With an early performance by Thugli (Pat Drastik and Tom Wrecks) the night was off to a great start. Drastik and Wrecks played a nearly full hour set filled with dirty trap beats smoothly transitioning from one track to another. Regardless of the fact that it was not even eleven yet the crowd was bouncing up and down. A group of hardcore dancing fans made the area in front of the stage home and were enthusiastically showing off their moves to no one in particular.

Shortly after eleven, the DJ battle begun with Ottawa’s DJ Acro followed by a Tom Fleming from Halifax. The two DJs could not have had more opposing personalities. Acro seemed quiet and humble while Fleming maintained a cocky smirk throughout his entire set. Attitude aside, however, the two opening DJs were the least surprising of the bunch. During the previous years each competitor had to include at least 3 different genres into their original mix, this year that rule was taken off the shelf and the DJs were aloud to play “whatever the crowd wants.”

While that might not seem like a big deal the three-genre rule made each competitor’s set that much more creative and surprising. As the night went on some participants gave homage to the rule while Acro and Fleming did so very loosely with weak transitions and rather unoriginal selection of tracks. But the younger crowd was clearly enjoying Fleming’s set who no doubt had entered the room with a strong fan-base and contagious energy.

One of the first three to represent Toronto was DJ D-Smooth. The portentous Torontonian in me crossed her fingers: if our hometown DJ’s don’t do better than Ottawa and Halifax I will have to move to America. Or to Shintaro’s home-base in Tokyo. The audience divided into cheering and booing crowds, let’s be honest, we are not Canada’s favorite city but DJ D-Smooth immediately raised the bar. Playing a healthy selection of genres with clean transitions Smooth was the first one to noticeably incorporate scratching into his set.

DJ PLAEBOI and DJ IV from Halifax were the next two to take the stage scratching their way through trap, hip hop, rock with other dashes of randomness adding interesting layers to their sets. Montreal based dubstep DJ/producer Henward dropped a few ratchet old school tracks – Bang Bang! – while Toronto’s Intrinity played a mix of dub and pop EDM. DJ Dijon, Toronto, was the last one to compete. At this point the audience had already divided into two extremes, high on life and high on substances, so the energy at the club was shooting up through the ceiling. Dijon came on strong with some of the year’s hottest tracks mixed in with some of the history’s best beats. His mixing, however was choppy, each expert either nearly ended or ran head on into the next sample.

While the judges left the room to deliberate Grandtheft took the stage. Set in front of dizzying visuals and flashing “Grandtheft” signs, Aaron Waisglass kept the party going chatting up the audience and playing a combinaiton of his original tracks and various remixes. The crowd was thinning out, some people’s lubrication prevented them from getting back into the club after smoke breaks while the rest were throwing shapes and finishing up their drinks.

Throughout the night the competitors were judged on originality of track selection, creativity and technicality of mixing, stage presence and crowd response. After a brief deliberation the three finalists were announced during a quick break from Grandtheft’s set. DJ D-Smooth took the fist place, Tom Fleming second and PLAEBOI third. The trio will proceed to the National Finals in Vancouver on July 26 where they will battle the best of the West for a chance to move on to the World Finals in Baku.

While music isn’t nearly the same as sports, there are no team uniforms or scarves Red Bull Thre3Style championship are the DJ Olympics. So pick your favorite and watch him grow, from here on the competition gets a lot more interesting and technically challenging.

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Without a doubt, this week must have been a challenging one for the judges. Some sets were more prone to a dance off than other but all of them illustrated some type of a ridiculous skill. We’ve heard it all, all of the genres and, quite possibly, at least a beat from every good track that came out since 1965.

Unlike the rest of the week, Friday night did not start up with a two block line up, though that might have something to do with an 8pm door. The early arrivers got right into the action to Thugli’s trap remixes blended in with some slowed down beats. Immediately after Grandtheft, one of the week’s judges, set an example for how it’s done playing his own tracks in combination with a good friends of friends mix.

Keys N Krates’ live, bigger than life, set riled up the sweaty crowd for the finale championship. With only 15 minutes to showcase their talents the six finalists (including two wild cards) of the Thre3style World Championships were DJ Shintaro, DJ Byte, Eskei83, Bazooka, Trentino, and Marquinos Espinosa. Each finalist brought their everything to the table, video game soundtracks, classic electronic tunes from the ‘70s, the new and the old school hip hop, some jungle, some drum ‘n bass, your favorite movie dialogues, acrobatic DJ tricks and a whack of attitude. But the ultimate championship title with all the sleek and shiny trophies and eternal glory went to Japan’s DJ Shintaro.

From the first beat to the last Shintaro brought it! Regardless of it being still early in the night the entire Kool Haus was raising up the heat, every track was welcomed by a finger snap or an “Oh no he didn’t!”

The audience had already thinned out by the time the judges announce the winner. With so many DJs swapping throughout the night and radical headline set by A Tribe Called Red the winner was not announced until after 2 in the morning. The judges seemed exhausted, the competitors were completely beat, and the tired crowds were slowly wondering out of the building, leaning on walls and poles, or slowly swaying in anticipation. The hard core dancers stayed behind for AutoErotique while the rest exited the venue smiling, looking for street meat and a way home.

* * *

This is not an event that happens often. This is not the kind of show you would see in any of the participating venues on an average Tuesday or even Saturday night so people gave it their all. Most attended at least a couple days and the select few were fortunate enough to hit up the Art Of panels throughout the week at the Thompson Hotel. Most of the judges were either on the panel or in attendance every day tipping hats to each other throughout the discussion, sharing personal stories and insights. We’ve talked about the history of music with DJ Denise Benson, went way back to the beginnings of DJ culture with the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff and got to pick A-Track’s brain before his set at The Hoxton.

If you were really committed to experiencing Red Bull Thre3style you are probably exhausted and fulfilled, probably enjoying a caesar this afternoon with a tired smile. If you only had a chance to see one of the events you should head over to Thre3style homepage and watch the daily highlights, they’ll make you feel like you were there.

Having been there for nearly every event for us here at Quip this was a week of DJ Olympics, next time we do this I’m taking the whole week off.

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

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Thursday night at The Hoxton started off not much different from other typical party nights at this venue: long unreasonable line ups, gruff employees, flocks of overdressed girls, and security chain smoking at the doors. The Hoxton’s narrow stage felt too small to house all of that equipment, and the dance floor seemed too small for anyone to get their real dance on, but that did not stop people from trying.

Toronto’s own Torro Torro kicked of day 3, throwing down Diplo and moombahton like it was nobody’s business. The crowd was completely in love with this head bobbing duo. The championships showcased the finalists from Jamaica, US, South Korea, and Canada. Jamaica’s DJ Inferno went on first with a reggae and trap heavy mix, ending with a Rob Ford spin on Jay Z’s “Tom Ford” which, obviously, got a mad reaction from the crowd. Canada’s Adam Doubleyou showed off his amazing technical skills, pounding away at the drum machine. South Korea’s Acorn brought a strange mix of old school (“old” as in 1965’s famous Woolly Bully) with new school beats. But it was DJ Trentino from Chicago that caused the crowd to throb, scream, and fist pump. His skilled DJ showmanship (flipping in circles, mixing from under the knee, from behind) in combination with the crowd pleasing blend of house, reggae, trap, and gangster rap made him the obvious choice for winner of the night 3 finals.

Uber-talented A-Trak ended the night with his signature mind-blowing house and electronica-influenced set. The Hoxton vibrated till 2am, quite possibly wrecking every attendee’s work ethic for the following day, but leaving all in attendance feeling lifted.

Friday night elimination took place at The Danforth Music Hall, a much better-suited venue for a DJ Competition. Able to accommodate 1500 guests the venue seemed to be at full capacity. People clad in beanies, high tops, and leather leggings filled the venue, heads bobbing and shoulders shrugging in tune with the beats. The night immediately had a different vibe from the clubby feel of the Hoxton – hip hop heads from far and wide were in attendance to see DJs Maseo and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of De la Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.

Night 4 finalists were DJs from Switzerland, Brazil, Albania, Spain, and Belgium. The most memorable sets of the night were DJ Vicky from Albania whose show inspired the entire theatre to maniacally hop around, Spain’s DJ LaEse, and DJ Madfingaz from Belgium showing off his quick wrist flicks and scratching techniques. At the end, it was DJ Marquinhos Espinosa and his Brazilian house influence that stole the winning title for the night.

DJ Maseo and Ali Shaheed played the entire Best Of Tribe album getting hip hop heads rowdy with excitement. The crowd screamed every familiar lyric, hands up in the air, cheering and jamming to the legendary DJs. Much to the dismay of the attendees the party shut down at 2:30am but an after party location was announced, causing a good percentage of the attendees to flee quickly once they realized their favorite DJs would be taking the rains on the after hours entertainment.

Four days into the world finale Championship Red Bull Thre3style already made a huge impact on the city. People could not stop talking about how epic the night was leaving the venue. Saturday night finals were a history in the making, but that’s a different story.

Image courtesy of Red Bull

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Hello world, and welcome to Toronto!

The night started off with our own Turnstylez collective who wrapped up their set with a little two-man tandem routine which was more than enough to set the crowd on fire. By the time Shortkut hit the stage the room was filled to capacity and all of the said friends and fans were ready to cheer with all of their props ready in hand.

“What brought you here?”

“Our friend is one of the competitors, we came here from Sweden”

There is no music event in Toronto that brings this kind of crowd into the city. People do not travel from across the globe for the NXNE or CMW but this, this is an event that even Macklemore showed up to.

The first night’s competitors were Azerbaijan’s DJ Twist, DJ RayRay from Taiwan, Argentina’s Lukas Canaves, and the night’s winner, DJ Byte from Chile. The skill and musical variety that competitors brought to the table was incredibly impressive, but then you don’t make it to the World Finals on just a little enthusiasm.

Kid Koala headlined the evening with Vinyl Vaudeville 3.0. Watching the crowd, both confused and amused by the puppets and burlesque dancers on the Koala’s stage was beyond entertaining. Some people didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves especially when things started to cool down to the sounds of “Moon River,” but in San’s true fashion every song came with a little story and who doesn’t love a good story.

“You know what I hate about Toronto” complained the Swedish, “everything shuts down at 2AM.” Yes, we get that a lot in this town, but nothing is stopping you from starting the day with a “Good Morning!” glass of mimosa.

The puppets went back into the box and all of the super friendly people with various accents went on looking for their way back to the Thompson hotel for the night’s rest. Or the rest of the party.

Image courtesy of Red Bull Canada

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