Review – VU Live House (Drum and Bass Party)

This relatively new venue is a real treat. It’s size is small enough to be intimate, but large enough to accomadate a crowd. It’s tastefully decorated and has a great vibe. I was especially impressed with the FREE tables. It was a pleasant change from the elitism of paying a fortune for the privelege of sitting down. But this is just an overview of the venue… I expect it was the event that made it special.

In a town ruled largely by Top-40’s hiphop, the show was a fantastic change of pace. Very talented DJs were spinning great DnB beats all night. Mixed with an all you can drink bar, it made dancing an absolute necessity. The laser show was fantastic, especially when the smoke machines went into overdrive, and playing Ninja Scroll on all the club TVs is near and dear to my heart.

The crowd at this particular event was foreign, friendly and there for a good time. There were few locals at this particular event, which was a real shame, because they missed out on a great time. The company available was good, though. It was obvious the crowd had a passion for the music, and everyone had a great time.

For a taste of something different, I will definitely keep my eye on this place. If this is representative of VU Livehouse’s level of quality, I will keep it in my regular roster of venues whenever I’m looking for something fresh, new and exciting. I think you should, too.

Sincerely,
Daniel

A Birthday Party to Remember

Saturday, April 11th was the evening chosen to celebrate my birthday. Thanks to everybody who came out to celebrate the passing of another year here in Taipei, making it my 4th birthday here. Birthday’s here get better and better and this one was a brilliant one. It was great to party with all my friends, old and new, and it was clear everyone was having a blast. I wish I could mention everyone by name in this report, but there were just way to many people and it would take too long to write about it so I’ll just mention a few.

We kicked off the night’s festivities in true Western style with a brilliant dinner, organized by Daniel. Thanks a lot for the great array of Italian and French dishes and ensuring that there was more food than could be finished, although everyone gave it their best shot. It was great of “Bryan the Lion” to pull through even though he was feeling under the weather.

Then it was time to get down to the serious business of celebrating, where the wine flowed like water and reddened everyone’s cheeks, while Mr. Putt kept everyone in hysterics with his awesome stories of his misspent youth (a youth which he is still enjoying by the way). A shot of Gao Liang rice whiskey warmed our bellies, livened our spirits, and ignited our engines as we headed out into the unsuspecting night.

A short taxi ride took us to our destination; arguably the best big club in Taiwan, and perhaps even Asia, heck, the world: LUXY! We walked up into the club acting rowdy, escorted to our VIP tables, unmistakably marked with Taipei After Hours insignia, with a posse of LUXY bouncers and hostesses. The laser lights and techno music was a great mixer for the seemingly innumerable bottles or vodka, whiskey, rum and champagne, which sprawled across the table. While Graeme burnt it up on the dance floor with his killer dance moves, Emily and Jennifer seemed to be having a full-on photo shoot at a table nearby.

By the time Chris and Ariel arrived, the party had reached a level near frenzy. After a birthday toast and downing a bottle of champagne it was time for me to hit the dance floor where I bumped into my childhood friend from South Africa, Dean.

We all partied till late and it was great to see everyone together and having a fantastic time. LUXY closing was no excuse to end the party for some, and the true die hards partied until noon on Sunday. Or so I hear.

Thanks again to everyone who came and made it a special birthday. I hope we can all get together soon and have another really good time. Also to all the friends I’m going to meet this year; don’t worry, we don’t have to wait 12 months until the next party. I’m sure if we think hard we can come up with an excuse to get together to celebrate LIFE.