Essentially the rules for Thre3Styles are: Each deejay gets fifteen minutes to show off and show out through several different genres while being critiqued by a slew of judges, which included DJ Skip Ripkin last night, among others.
Early on in the competition, I was also on photographer duty, so we got up close and personal with DJ Bedz's set, which arguably was the most entertaining of the night. He danced all across the stage and confidently smashed a Justin Bieber clip, in which he even took off his hat and brushed his hair dramatically over the decks. At some point, all photographers were asked to vacate the stage premises, so the pictures get a little sparse after that, but DJ Amen gave an incredible and quietly confident performance as well. It was DJ Vajra, though -- the evening's winner --who set the party off right. I'm pretty sure there was a Rick James track or two, but regardless, he set the place on fire. With about one minute left on the clock, the DJ started doing what he does best and scratched records to high heaven, setting him apart from nearly everyone else in the competition. The list of deejays who competed in the competition in its entirety includes: DJ Sounds Supreme, DJ Vajra, DJ Bedz, DJ Wushu, DJ Shake One, DJ Petey and DJ Amen. While each of the fellas gave a valiant effort throughout the evening -- including a particularly impressive set from DJ Petey -- Vajra took home the glory and the opportunity to move on to the next round in Dallas.CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK Personal Bias: MGMT's "Electric Feel" is one of my favorite songs, and Sounds killed it. Plus, he included a Buju Banton break from "Champion," another favorite. I loved his set...obviously. Random detail: DJ Low Key played John Legend's version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" at a deejay competition. A deejay competition! And he rocked the crowd. Absolutely. By the way: The Boulder Theater was so packed with Denverites, we could have easily been at a venue in the city. It was nice to see so many people out supporting the backbone of music, the deejay.
