THE NIGHT STUFF
Spinning some funky sway at Feng Shui

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Nghi Trinh of Mo'ili'ili and Dianna Le of 'Aiea were at one of the weekly Ultralounge events in May.... Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Yukari Allen, left, and Brian Allen of Kailua were also enjoying the sounds.

And Troy Michael of Mililani was one of the deejays handling the beats.

Holly Wyspianski, left, and Goldie Tracy were visiting from San Diego.

FENG SHUI ULTRALOUNGE Where: Ciao Mein, fourth floor, Hyatt Regency Waikiki, 2424 Kalakaua Ave., 923-2426. When: 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturdays Cover: $10 Younger than 21 OK? No. Age of crowd: 20s-40s What to wear: Dressy or casual. The crowd leans more toward dressy. The soundtrack: Ciara, Fat Joe, Guns 'N Roses, Sublime, Lumidee, Biz Markie, etc. Grinds: A gratis pupu table — spring rolls, veggies, chicken, etc. — was open past its 10 p.m. cut off. Bathroom attendant holding paper towels hostage: No. Oddest spin of the night: Gary Glitter's "Rock N Roll, Part 2"

It was 12:30 a.m. or so. And guest Las Vegas DJ Obi-Wan was closing an interesting-enough set of dancehall, R&B and hip-hop. A set that had almost made me forget the simple sonic injustice of hearing overplayed Ashanti and Ja Rule tracks earlier in the evening. (These are minutes of a day you never get back, folks.)

Then, after a barely detectable moment of silence, came the menacing "DUM-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-DUM" bass line of the White Stripes' garage anthem "Seven Nation Army." Blended seamlessly over the next hour into an oddball-mix of genre-be-damned, floor-filling beats: AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long," Sublime's "Santeria," Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved," Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love," Run D.M.C.'s "It's Tricky" and more. Even Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl."

Most of the kids crowding on to Feng Shui's smallish front-room dance floor as if at a dressy house party raised their fists and pretty much loved it all. A handful of others looked downright confused and sullen by the sudden turn of the soundtrack.

Not all of the mix was pretty, or even close to musical nirvana. Heck, my partner in Night Stuff thought I was a music nerd just for liking it. But thanks, DJ Bryce (dude, I hope I got your name right).

Feng Shui would've probably moved along fine without you, bro. But you injected some nutty creativity into another night of, uh, hard work.

Seriously.

A year-and-a-half of existence hasn't dampened the Hyatt Regency Waikiki weekly's popularity. Even with half of its roomy indoor and outdoor setting blocked off last Saturday — depending on whom you asked, the reason was either Ciao Mein restaurant renovations or expectations of a smaller crowd — Feng Shui still attracted hundreds of twenty-, thirty- and fortysomethings.

The hotel's fourth-floor pool deck with its conversation-encouraging quietude and view of Kalakaua Avenue activities were popular enough draws. But patrons seemed more interested in getting their weekend groove on than anything else.

The fact that they could do it to Queen and David Bowie as well as Ciara and Gwen Stefani, strangely enough, just made it all a bit more ... clarifying.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.