With the fickleness of clubbing culture in Taiwan, it’s hard to imagine that 14 years ago, Carnegie’s was the hottest ticket in town — and it is still going full steam ahead today. Fresh off the success of Coyote Ugly (2000), a film about a pub in New York City where waitresses danced on bar tops and teased their customers if they were rude, Carnegie’s caused a lot of controversy when it opened because the dance floor was on top of the main bar. The initial intrigue turned to popularity because everyone wanted to see what the fuss was about. Since then, Carnegie’s has had its share of ups and downs as it fought to stay true to what it always has been — a down-to-earth place where anyone was welcomed.
Recently, the powers that be hired DJ Hifive (real name Michael Wald) to take on the task of being entertainment manager and resident DJ on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Now, Carnegie’s is feeling younger and livelier than it has in a long time.
Hifive spent two years teaching English in China, where he started hearing stories that Taiwan was the island Shangri-La of the Mandarin-speaking world. He eventually made the leap and landed at National Sun Yat-sen University (國立中山大學) in Kaohsuing doing a master’s degree. Hifive got his DJ moniker the first night he played at Brickyard, when he started high-fiving everyone in the crowd to hype them up and they rushed to the DJ booth, almost causing it to tip over.
Photo courtesy of David Lacey
After receiving his degree, the allure of the big city led Hifive to take a tech job in Taipei. He was soon hosting his own soirees on weekends at various venues around town. Carnegie’s came calling and he jumped at the chance to make a living playing music and planning events. After three months on the job, Hifive is getting used to playing backbreaking seven-hour sets each night, which he describes as a “smorgasbord of house, disco, pop, EDM, Latin, R&B with plenty of surprises in between.”
The goal set for Hifive has been to attract hipper crowds to Carnegie’s without offending the regulars. This means that doing drum and bass, trap, or dubstep nights are out of the question, but almost anything else Hifive or his network can think of is a go.
Hifive said in an e-mail interview that he’s been inviting DJs and promoters to hold their own parties at Carnegie’s. Some of them have been involved in big events such as Taipei Paris Nights, Kamikaze Promotions and The Soul, among others.
“They bring their own crowd to mix with the Carnegie’s regulars and it creates a really good party vibe,” Hifive says. “On any given night you could end up meeting a businessman from Italy, a Dutch flight attendant or a Taiwanese group of college students. As Ringo Starr put it, I’m doing this all ‘with a little help from my friends.’”
For this month, Hifive is focusing on Thursday nights, where he can make things a little more underground instead of the usual mainstream. He had a well-attended Caribbean night that worked even during the typhoon last week, and will be doing a deep house martini night, as well as a rock and roll jukebox night, where customers can request any rock song of their choosing.
■ Carnegie’s is open daily as a restaurant at 11:30am. The parties start at 10pm and go until 4am at 100, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段100號). Admission for men is NT$300 on Wednesdays and NT$500 on weekends and includes one drink. Ladies are free every night.
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