Walking out of the Ximen MRT station, I could already hear the sound of house raining down from the rooftops. The sound of the bass was unmistakable--changing the aural landscape of one of Taiwan’s most crowded and bustling entertainment districts.  

The team behind B1, which closed in March, is back! Studio 9 in Ximending is a new space run by much of the same crew that ran B1--including the organizers, DJs, and bartenders--located on a rooftop overlooking the Ximending in western Taipei. Studio 9 has two dance floors, one on a terrace space with a view of the cityscape, and the other inside a studio setting. 

At least based on the first night over Halloween weekend--a soft opening event that was announced with relatively little notice but still drew packed crowds. Studio 9 draws together many of the threads of the B1 crowd, which grew originally out of the Bass Kitchen party crew. 

After closing its primary basement space, B1 continued to do events on the second-floor Nuzone space, while also expanding to outdoor events with the Back to the Riverside series of events at the Meiti Riverside Park. The Hooman Festival in May would have been an outdoor party, but this had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As such, Studio 9 continues the B1 crew’s engagement with outdoor events. Likewise, after years of various underground rooftop parties across Taipei, the scene now has a permanent rooftop space. During weekdays, the space will serve as a lounge bar, while party events involving one or both dance floors will take place on weekends. 

It’s possible that noise may be an issue for the space, seeing as it is located across from a police station, and the police came by shortly after midnight regarding the noise. Still, western Taipei has not had an electronic music venue in past years, with nightlife increasingly shifting eastward toward Daan and Xinyi after Final and Pawnshop opened. Studio 9 is likely to change things up, diversifying the scene in this way. And, either way, Studio 9 is an impressively large space, with much potential for doing events. 

Next weekend, a two-day event will be held on Saturday and Sunday running from afternoon until 4 AM to mark the opening of the club. Among the performers will include Koliseum, Max Huang, Code Wu, Gazer, Sean Kuo, Thomas Futoso, and Minijay. Single-day tickets are 600 NT, while two-day tickets are 1,100 NT.