- East Asia's newest queer party starts with a bang.
- Earlier this year, I wrote a piece for Resident Advisor about East Asia's bustling electronic music scenes. New pockets have emerged since then, with venues opening across the continent. The latest space is Hong Kong's 宀 Club (pronounced "Mihn"). In a city more known for confined spaces, yellow umbrellas and overpriced table-service clubs, 宀 is a breath of fresh air. Situated among nondescript office blocks and with no signage, the entrance to the venue is easily overlooked. There's nothing to indicate that, four floors above, sits a state-of-the-art club with well-tuned Funktion-Ones, a wooden floor, no bar and walls especially installed to improve sound quality. It's a space designed for dancing.
Last Friday, 宀 launched a new LGBTQ+ night called HOST. Unlike in Europe and the US, where electronic music and queer culture often coexist, the two worlds remain segregated in East Asia. Tokyo's Motorpool parties and Medusa in Shanghai are rare exceptions. 宀, in collaboration with a local queer crew, invited San Francisco's Honey Soundsystem to play the first edition of HOST. Expectations were high but also full of uncertainty—would Hong Kong's queer scene embrace this new project?
As soon as I entered, it was obvious the answer was yes. The place was semi-packed already, with dancers in sporty outfits and the occasional harness. Lit with just a few small red lightbulbs, the dance floor was coated in a foggy haze. The local DJ Youry warmed up with a selection of slower tracks, such as Blackbelt Andersen's "Sirup." Jackie House, wearing a spectacular Chinese granny hat, kicked up the BPM with a blend of darker electro and trippy house, quashing any nerves left in the crowd. Bezier went darker and faster, leaning heavily on industrial tracks, before Jason Kendig switched things up completely, introducing a run of excellent disco cuts, among them Nathan Micay's "Basic Plumbing" and "Love On The Rocks" by Lama.
At around 4 AM the blinds opened, and a grimy Hong Kong morning peaked through. The scene outside sat in stark contrast to the sweaty dance floor, a space of freedom and openness in a city that, at times, can feel suffocating. An hour later, Kendig slowly wound the night down with Risqué's "Starlight," leaving nothing but a room of smiling ravers.