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Who would have thought the Heineken Music DJ spin competition in Bangkok would turn out to be such a great party? Held at Retro Café inside the Queen Sirikit Convention Center, the event was well-organized featuring several booths selling, you guessed it, Heineken cans and bottles for a whopping 50 baht.  The party began with DJ Space Monkey, Thailand’s winner kicking off the night with a short set to get things going. Then followed the 3 finalists, each allowed a 20-minute set to wow the judges and attempt to get the crowd pumped. The judges included DJ Oatawa and Kolor One, winners of the 2004 competition, as well as DJ Toon from Virgin Hitz, music journalist James Kendall, and DJ/producer Erick Morillo. If we had the vote, the contest should have gone to New Zealand DJ Switch, who really impressed our music specialist with his scratching abilities, style, and display of sheer genius when he switched to a saxophone mid-set. However, one of the Thai judges was unimpressed and gave him a very low score which brought down our favorite only one point short of a tie. In the end, it was DJ Adhe out of Indonesia who took the prize, finding himself an overnight star at the tender age of 21 years.
After the competition came a set by Basement Jaxx and Erick Morillo. Even though the music wasn’t really up to par, the party continued unhitched, as everyone in the joint had already consumed one or ten too many green bottles. At the end of the night, punters had to trudge through the debris of empty bottles and crushed cans that littered what once was a carpeted floor. But what can you expect with beer priced at 50 baht and one extra hour to party past the regular curfew?
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