Christmas is generally one big turkey for foreigners in Taiwan who miss home and often have to work. Coincidentally at least, the country celebrates Constitution Day on Dec. 25 and marks the Republic of China’s anniversary with a national holiday on Jan. 1. Tripping the light fantastic until dawn is probably not what the powers that be have in mind, but there will be plenty of it going on at Taiwan’s nightclubs this coming week.
Whichever big bash they choose to attend, clever folks will roll on down to Saucey’s new bar Pause for an early start, a second chance for that elusive membership, and to check out his first set of the night before he shuts down at 1am to continue playing elsewhere.
Pause. Wednesday from 7pm until 1am. 1F, 5, Alley 4, Ln 345, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段345巷4弄5號1樓). Free entry.
For the kind of intimate yet raucous night that is to be expected when Marcus Aurelius has a hand in proceedings, head down to Gold at Opus to celebrate with the party experts United Nations of Funk and a great lineup of DJs. On the first floor will be Aurelius and the Sofa Kings lashing out dance hall, funk, hip-hop and soul, while upstairs Nina, Eben Pretorius and Schism are on house duties. A glass of complimentary “champagne” will be given to each partygoer at midnight.
Gold at Opus. Wednesday from 10pm until 4:30am. 104, Civil Boulevard Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市市民大道四段104號). NT$500 at the door.
After the outfit’s monster New Year’s party in 2007, Frog in a Sock is back with The 2nd Last Minute. Set in the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel’s (王朝大酒店) glamorous penthouse suite, which boasts a large balcony with views of Taipei 101 for the fireworks, this do features two large rooms with hip-hop, deep house, electro, funk and 1980s to 1990s tunes from Hooker, 006, Saucey, vDub, Sunrise Soup, Godzilla and Mixer T.
The 2nd Last Minute. Wednesday from 8pm until 6am. 100 Dunhua N Rd, Taipei City (台北市敦化北路100號). NT$800 presale and NT$1,000 at the door. Contact Shawn at 0926-440-216 or Matt at 0988-421-990 for pre-sale tickets.
Over at the “Rainbow Plaza” (彩虹廣場) outside of Ximending’s Red House Theater (西門紅樓), a stellar lineup of Taiwanese DJ will rock away the ROC’s birthday outdoors with Teddy T, Kenplus, Cookie and Vertigo from 9pm until 1:30am with the afterparty being thrown at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓) from 1am until 6am and featuring Jimmy Chen, F*Daniel and J-Six.
Rainbow Plaza and Riverside Live House. Wednesday from 9pm to 6am. 177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號). NT$800 presale; NT$1,000 on the night. For more information, including a list of presale outlets, go to reday-taipei.blogspot.com.
Luxy is going to the other side with American hip-hop outfit Three 6 Mafia, winners of a 2006 Academy Award for their track Hard Out Here for a Pimp from the movie Hustle and Flow. Also performing are 11 house and hip-hop DJs; a few names to mention are Daryl, Reazon, Drew Divine and Tiger, as well as Cookie and Hooker making ends meet with a second session.
Luxy. Wednesday from 10pm until 6am. 5F, 201, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段201號5樓). NT$1,000 before midnight; NT$1,200 after.
SL will be flying solo at Barcode. Delicious deep and funky house from one of Taiwan’s finest, who also plays live keyboard. Fantastic drinks, lush surroundings and within spitting distance of Lava, Room 18 and Babe 18.
Barcode. Wednesday from 9:30pm to 3am. 5F, 22 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路22號5樓). Entry is NT$1,000.
Swank is going strong in Taichung after the group celebrated its six-year anniversary three weeks ago and is bringing in local boy Ripper for a DJ menage a trios with Matty D and Gareth Jones. As well as the dirty electro house there are dirty dancers and complimentary “champagne” at midnight.
Swank NYE 2009 at Liquid Lounge. Wednesday from 10pm to 6am. 98 Chungming S Rd, Taichung City (台中市忠明南路98號). NT$500.
For those that haven’t yet heard about last week’s drama that put a dent in the New Year’s party vibe, Scottyballer has left the country after a mix-up with his ARC meant a Christmas break at home in Toronto turned into a deportation and a minimum one-year ban on re-entry. He had been making huge strides into the scene with his slick mixing since he stepped up to electro house and was sure to have dropped a huge set on Wednesday. Another sad day for the expat DJ fellowship after the recent departure of his longtime friends Jr and Megan. Is there anyone out there to fill his size 12s? Word is old roommate and friend of Scottyballer, South African Franz von During, is stepping up after coveting the club decks for a while from his bedroom booth. Watch this space for info once he brings his chunky funky electro house to a wider audience.
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
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They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
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