The big deal this weekend started with a rodent that died in the back of a computer. deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman), who brings his audio and video spectacular to the New Taipei City Exhibition Hall tomorrow night for Spring Love, was changing a soundcard when he found a mouse that had gotten stuck and died. Online friends joked that he was “the guy with the dead mouse.” He wanted to create a user name out of the joke to use on a chatroom, but there was an eight-character limit for names on the chat site he was using, so deadmau5 was born and the rest is history.
That history includes going from relative obscurity to ranking near the top of DJMag.com’s Top 100 DJ poll over the last three years (No. 11 in 2008, No. 6 in 2009 and No. 4 last year). deadmau5 is most well-known for his hit Ghosts ’n’ Stuff, which has been featured on the soundtrack for MTV’s highest rated show, Jersey Shore, as well as the video games DJ Hero 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Last year, deadmau5 performed at the MTV Video Music Awards and the Winter Olympics.
Still, deadmau5 doesn’t consider himself a DJ. He is a producer and has never been part of the DJ culture. He wears a huge mouse head when he performs and his stage setup is unlike anything else.
Photo Courtesy of the LOOP
David Hsia (夏天浩), head of theLOOP, the company that has been holding Spring Love since 2003, recently said: “This is deadmau5’s first time in Taiwan, and he’ll be performing at a brand new venue. deadmau5 will be traveling with his production crew, so this high quality show will feature synchronized sounds and video. We are confident that people will have one of the best times of their lives.”
■ theLOOP presents Spring Love featuring deadmau5 tomorrow night at the New Taipei Exhibition Hall (新北市工商展覽中心) 1 Wucyuan Road, Wugu Industry Park, New Taipei City (新北市五股工業區五權路一號). Admission is NT$1800 at the door.
With the temperatures in Taiwan inching up toward roasting this week, it’s time for some reggae music. The conglomerate of Black Reign (formerly known as the O-Brothaz) has been lying low for a while and decided not to hold their Reggae Beachfest earlier this year. Instead, they are grabbing their red, yellow and green towels, adding a few guests like Sunny Smalls and Rankin Kim, and promising lots of sweaty bodies grinding in close quarters to dub and reggae all night long.
■ Dubwise from 10:30am to 5am tonight at Revolver, 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$350, which includes a drink.
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