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It
may be surprising to learn that Brussels
– of all places – boasts one of the
most famous and popular techno clubs
in mainland Europe called Fuse.
In fact, Time Out Brussels pretty
much describes Fuse as the flag-bearer
for Brussels’ clubbing scene. However,
regular club-goers in London and other
major cities may be surprised by the
above comment when they arrive at
Fuse because it doesn’t look particularly
big on the outside. Nor is the area
particularly trendy, heaving with
clubs or bars.
Its location in the run-down north-western
corner of the St Gilles quarters rather
resembles Brick Lane in East London
– minus the clubs, bars and restaurants.
Yet, streams of taxis and visitors
(the metro station Porte de Hal is
a mere two-minute walk away and last
train’s at 12.30am) from as far as
Liège, Antwerp, Lille and even Germany,
continue to swamp the club from the
opening time of 11pm right up till
3/4am when the club reaches its full
capacity of around 2000 people.
Most, if not all, go there because
of the DJs and l’ambience. Its ‘Hall
of Fame’ boasts appearances from the
likes of ‘techno god’ Dave Clarke
(voted Belgium’s best international
DJ for the last four years and who
plays at Fuse 4-5 times a year), Daft
Punk and Basement Jaxx, alongside
techno residents Pierre, Deg and T-Quest
and many more.
Sven Vadh, the popular German techno
DJ/producer, also chose Fuse as the
last-stop of his world-tour. Its ability
to attract the big names stems from
the good relations Fuse has established
with many of the top techno DJ’s since
before the genre had become popular
in mainland Europe. Therefore with
no other techno clubs in Brussels
or Antwerp (some argue Antwerp in
the North is the better place to go
clubbing, mainly for house music)
which can match its celebrity line-up
and reputation, no wonder 40% of the
clubbers who go there are regulars.
Fuse has been up and running since
1994, having been converted from a
former Spanish/Arab club called Le
Disco Rouge (my taxi driver, not a
fan of techno, fondly remembers going
there years before). It has two main
floors – techno on ‘Fuse level’ which
houses roughly 1200, whilst Motion
on the first floor plays house and
deep house mixed by more experimental
jocks (St Dic, Smos and Baby Bee)
and it takes time to fill up, presumably
as the clubbers get more drunk and
decide to go up a flight of stairs.
Within the first hour however, the
techno room is already packed and
so it’s difficult to imagine what
it’d be like as the night/morning
goes on. After all, Fuse doesn’t close
until 7am, in time for the first metros
home.
However, if you’re used to clubbing
in London etc then you wouldn’t be
blown away by the club. It’s fairly
big, and the crowd’s pretty decent
- young, trendy, smart even though
there’s no dress-code - but it certainly
isn’t spectacular in terms of décor
or originality.
The ambience though, is good, and
pretty much most of the people I spoke
to rated it highly. But what impressed
me most were the prices – it’s ridiculously
cheap (8€ at most) to get in on a
normal Friday or Saturday night compared
to those in London on a WEEKNIGHT!
Of course, they charge more when one
of the big names make an appearance
though still on the inexpensive side.
Drinks are about 2.50€ and that’s
for alcohol and there are plenty of
bars to serve drinks too. But you’d
ultimately pay the price for drinking
too much – a visit to the toilet will
set you back 50 cents (typical Belgium),
but you will be greeted by various
‘toilet ladies’ who admit to being
fans of techno!
An important footnote to point out
is that Fuse also plays host to special
nights such as Mad Club which plays
commercial trance once every six weeks.
There are also student nights, rectro
nights as well as La Démence which
is Belgium’s biggest gay party and
is held once a month. It is so popular
that special tour buses are used to
bring the ‘boyz’ in from as far as
Paris and Amsterdam – such is the
reputation of Fuse in the Benelux
region. As usual, techno and house
music keep the crowds happy in the
mainrooms though there’s also a chill-out
area and a room with no lights when
it’s all too much.
So, certainly give Fuse a try next
time you’re in Brussels –
FUSE CLUB
- BEN LEUNG©
Review for House Music Inyourface.com
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