Last Saturday, Polar Bear Ice World (北極熊滑冰世界) in Ximending was transformed into a winter wonderland. DJs spun tunes from the middle of the half-sized hockey rink, while more than 650 people skated to disco beats all night long. There were a few conga lines, a lot of people clinging to the edges trying to learn to skate and more falling down.
But it was really last Sunday that was hopping. Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and jumping onto the table supporting the CDJs that GTA were playing on, Skrillex (real name Sonny Moore) received the packed house hype as soon as he showed up. He quickly plugged in his USB sticks and had OMNI eating out of the palms of his hands as soon as he mixed in his first track. For the next hour and a half, Skrillex played his own songs, the tracks he did with Diplo for Jack U and a couple of rare remixes specially made for live shows.
While Skrillex’s set was crowd-pleasing, he didn’t take too many chances with the music selection. The biggest difference between a Diplo and a Skrillex DJ set is that Diplo will at any time throw in some dancehall, trap or brand-new hip-hop and keep the crowd guessing but still involved. Skrillex, on the other hand, plays what he knows the crowd likes and doesn’t stray far from his formula of 16-bar vocals and then a 16-bar drop.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Mactography
A new face
Nowadays, the bar for becoming a DJ is so low that anyone can download a bunch of popular tracks and play them on a computer software that will automatically mix them. This makes it very hard for new DJs to gain respect from older, more seasoned ones.
Mrs Uppity (real name Migo Lee, 李姝樺) only started deejaying this year, but she has turned heads with her grasp of music and enthusiasm for performing. She received her musical training from her husband, DJ Mr Uppity (real name Scott Lelievre).
She said that the one thing he taught her that resonated the most was: “Play the music I like, enjoy being on the stage and hope the crowd feels the same way about the music as I do.”
On a recent Saturday night at Triangle, Mr Uppity was booked to play, but halfway through his set, he asked Mrs Uppity if she wanted to jump on the decks. She was nervous because she had only preformed a few times before, but took on the challenge. Soon, everyone in the club had moved closer to the stage, throwing their hands up in the air.
“I realized that the key is to appreciate your own music,” Mrs. Uppity said. “I was so relaxed and enjoyed my music so much.”
■ Ibiza Calling featuring Mr and Mrs Uppity and Dominik T takes place tonight from 10pm to 4am at 18TC, 38 Dachuan St, Taichung City (台中市大川街38號). Admission is NT$100 for ladies before 12am and NT$200 after. Admission is NT$500 for men before 12am and NT$600 after. Admission prices include all-you-can-drink.
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