The Night Out: Red Bull Thre3Style

Have you ever played DJ Hero or listened to some crazy mash-up tracks, wondering how the hell the DJ managed to mix some James Brown funk with AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’? Well I saw it happen at Red Bull Thre3Style at The Alex Theatre on Saturday night, with some of South Africa’s most talented DJs. Each competitor was challenged to do a 15 minute mix that included at least three genres of music. Believe me when I say – these guys did more than just press ‘play’.

The competing lineup and the judging panel were hella impressive, each with credentials to boast about. Kid Fonque and Richard the Third were at their table at the back, doing their part of the judging, while DJ Ready D was on stage checking out the technical ability of the DJs. The mixing, scratching and “getting-the-crowd-amped” factor from the challengers was great, with each one bringing their own style. So many genres of music were molted together to make some very interesting sets. I sympathize though, cos the crowd was tough to please. I suppose that’s where the biggest challenge lies when you’re playing various genres of music, each one only playing for a few minutes. It becomes a bit of a hit-and-miss. When Electro was dropping, the left side of the room was bouncing, when Kwaito was playing, the right side of the room was jamming.

We were giving away some tickets for the event, so sorry for you if you missed out. Alex Maggs got the double tickets and she tweeted the following morning: “So last night was just grand. Thanks for the tickets @AnotherDayJhb. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Glad you had a great time, Alex!

I have to give credit to Switch who brought out a giant-headed caricature of himself, which definitely got the crowd jumping. Where can I get a head like that made?! The winner of Red Bull Thre3Style though, was Tha Cutt, who will be representing South Africa with his dope technique in Chicago for the World Finals. Show ‘em what SA’s got!