As some of you here know, I spent the last part of 2005 in Amsterdam but opted to take the train ride out to Brussels for NYE to see Deetron & Joris Voorn at the legendary techno club FUSE! It was such a good night, I am so glad I went.. this is a little recap of my experience at the club.

For those of you that don't know, Fuse club has been around since 1995 or so and has tended to showcase many of the most in-demand techno djs around the world.. 3 out of 4 weekends they tend to have drool worthy headliners. Some of my favourite techno sets from the late 90's were recorded from there so this place has been on my list of techno tourist stops for a loooong time.

The club opened at 11 and I had to catch an early train since it was NYE so I was going to go when it opened and start boozin'.. hehe.. good thing I went then because as soon as I walked around the corner to the club I saw a huuuuge line. There is a big sign outside the club with lights illumniating it so you can't miss it. Thankfully the line moved very quickly, they didn't seem to ask anybody for ID nor do any kind of security check for weapons or drugs, cameras are also allowed. I had a large enough bag with me that I had the whole day and they just let me walk through. Once inside the club I waited in line for the coat check, it is here that they have the famous "Wall of Fame" which is basically a bunch of circle plaques listing the name of every guest dj that has graced the dex at the club since it opened, along with the date they first played. This list can also be found on their site fuse.be
It was neat to see, I even noticed my friend Becka's name from when she played in 2002!
Cover for the night was only 10 euro, about $13 Canadian, and 15 euro after 1. Makes me cringe to think of how clubs jack their prices up in Canada for NYE.

Checked my coat and bag and headed inside to the club, it's basically a rectangular room with a big circular bar when you first walk in, with the dj booth in the middle of the room against the left wall, I could compare it to the size of Aria's main room minus the entrance way area. The set times were posted on the walls throughout the club, Joris Voorn was going to play from 12:45-2:45 and then Deetron from 2:45-4;45. I ordered my first heineken and did a lap of the club, it was quickly filling up. The people were definitely not dressed up in any way, which I sort of expected to be the case. More guys than girls for sure but it was probably a 6:4 ratio from what I could tell.

The dancefloor started drawing people as soon as it opened and the crowd was right into it from the start, totally acknowledging the dj. The sound system is pretty good (as one would assume for this type of club) and the lights were nice too, green lazer also. No lights in the floor or anything like Aria but still a sophisticated set-up!
At midnight everyone gave their "Bonne ànnée" wishes and confetti and crap dropped from the ceilings, no mini fireworks though.

I was chatting it up with a dozen or so people throughout the night and relied on my french for most of it. I know french is widely spoken in Belgium but many of the people I was speaking with seemed to be able to speak english, but rather poorly, so it was nice to really be able to see a direct benefit to speaking a second language outside my normal surroundings.
It was suggested I drink some beer called Maes instead of Heineken and it was a euro less as well, tasted just as good to me! They serve booze all night too, there is no cut off time, so basically until 7am.

Went to the bathroom where you pay the attendent .50 euro.. I noticed a sign on the wall that said "wanted: nice-looking barmaids, see (some guy) at the bar" hehe.. well it is no secret often for server jobs anywhere people want to hire attractive people so they say "apply in person" but I still thought this was kind of funny how blunt it was... uggglies need not apply.

I didn't actually recognize many tracks throughout the night, but Joris Voorn did drop the Len Faki B-east roller tune which was cool.. I even met him briefly!

I was really enjoying the night, for the first time at a european techno party, and seeing all these people get off to some quality techno! I didn't notice sketchies there either, people weren't messed up (or appear to be) like they tend to be at Montreal afterhours. In fact a lot of people were drinking redbull which seemed to be the drink of choice and I wouldn't be surprised if that was their primary source for their energy.

At around 4:30 I was quite tired, having spent the whole day walking around Amsterdam and then travelling 2.5 hours to Belgium, I decided to leave the club and go to the hotel. I picked up a few token Fuse items that I had noticed on their site before like a cute shirt and a new pair of slipmats, much cheaper than ordering it online.
Deetron was just about to come off the dex.

I left the club with a big smile realizing I had just finished a night I had been looking forward to for quite some time. I am sure the party went until 7 at least, I felt like I was one of the first to leave.

All in all 9/10. The techno music was quality but I would have preferred it a bit harder and funkier for my own tastes.

I completely understand why so many djs have commented how much they enjoy playing there, and I hope to be back someday!

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