Brian Mahar

Don’t tell David Guetta or Calvin Harris, but DJs were made to perform. Harris is the 31-year-old Scottish EDM sensation responsible for “Summer” who once defended pre-recorded sets, telling that BBC that he’s “not expecting the DJ to perform music” when he goes to a club. And while he was most likely talking about the subtle nuances and technical issues behind bringing a heavily-produced track to a live club setting, the sentiment is still unsettling.

Thank the Gods of the ones and twos for Red Bull Thre3Style.

The eight-year-old, once-underground DJ competition — which makes competitors spin at least three genres of music into a body-rocking 15-minute set — brings its Southeastern regional qualifiers to Ybor City this Thurs., Feb.19. The winner moves on to the USA Championships in Phoenix and if victorious, to the world finals in Tokyo later this year. Representing Tampa in 2014 is Justin Layman — aka DJ Casper, a founder of Crowbar’s BOTB-winning Ol’ Dirty Sundays party. He’ll be pitted against Obscene, Konflikt and Nikko Calor (all from Miami), Orlando’s DJ Nova, and DJ IV from Atlanta, who were hand-selected by the likes of Jazzy Jeff, DJ Hedspin and Z-Trip. They’ll evaluated on originality, creativity, technicality, stage presence and crowd response by a panel of judges that includes Four Color Zack, DJ M-Squared, and former Thre3style Regional Champion DJ KU.

The event is free with a ticket. Register for yours here. More information on Thre3style can be had here. The competition kicks off at 9 p.m. The Ritz Ybor is located at 1503 E. Seventh Ave. in Ybor City.

Watch last year’s winning routine from ESKEI83 below.