By many accounts, the dance music known as trance has been dead since the mid-1990s.
But somebody apparently forgot to tell Tiesto and the tens of thousands of fans who fill stadiums and clubs to hear him spin.
“It’s just the writers of a lot of magazines are trying to be cool,” Tiesto said of the trance deniers. “Actually, I’ve never been bigger than I am now in the U.S. I think it’s growing.”
Call him cocky, but he’s no fabricator. Tiesto recently finished three sold-out nights at Los Angeles hot spot Vanguard. He also is playing a weekly residency this summer at the world’s biggest nightclub, the 10,000-capacity Privilege on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
Now the 39-year-old phenom from the Netherlands (real name: Tijs Verwest) comes to Boston to bring his international dance flair to the Estate Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking from his room at Hollywood’s celebrity-filled Chateau Marmont, Tiesto credits the Internet for fans’ fervor for his hypnotic, emotionally charged party music.
“It’s more accessible now than it was five or six years ago,” he said. “I’m playing here at Vanguard in L.A. three nights in a row. Four years ago, I couldn’t do one night. Thanks to the Internet, people are more connected to the music. They are finally able to listen to it and find out where DJs play.”
Not that he needed much more exposure. He’s been named the world’s top DJ by various magazines, nominated for a Grammy for his 2007 disc “Elements of Life,” and was the first DJ to play at an Olympics opening ceremony (in Athens in 2004). He even has a Reebok sneaker named after him.
There’s more: he scored a song on the “Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest” soundtrack, was honored by the Dutch royal family and awarded a Golden Harp, Holland’s highest musical honor. And how’s this for party-animal cred: Tiesto set a Guinness World Record by drinking 31 cans of Red Bull in 24 hours, a testament to the disc jockey’s crazed energy, which he frequently taps into during marathon sets that can last up to 14 hours.
“It’s just a great feeling when you go out onstage and there’s two- or three-thousand people,” he said. “They’re happy to see you, and they start jumping and screaming.”
In Europe, Tiesto regularly fills stadiums and arenas. He also regularly plays at large festivals worldwide, making his Boston club dates a gift to fans.
“I did stadiums for the past two years,” Tiesto said. “I figured a lot of fans would like to see me back in the clubs, especially old-school, die-hard fans. They’d like something more intimate. Make it more a very simple DJ set, instead of all the craziness around it.”
Playing smaller venues also reminds the Dutchman of his roots.
“I’m just very happy where I am at the moment,” he said. “I don’t realize I’m staying at the Chateau Marmont or selling out shows. I never think about how big I am. I just want to keep going and be happy and do my best to keep everything together.”
Tiesto, at the Estate, Wednesday (tickets: $55) and Thursday (sold out). Go to theestateboston.com.
