Tiësto dazzles fans

With a career full of breakthrough accomplishments, Tiësto (formerly DJ Tiësto) has no trouble filling up a venue, as evidenced by his performance at the North Atlanta Trade Center last weekend.

Tiësto was the first to play solo to a stadium crowd, which he did in 2003 in the Netherlands (his native country), and has been accredited with popularizing the idea of a DJ performing solo to a large crowd. He regularly sells out concert halls, stadiums and conference centers, and has played to crowds exceeding 35,000 fans. So naturally, you would have high expectations for his show.

His current tour, dubbed "Elements of Life" after the album of the same name, has been around Europe and will continue to make its way across North America. With five albums under his belt and a solid reputation, Tiësto continues to amaze audiences with original tracks. Having started out at university parties and local clubs in Holland, it's pretty amazing that DJmag has put him at the top of its World's 100 Best DJs three times.

After three hours, Tiësto finally came on at around 1 a.m. His intro expertly incorporated the concept of the "Elements of Life." A resounding voiceover coupled with some simple but incredibly appropriate visuals created the perfect atmosphere for his entrance. A laid-back opening track followed by an intense buildup to his first breakdown started the show off right.

Toward the beginning, Tiësto played "Break My Fall" and "Traffic," two of his best tracks. The crowd got bigger as the night went on, and soon the Trade Center filled up with nearly 4,000 fans.

Keeping fans entertained for four hours is no doubt an intimidating task. For the most part, Tiësto delivered. Incorporating sand, water and fire into the visuals worked with whatever he was mixing at the time. Everything fit well without being over the top, a feat that is very difficult to pull off.

Throughout the night, Tiësto had some ups and downs, ultimately creating a stimulating experience, but sometimes not necessarily responding directly to the crowd. The music stagnated just a bit in the middle, and it was a little disappointing to see him leave an hour before the show was scheduled to end.

Some fellow Tech students kept things going in the middle of the show, however, by bringing with them enough glowsticks for just about everyone. During "Elements of Life," every last glow stick got thrown into the crowd, and watching a thousand or so of them suddenly pop up gave the crowd new life. Overall, Tiësto gave a great performance, topping it off toward the end by signing his headphones and throwing them into the crowd. Shortly after, he had his best breakdown of the night and finished up on a strong note. Since it's been seven years since there's been a show of this size in Atlanta, Tiësto had a lot to live up to.

Despite some rough spots in the middle, he kept things going all night and managed to keep 4,000 people entertained until four in the morning. With any luck, he'll make Atlanta a regular tour stop, and we'll see him again sometime soon.