The Juice Box

by Pei Chang

Taiwan is an incredible country and Taipei is the crown jewel of Taiwan. The people are very extremely nice and generous, similar to the Thai and the Filipinos. The city is very clean and there is an extremely efficient subway station that takes tourists to the highlights of the city.

I love Taipei but I have to admit that I was born here. Now the primary difficulty with the city is that the level of English skills with the locals is not as high as Singapore or the Philippines. However, the locals are always friendly and willing to try to converse with you.

The primary bar of the moment is called G*star. You go downstairs to a pretty large bar with a decent dance floor. It is divided into a bar for about 2/3 of the space. The remaining 1/3 of the space is a very comfortable dance floor with a very nice lighting system with lasers. The clientele is very diverse range of men. The dance area is weighed heavily towards twinks. During prime time, the djs plays a tea dance style happy diva vocal songs that everyone can dance to. However, between 1-2:30 am on weekends the songs turn unexpectedly to Chinese dance songs. The songs are the basic 3.5 minute europop flavored songs. They are fun to enjoy but the change of songs can be very unexpected. The twinks go CRAZY at this time, singing along and pumping their fists in the air. It’s very similar to clubs like GAMBoi and Tigerheat in LA. If you like twinks, you’ll be in heaven.

The rest of the club is a different range and style of men. Since this is the bar of the moment, everyone goes there. If you are familiar with gay clubs in Taipei, the owner of Jump was the previous owner of Funky. It’s a fun place to hang out and the circuit boys are also known to attend if it’s not a party night. This is not a party club, this is a drinking crowd. The sound system has a very low base and is directed primarily towards the dance floor. In fact, the music in the drinking area is very low and conversation is easy. The only real negative with the bar is that smoking is still permitted and there ventilation is poor. My eyes were burning after only 15 min. However, this would be a problem with almost any bar or club you attend and it cannot be avoided.

The afterhours club is called Jump. I’ve reviewed it a few years ago for Taiwan Pride. This time the club event is called Follow Me and it’s absolutely awesome by Asian standards. The club is also downstairs. I’ve discussed my philosophy about how I like going downstairs to a club because it makes it seem like you are descending into something an illegal gambling den or a forbidden speakeasy. There are lockers to coat check and you need to get there early on busy nights in order to obtain a locker for your jackets. Then the rest of the area is divided into 3 sections – the first one is strictly a bar area. It seemed to me that a lot of the bears liked to hang out here as well as the people who didn’t really dance as much. The music wasn’t as loud and I think that’s where you made conversation if you were interested in getting to know someone better.

The second is an intermediary area that is a bar that looks onto the dance floor. This is where the attractive people danced more because it was brighter and they could be seen. It was also where people danced when they wanted a little more space to dance because the dance floor can get pretty crowded. There are also special VIP booths that you need to reserve in advance. However, there are additional seats that are not VIP in the area as well.

The dance floor is the third area. There is the dj area on an elevated platform where the dj can get instant feedback from an appreciative crowd. Across the dj area is also a small stage to dance if you want to be seen above the crowd.

The crowd is also a mix of different ages and types. It is reputed that the boys in Taiwan are some of most attractive in Asia and I would definitely concur. However, it is sometimes difficult to meet them and carry on a conversation unless you are introduced by a mutual friend. It is not always necessary, but it definitely a plus. The island is small and there’s probably two degrees of separation between everyone.

DJ Shigeki was guest DJ of the night and he was spectacular. I have to admit that he’s a friend of mine but he really did a great job. He started of more mainstream to warm up the crowd but quickly switched to something with a bit more of an edge. It was tribal with more of a sophisticated layered electric-trance tribal rhythm. And his spinning is absolutely flawless from a technical standpoint with layer upon layer. His music was the perfect segue way from the prime time set to afterhours of 1-4:30 am. He did mix in some vocals, which the Taiwan boys love, to awesome tribal with electro-trance flourishes that I had never heard before. Great job.

A local DJ Stone followed him up. DJ Stone played fat beats sorta like a gay tribal Fatboy Slim. It wasn’t the normal Latin tribal we are used to in the Americas. Instead it was more of a basic big beat that really slammed you over the head. Repeatedly. It was a different style that was extremely effective nonetheless. Also lots vocals. It was like a tribal hard house. And the boys went berserk at this point – chanting and screaming, with their fists up in the air.

It was an awesome night of music. This was the type of American-British dance music that I could appreciate. Depending on the night, the music style changes and it can be a bit more German techno depending on the club night. I think that this would probably be similar in style to a mini Taiwanese Alegria in terms of the circuit boys that would attend and the tribal music played. It was a pleasantly full house but not packed. Many were saving their energy for the following weekend DJ Chus was coming into town. It was still a great night that I’ll remember for a long time.

You need to time your trip accordingly because Follow Me only happens the last Saturday of the month. Or go during a major holiday weekend with a different theme. If you end up there on an off night, there won’t be anything except G*Star. I was here the weekend before Follow Me at Jump and there was nothing.

The other thing that you have to worry about is the authorities. Be careful when entering Jump. Enter directly from the front and go down directly. Do not loiter or go anywhere outside the immediate entrance and you’ll be fine. However, there are police that have been known to bust people nearby. And you do not want to be busted. Trust me.

After the club, many people head to the local sauna Aniki. This is because many of the partygoers still live with their parents because real estate prices are so high and also many do not leave their families until they get married for cultural reasons. There are sleeping rooms at the sauna there where many sleep off their party favors. Among other things.

There are also a variety of house parties after the club. They are known by the nickname “home pa.” However, this is where things get difficult to explain. Entrance based on these parties is based on who you know and how attractive you are. I found the whole system to be similar to a weekend on Fire Island (no disrespect to Fire Island but you know what I mean). You have to know people in order to be invited to these parties. And there are successive parties that go one from the other. And invitation to each party is only to a select few. These parties are illegal because of the redacted and the police can go in property and arrest people without a warrant. So people have to be careful.

The first house party was a bear party with about 35 people. There was actually dancing and the music was your basic gay house music. People are very friendly but there isn’t any messing around to speak of. It was just a party after the main party. The second party was much smaller – about 20 people and there was no real dancing. Just friends hanging out and talking with each other and trance music in the background.

That’s the scene in Taiwan in a nutshell. It is currently the best party scene in Asia and its ranges from good to incredible. It’s highly dependant on the weekend and the holiday. However, people there should party at their own risk and be extra careful.

One last item. The GaGa Fame Monster continues. She has the number one album in the country. And her Bad Romance is everywhere. In the stores. In the clubs. And yes, even the non English speaking gay boys all chant along. I guess gay diva icon is universal. Her video was featured on huge video screens in Ximending, the equivalent of Times Square. Her translated name here is “Princess” GaGa. And the gay boys are waiting to for her world tour but know that she won’t come to Taiwan unless China allows her to perform there first. Which, sadly, is almost impossible.

See you on the dancefloor.