Magnetic Soul have been trying to redress the imbalance in the Hong Kong and Macau music scenes for the past four years, by offering a drum’n’bass fuelled alternative to the usual pop-based bar hop.

Ahead of their upcoming headlining spot at the Macau Electronic Music Festival, head honcho Cookie seems excited about what the more adventurous music aficionados can expect from them on the night. “Well firstly, I can guarantee that Magnetic Soul will be bringing the same quality of DJs and atmosphere as always. The promoters approached us about having a branded room, and we decided to include other types of DJs rather than just having straight up drum’n’bass. So the night will run with five different DJs, with styles ranging from dubstep to drum’n’bass, electro, breaks and tech-house.” Sounds promising.

The Magnetic Soul stage is only one of three that will be blasting out turbo techno until the early hours. International progressive and trance heavy hitters Christopher Lawrence and Ronski Speed have been recruited for the main stage, with home-grown DJ talent Funky V, Ryan Li and Yeodie gracing the second. The event is certainly ambitious, which leads one to question whether the organisers, Union Productions, have bitten off more than they can chew.

What would warrant them to take such a leap of faith? “Hong Kong government restrictions and licensing laws make it really difficult to produce large nightlife events,” says Cookie. “I think recently due to the shift in the [Macau] economy there has been a movement away from gambling. As a result, the large scale venues in Macau are coming up with alternative ways to bring in customers. Macau is a more liberal climate, so I think in the coming months there will be a real upsurge in nightlife entertainment.”

Moving from performing in front of home-grown crowds of hundreds of dedicated fans to thousands in one night is an enormous leap for Magnetic Soul. The question lies not in if they are up to the challenge, but if the Hong Kong crowds are willing to hop on the boat and make the trip in the name of all things dance. “In Hong Kong, there is this real mentality of having one room with one act that you could be paying 300 dollars on the door, compared to Europe where there are venues all over the place with three or more rooms showing international DJs in each one. The music scene seems to be in its infancy.”

With tickets selling for $350 or $438 (ferry included), the Macau Electronic Music Festival seems to be good value for money. Come the end of the month, we’ll see if the Venetian’s gamble pays off.

Mary Agnew

CotaiExpo, the Venetian Saturday 29