck,” said David Hsia. “That was one damn hot and humid metal box ... Once we were back [in Taipei], we came up with the idea which has become our flagship brand of gay parties, G5, reproducing the male-bonding intimacy in that dark, humid space ...”
Fantasia Waterpark Festival (The Loop Productions’ 10th Anniversary) tomorrow from noon to midnight at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸), 1-6, Neighborhood 1, Siagu Village, Bali, Taipei County (台北縣八里鄉下罟村1鄰下罟子1之6號). To get there take the MRT to Guandu Station (關渡捷運站), then take the Red No. 22 (紅22) bus directly to the water park, or take a taxi. Admission is NT$2,000 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at Luxy, Xaga and 7-Eleven
ibon kiosks, or through ERA ticketing, online at www.ticket.com.tw or by calling (02) 2341-9898).
On the Net: www.theloop-production.com and www.fantasia.tw
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