Tiesto at Vision

June 17, 2005 12:49 PM
by

In a day and age where the dance music scene is supposed to be struggling, Holland’s DJ Tiesto seems to be a recession proof commodity.

The last five years have seen the Dutch DJ go from a relative unknown to the top of the electronic music industry in meteoric fashion, and despite his detractors Tiesto shows no signs of slowing down.

What can be said about Tiesto that hasn’t been said already?

His list of accomplishments is mind-boggling.

As the only DJ ever to be chosen number one three times in a row in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 Poll, the only DJ to sell out a stadium for solo performance and the only DJ to perform at the opening ceremonies of an Olympic games, Tiesto has done things never imagined before for electronic music.

Yet to truly understand Tiesto and the effect he has on people, you have to witness him live.

This “Tiesto Phenomenon” was evident at his recent appearance at Godskitchen at Vision, where the Dutch DJ’s visit had the sometimes fickle Chicago club crowd worked into a frenzy.

A typical club night in Chicago doesn’t get going until midnight or later, but by 9 p.m. that night, an hour before Vision was set to even open its doors, there was already a line of people piling up inside the club to escape from the rain.

By 10:30 p.m. the massive nightclub was already at capacity, with a line that wrapped around the block still full of hopeful people.

After selling out of presale tickets several days before the show, an almost unheard of feat, the overflow of dedicated fans was so massive that a large group of people were content to pay $15 for the opportunity to listen to Tiesto’s set from one of the club’s side rooms and watch from video screens.

Inside Vision’s main room, Chicago’s Kyle Szmurlo was enjoying a rare treat for a warm up DJ, a packed dance floor full of people ready to dance. Szmurlo took advantage of this and delivered a smooth tech house set that had the crowd going nuts.

A veteran of the Chicago scene; Szmurlo has been a staple at clubs such as GoodBar, Vision, and SmartBar, where he delivers his diverse sounds week in and week out.

He has played along side some of the more recognizable names in the industry, including DJs such as Derrick Carter, Mauro Picotto, Low End Specialists, Nigel Richards, The Scumfrog and Infusion.

Seamlessly mixing together dance floor bombs such as Nathan Fake’s “The Sky Was Pink” and Yoshimoto’s “Do What You Du” (Trentroller remix) with smooth, more subtle tracks, Szmurlo slowly worked the crowd up and set the stage for Tiesto perfectly.

Taking the decks a little before 1 a.m., Tiesto opened with some blissful, trancey tracks which were quiet a departure from the harder, more techno influenced sound he had been favoring recently.

Of course the packed crowd went absolutely wild as soon as he entered the booth, with cheers and chants of “Tiesto” greeting him before he’d even dropped his first track.

Immediately it seemed as if every set of eyes in the entire club was locked onto the Dutch DJ. Around the balconies of Vision’s multiple floors people were packed together, fighting for a glimpse of him at work.

This, more than anything seems to be Tiesto’s greatest strength. Something about him seems to captivate people, and like a great actor who catches your eye as soon as he walks onto the screen, Tiesto has the innate ability to demand the attention of everyone around him.

At the same time, Tiesto is able to capitalize on this ability and does not shy from the adoration that comes from his fans as a result. Once he has the crowd’s attention he never lets go, and they end up eating out of his hands the entire night.

More importantly, unlike too many of his peers, you can tell that he really enjoys what he’s doing.

As the evening progressed, Tiesto began to steadily build up the intensity and energy behind his set by veering towards harder tracks.

He was clearly comfortable in Chicago, a place where he’s played many times over the last several years. This comfort level seemed to allow him to take his time with his set and be more patient, rather than just banging out anthem after anthem.

Despite the steady stream of CO2 blasts coming from Vision’s ceiling, it seemed as if the walls of the club were dripping with sweat, but even that didn’t deter the packed masses on the dance floor.

In the final part of his set he delivered crowd favorites like “Traffic” and “Love Comes Again,” both of which got huge reactions from the crowd, and opening his first encore with his mix of “Adagio for Strings” got a massive ovation from the fifteen hundred plus people still gathered at nearly 5 a.m.

Finally closing things out as the sun was just coming up over Lake Michigan, Tiesto was greeted by cheers and pleas for “one more song” from the crowd.

As people began to pile up around the DJ booth, desperately seeking an autograph, be it on a flyer, CD or even a piece of clothing, a handshake or just an acknowledgement, the spectacle began to resemble a scene more suited for a rock concert than a DJ show, which in it’s own way seems rather fitting since Tiesto seems to have transcended the simple tag of Superstar DJ.

Those who were rewarded with small second of his time resembled fans on the old Ed Sullivan shows wooing at the Beattles, rather than a group of gritty, exhausted twenty something clubbers at 5am, bleary eyed and drenched in sweat.

What does the future hold for Tiesto? He’s already broken through barriers that once seemed impregnable, but as the past has show, he surely will not stop searching until he finds new ones.

One thing is for sure though, a lot people are along for the ride with him. Not bad for a guy who struggled to get gigs outside of Holland as recently as five years ago.

Tiesto is currently on tour promoting his new album, “In Search Of Sunrise 4,” the fourth in the In Search of Sunrise series. The album is an interpretation of the sun, sand, open air venues, and long hot summer nights whilst touring through Latin America during 2004 and early 2005.