Round 1!
Today we got to catch up with some of the performers and some of our friends at this weeks events. Toronto homies, Thugli, came by and we got to ask them a few questions about what they have been up to and how they use Serato. (Watch out for the video on our Youtube channel).
Drastik, a World Finalist for Thre3style in 2010, and Tom Wrecks, both come from a turntablist background and really know their stuff. They are super chill, and it was awesome to kick it with them in their (new) hometown of Toronto.
Shortkut rolled through and talked about the video set that he was preparing for later that evening. If you know anything about turntablism, you need no introduction to this Beat Junkie AND Invisble Skratch Piklz member. Who else can say they are members of two of the most legendary scratch crews of all time?!
Our good friend Cosmo Baker came through to talk shop and we also had a surprise visit from fellow Philly legend Jazzy Jeff and local host Skratch Bastid who were performing the halftime show (with Hedspin and Four Color Zack) at the Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heat game at the Air Canada Centre that evening.
The Raptors game was super fun. Home field advantage wasn't enough to stop Lebron James and the Heat beating the Raptors 104 - 95.
We got to hang out with the whole Redbull squad and all competitors and watched below as previous 3style world champs Hedspin (Vancouver 2011) and Four Color Zack (Seattle 2012) went back to back at the halftime show with Skratch Bastid and Jazzy Jeff. Inspiring stuff.
The main event tonight was at held the Adelaide Hall, where the first round of competition took place, along with opening sets by Toronto's legendary Turnstylez and an inspiring Video set by Shortkut.
Dj Twizt (Azerbaijan) set the night off with a strong set, good cuts, tone play and even incorporating some traditional wind instruments (from his homeland?).
Dj Ray Ray (Taiwan) delivered a confident set with lots of expression and a really cool drumming routine, which was a real crowd pleaser. Ray Ray is also the only female DJ in the world finals this year.
Lukas Kanvas (Argentina) Started off strong, but had the unfortunate situation of technical problems with his laptop running out of power and shutting down before the 15minutes was over. He still finished strong throwing his countries football jersey to the crowd revealing a "thank you" shirt to Toronto.
DJ Byte (Chile) came out all guns blazing and utilized some really cool tone play/word play work with The Chordettes "Mr sandman" into "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, played classical music into Daft Punk and totally won Toronto over by playing home town anthem Ol Time Killin' by Kardinal Offishal (and got me throwing my hands up and slapping walls too). It didn't stop there and it was clear with his energy and clever track selection that DJ Byte had this in the bag halfway into his set.
Finishing the night off was a theatrical performance by Kid Koala with a full stage show including props and throwing records around, all while rocking a full Koala suit! It was a real show and he did it all without headphones or a laptop. Kid Koala is a seasoned vet and had the crowd eating out of his paws, making it feel like you were at the coolest house party in Toronto.
We'll be right back at it tomorrow with all the info on Round 2 and more for the Redbull 3Style World Finals in Toronto.
Matty P.
