My university friends – who have impeccable taste, may I add – were raving about FUSE for months before I ever took myself to one of their parties. Having wound up at a Maceo Plex after party somewhere in the mountains the day of the last FUSE, I'd completely missed out and never heard the end of it. Turns out I deserved it. Last night was the penultimate HYTE of the season, and the last time the FUSE crew would take over the main room in 2016 - for me, it was truly a season highlight. I'm writing this impatiently before trying to get some sleep - covered in rainbow strings of foil, FUSE stickers clung to my face and excitement relentlessly scouring through my body. It was that good.
My introduction to the night was Enzo Siragusa x Seb Zito flavoured and it couldn't have tasted better. The pair bounced off each other dangerously in Amnesia's main room - spinning the grooviest of grooves and breakiest of beats, jungle sounds popping left, right and centre. No Shazam gave me a taste of what actual tracks were being played, which was no surprise seeing as every record was probably found in the deep depths of funky, old school record shops with little to no label. The usual booth-hoggers that would do nothing but sip drinks were now doing nothing but dancing with the boys, simultaneous hand jives and rolling shoulders egged the crowd on, as we joined the DJs in one of the happiest sets the main room had seen.
In an industry drowned by over-the-top productions, it takes a lot of impress a crowd these days. Communities in the music world are now seen as more ‘underground', meaning when you find yourself dancing among one, you never want to leave. The FUSE crew knew that simple is everything - streamers were set off by hand from the booth and artistic art films played in the background. The music was the most important factor of last night, which reminded me of my undying love for it.
The terrace was set up back to front with the booth near the main entrance – just another thing HYTE do to stay unique. The booth was now a social hang out and groovers high-fived the Pan-Pot duo as they completely took over the vast hall with Enrico Sangiuliano's ‘Moon Rocks'.
Back in the main room, it was finally time to tick another must-see DJ off my long list - Archie Hamilton who was going B2B with Rossko in what can only be described as a match made in heaven. The pair connected with the crowd on such a level it was hard to not mouth ‘thank you' at any point you caught their eyes. There was simply no room for improvement during this set, Prodigy-esque rhythms wrapped themselves around their own unique sound, disco samples were heard throughout, and there was simply no time to stand still. The boys orchestrated the crowd and gratitude shone throughout.
Rossko mastered the decks and Archie followed him pound for pound. At one point he started what was going to be an intense drop, which spun the crowd into a whistling, screaming frenzy. The pair high-fived at the height of the track, and every raver's feet left the floor in sync - expressing themselves in ways only music could allow them to.
FUSE are the punks of electronic music. They don't follow the crowd, they supply a family for every punter who has that need for adventurous musical epiphanies. There's no hierarchy, no jumping frantically into limo scenes at the end of the night, no disinterest from the crowd - just pure, rare music and a vibe that's so strong it has the potential to stay put even when times are hard in the music industry. It takes a ground-breaking gang to realise FUSE's potential and who better to do that than HYTE. I'll see you at the next party.
WORDS | Ruby Munslow
