A rising star in the U.S. electronic music scene, disc jockey D:Fuse, took his time warming up The Pulse Night Club last Friday night. When he did, the crowd of over 350 people was rewarded with an energetic and animated performance from the Austin, Texas-based DJ.

D:Fuse showed why he is currently being billed by so many as the next big American DJ. He mixed a variety of different styles of electronic music into his two-and-half-hour set, including some house and drum and bass, but he mainly spun his trademark deep, progressive trance.

The crowd rushed the dance floor when he came on at 12:30 a.m., and the volume was turned up. Light machines hanging from the poles and the ceiling flared throughout the interior of the dimly lit club. Heavy bass from the speakers reverberated through everything as more people wormed their way on to the floor and clapped along with the beat of the music.   

As the night progressed D:Fuse steadily increased, then decreased the energy in his music, building it up more and more each time. At one point, the volume of the music dropped to almost nothing, and the suddenly quiet crowd was bathed in black lights. A few moments later, the tranquil episode ended and the speakers roared again, spurring the crowd on.

Purple, yellow, and red lights danced through the people and off the decorations hanging from the ceiling, bouncing around in perfect synch with the beat.  

D:Fuse saved his best for last, after playing for over 2 hours, he wowed the 150 or so people who stuck around with an awesome closing to his set, which included two encores.

Cranking the volume up yet another notch and cutting the lights, D:Fuse began his first encore by pointing to the crowd and jumping around the booth with a large smile on his face. The crowd began to chant the DJ’s name and cried out for more music.    

He kept up the near frantic tempo in the following encore and began to autograph posters and toss them into the dancing throng while still mixing on the turntables. It was during this time that D:Fuse truly shined and showed why he is regarded as such a great performer.  

The audience got an opportunity to see how much D:Fuse enjoyed what he was doing. The crowd responded to his enthusiasm and their excitement grew. Both D:Fuse and the crowd seemed to feed off each other during the final part of the show. It was at this point that the energy level in both the crowd and the music reached its peak.

His performance came to a close at about 3 a.m., and he tipped his cowboy hat to the crowd to say goodbye. There was yet another loud ovation from those still remaining inside the nightclub.

After the performance, he walked through the club shaking hands and signing more autographs as people gathered around him.

D:Fuse offered a refreshingly strong contradiction to the stereotypical ego-driven, music star image, which has, unfortunately, become so prevalent today. There seemed to be little doubt among those gathered that he enjoyed this performance as much as they did.

D:Fuse’s performance at The Pulse Night Club, located at 55 E. Main St., is his second visit to Columbus. He first appeared in April, opening for Paul Oakenfold. D:Fuse was the opening DJ for Oakenfold during the North American leg of the Perfecto world tour.

D:Fuse is currently on tour promoting his newest CD, “Progressive Mix Session 1.0,” which was released on the Los Angeles-based Moonshine Music label. He has released two other albums, “Psychotrance 2000,” and “Psychotrance 2001,” which are also on the Moonshine label.