I admit I was slightly sceptical of UK duo Deepgroove (Lee Pattison and Grayson Shipley) before they even got on – I was ready to spend another hour liquoring up for the dancefloor, but I can safely say that these boys blew away my bitter old expectations. Lucky punters at Zouk on Friday (well, the ones who were still conscious and/or not being hauled out by security) will agree: they were sh*t-hot fantastic. There’s something sleekly saucy about a relatively new DJ outfit who can pull off overplayed house anthems (namely a banging remix of Miss Kittin single ‘Silver Screen Shower Scene’) without seeming like they need to win you over. Deepgroove aren’t just one-hit-househeads – they churned out a sickeningly good 4hr+ set without breaking a sweat, running the gamut from minimal tech to genre du jour fidget. Pattison and Shipley are seasoned remix masters – their re-edits have an inimitable edge over the wave of aspiring electro/fidget house DJs flooding out of Italy (think Clark Able and the ubiquitous Crookers). Earlier this year these guys put out a debut single ‘The Deacon’ on fidget-head Jesse Rose’s (the culprit behind the infectious ‘Itchy Dog’) very own label Madetoplay; we’re excited to see what happens next. Here’s hoping they head back here soon.

It would be an understatement to describe the past weekend as a haywire music fest. It was massive on every scale (from the drinking to the crowds to the amazing musical line-up in town). So on Saturday night, armed with a fully-lined stomach and a thirst for the good stuff, I met up with an old school pal who was down from KL specially for the weekend roster of AWESOME. We hit up Zouk for the Readyset Glo anniversary with Steve Aoki and Cobrasnake (see pic above)… and were mildly surprised to find it full house from wall to wall with nutted-out hipsters in full dayglo regalia waiting for the man of the hour. And appear he did.

I don’t really remember much from then on to be honest. I’d say we were sober for his intro and things went rapidly (up and then) downhill from there. Let’s just say I had a bit of a TKO and a few regrets. Mel called me at 6pm to remind me that I had a date with the devious Wes Gully, aka Wesley Pentz, aka Diplodocus, aka the one and only Diplo that night – the final day of Gilles Peterson’s 3-day Worldwide Fest organized by Kinemat (big ups to the Kinemat crew for doing it up well good). I dragged my hungover corpse to Fort Canning and tried to look alive but it was tough.

Below from L-R: Mr. Wesley Pentz himself (Diplo), Steve Aoki/Kid Millionaire, M.A.N.D.Y.

Tried to down a beer or two but absolutely couldn’t do it. Thankfully the crowd seemed to be in good enough spirits to compensate for my weakness. Had a chat with Diplo before he went on - poor bloke caught a late flight in from Jakarta. Check out what he had to say here. Cracking jokes about the energy tent, he went on to bang out a stand-up set, crazy upbeat and cheeky as hell. Total 180 from when I saw him back in 2004 at the Middle East in Boston with RJD2 – then he churned out a pretty laid back opener for RJ, but on Sunday he was bouncing off the walls (well, if there had been walls). Threw in a solid mix of old and new, and polished it off with ‘Say It Ain’t So’ which prompted a grand operetta of boozy sing-a-longing. A deservedly good night for one of the nicest guys in the game. M.A.N.D.Y. followed but I had to crawl home and throw myself a pity party. I know, I’m getting old.

TOS staffer Sabrina Lee recalls her night as a catwalk model for The Great Zouk TEE – Dance

The night was dramatic from start to finish. The props were in place, from a giant Mickey Mouse hand to inflatable eyeballs to 17 Jello pyramids lining the catwalk (the Egyptians would be proud). Head of creative at Zouk, Mriz Sidah, was ready to get started. It was all befitting of an anniversary party (17^th, to be exact), but as Zouk celebrated its birthday on Saturday night, it also showcased a new line of merchandise to be sold to its faithful followers – specifically, three original T-shirt designs. ‘We interpreted the various elements created in the collection into spaces,’ says Sidah. ‘We also wanted to showcase the installations done by our icons and friends like Bobby & Ritz (Butter Factory) and Chris (Asylum)’.

Marketing manager Tracy Phillips looked beautiful and elegant as usual in her outfit: a deconstruction of the T-shirt involving strategically pinned-on black ribbons (which was put together in just under five minutes by show producer and choreographer Rizal Ahyar and team) paired with a variation of a tulip skirt. Constantly on her mobile, she made overseeing the event look like a piece of cake. I rocked up in a pair of jeans, silver leather Velcro-fastened gladiator sandals and one of the T-shirts they had previously given me, designed with an eye resting above a yellow-and-black-striped pyramid. Little did I know, I was to be a part of a choreographed fashion show (gasp!). During rehearsals, we were given numbers and instructions to strut and strike a pose each time we hit the catwalk. Having been a dancer in my youth, this was as easy as…a one and a two and a three. Our choreographer was impressed with my improvisation on the catwalk and I was made an (good) example to the rest of the talent. The only gripe he had was that I wasn’t dramatic-looking enough. He sent me to hair and makeup for a whole lot of pimpin’. I was excited, albeit nervous, at the thought of being fawned over by makeup and hair artists. I expressed that I wasn’t used to putting on makeup…they assured me that they would make me look good. After my metamorphosis: electric-blue eye shadow and more than ten pins in my hair. I looked like a psychedelic-space-nerd-prom queen minus the ‘saving the world’ speech and tiara. Drastic change, yes, but one that I was okay with.

A little past 10pm, the doors opened. The club soon filled with a who’s who of Singapore’s local fashion and design industries along with fans of the iconic T-shirt. Spirits were high and so was the anticipation. As we waited backstage, friendly banter ensued between the ‘talents’, among them the ‘Club Kids’ (as they’re affectionately known), a bunch of zealous party-goers with a reputation to dress to kill, depending on theme…of course. The general consensus was that if we were to f*** up, we might as well have fun in the process and make it look good. And as far as most pre-rehearsed shows go, we did everything but what was originally rehearsed. Nonetheless, it went really well, and the crowd was as sweet as Turkish delight. Cheering us on, there was no pretension that you would normally expect at a fashion show. Behind the scenes, everyone got on incredibly well. If given the chance to do this again, it would be my guilty pleasure to say yes. But at the same time, it really is hard work being a model – all that waiting around and being told what to do can be quite exhausting. But when it’s for a night where everyone’s there in support of Zouk’s fashion label, the exhaustion on my part is but a piece of lint on a sweater. ‘Every year we try to create a different experience and some shows are more dramatic then others. This year, we wanted to focus on throwing a good party for our guests,’ says Phillips. And it certainly was. Sabrina Lee