Mad Circus 2

Event Details

Mad Circus 2 took place at Arcan, 106/2 Điện Biên Phủ, Phường 17, Bình Thạnh, Ho Chi Minh City, from 10 PM on 1 September 2018 until 6 AM on 2 September 2018, with the original location retained for archive accuracy even though the venue has since closed. Mad Circus – 2nd Edition: Life Is a Zoo returned to the deliberately ridiculous world established by the first party, this time challenging guests to release their inner animal inside one of Saigon’s underground electronic music venues.

The concept played on a familiar sight at busy parties, when a packed and unpredictable dancefloor can begin to resemble a zoo of its own. Costumes, exaggerated behaviour and audience participation were encouraged throughout the night, turning the crowd into part of the entertainment rather than leaving all the spectacle to the performers and DJs.

Mad Circus was never intended to operate like a conventional club night, and Life Is a Zoo pushed that idea further with drag performers, a costume contest, professional make-up and a transformation room. The #genderfunk crew of drag queens added another theatrical dimension, while the organisers encouraged guests to dress up, behave badly in the best possible sense and maintain the event’s original #beridiculous attitude.

The transformation room also had a charitable element, giving guests somewhere to change their appearance while supporting a cause linked with the event. This combination of electronic music, performance, costume and fundraising was characteristic of the wider Mad Circus concept and separated the series from a straightforward DJ programme.

Musically, the night moved through House, Deep House, Tech House, Progressive House, Bass Music and Techno. The Resident Advisor listing identified 1DAN, Yariuss, Paul Hamilton, Valy Mo and Talal on the bill, bringing together locally active selectors with an established international guest from the Middle Eastern club circuit.

1DAN returned to Mad Circus as a DJ and producer with releases connected to several UK labels. His sets moved between Deep House, groove-led House and tougher Techno, allowing him to shift from swinging rhythms into heavier club pressure without losing the dancefloor connection.

His production and DJ activity could also be followed through the 1DAN Facebook page and his archived Mixcloud profile. At an event designed around unpredictability, his ability to move between deeper and harder material made him a natural fit for the line-up.

Yaroslav Kuchin, known as Yariuss, had returned to club life after a twelve-year break and was developing his own interpretation of House and Techno. His SoundCloud archive preserves part of the recorded material associated with his activity around Arcan and Ho Chi Minh City during this period.

His role in the Mad Circus series connected him with the group of DJs regularly appearing at the venue’s alternative electronic events. Rather than following a narrowly fixed genre identity, Yariuss approached his sets through mood, underground club music and the progression of the night.

The principal international guest was Maltese DJ and producer Paul Hamilton, who had already spent more than two decades working in electronic music by the time of the event. His music covered Deep House, Tech House, Progressive House and Techno, and his career had become particularly associated with the club scenes of Malta and Dubai.

Hamilton left Malta for Dubai in 2004 as he looked for opportunities within a larger international nightlife market. His profile grew across the city before he won the Global Heineken Thirst DJ Competition for the Middle East and North Africa in September 2005, with Sander Kleinenberg among the judges.

That victory opened further opportunities and placed Hamilton alongside internationally recognised artists including Tiësto, Sander Kleinenberg, Roger Sanchez, K-Klass, Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx. His later residency history included club brands and venues connected with Ministry of Sound Dubai, Godskitchen, One Love, Miss Moneypenny’s, Fierce Angel and other nightlife organisations active across Dubai and London.

Hamilton’s studio catalogue was already extensive, with releases through labels including Armada Music, Toolroom Records and Baroque Records. His Resident Advisor biography documented around 160 releases and thirteen Beatport Top 100 EPs, giving the Mad Circus guest a substantial production history alongside his experience as an international touring DJ.

His appearance therefore gave Life Is a Zoo a direct connection with the development of underground electronic music in the Middle East. It also placed a DJ with a long international career inside the deliberately informal and theatrical environment of Arcan, where the audience was encouraged to dress as animals and become part of the spectacle themselves.

French producer Valy Mo brought a different strand of international electronic music to the night, moving between House and bass-heavy club production. Rhythm, energetic arrangement and heavier low frequencies were central to his work, while artists such as Tchami formed part of the musical context surrounding his productions.

His Tokyo Bright EP appeared through Nest HQ in 2014, linking his early catalogue with the platform associated with Skrillex and OWSLA. Further material followed through outlets including OWSLA and UKF before his A Night Shift with Valy Mo project appeared through Tchami’s Confession label.

Those releases helped Valy Mo establish a profile beyond France and brought his music to audiences in Europe and Asia. His activity around this period also included touring and festival appearances, making his Arcan set part of a wider period of international movement as a DJ and producer.

More of Valy Mo’s work can be explored through his Facebook page and SoundCloud profile. His appearance added a sharper contemporary club edge to a line-up already moving between Deep House, House, Progressive material and Techno.

Talal was also listed among the deck acrobats for the second Mad Circus edition, completing the documented DJ programme for the night. His inclusion added another selector to a party designed to keep the musical direction changing throughout the eight-hour session rather than relying on a single headline performance.

The audience itself remained an important part of the event, with costumes and make-up encouraged rather than treated as optional decoration around the edges of the party. Animals, monsters and other strange creations could occupy the same dancefloor while the #genderfunk performers and other entertainment kept the circus theme moving beyond the DJ booth.

Advance tickets were priced at 100,000 VND and included a complimentary Tê Tê beer, while admission at the door was 150,000 VND. Entry became free after 4 AM, allowing late-night dancers to join the final section of the party as Arcan moved towards its 6 AM finish.

HOPE was listed as the promoter of Mad Circus – 2nd Edition: Life Is a Zoo, and the event material also credited Hope Music Project as a sponsor. Resident Advisor’s archived listing preserves the event as part of Ho Chi Minh City’s underground nightlife history and confirms the principal programme associated with the second Mad Circus edition.

Scientific Sound Asia was also connected with the event and streamed material live from Arcan during Mad Circus – 2nd Edition: Life Is a Zoo. That activity linked the physical club event with the organisation’s wider development as an underground electronic music platform reaching audiences beyond the people inside the venue.

Scientific Sound Asia now maintains that history alongside its current events, radio station, DJ agency and music news activity. Historical listings such as Life Is a Zoo document an earlier stage in the organisation’s involvement with the DJs, promoters, performers and venues that contributed to independent nightlife in Ho Chi Minh City.

Arcan has since closed, making the preservation of its original location and event programme particularly useful for documenting the city’s changing underground scene. The venue provided space for parties that mixed House and Techno with performance, costumes, alternative communities and ideas that were considerably removed from conventional commercial nightlife.

Mad Circus – 2nd Edition: Life Is a Zoo captured that approach with Paul Hamilton, Valy Mo, 1DAN, Yariuss and Talal supplying the music while performers and costumed guests transformed the club around them. The result was an eight-hour meeting of underground electronic music, drag performance, audience participation and deliberate absurdity in which everyone was invited to become another animal in the Arcan zoo.