As the night crawled forward, the venue famously known to many as BoMA, Columbus' Premiere Event Venue displayed a spotlight that accented the top front of the former church's architectural majesty. The spotlight drew infinite attention, and like bat wings to Batman, the BoMA logo magnated a crowd of girls in minis to glowstick ravers. What exactly was it signaling? The return of Italian electro house DJ maven Benny Benassi, of course.

Beyond the velvet ropes that separated Columbus from the nightclub-slash-private event venue was a spacious dance floor on which the growing crowd covered every single square inch with their dancing selves. Attendees freshened up at the bars lining every corner and tier of the venue, and when the finesse declined, all it took was a visit to the bathroom to pop in some complimentary mints and lotion up with some Ralph Lauren Romance and it was back to facing the public.

Before Benassi took the crowd under his metaphorical wings, Columbus-based Pyro Fighter opened with quite a fan following grooving some love before them. Think Freezepop with a little more pop in the vocals. Frontwoman Dany Mellete, looking daring in a part-lace bodysuit and Wonder Woman gauntlets, worked the crowd up as she repeatedly screamed “pump that beat” over the marching electro-blast in the song “Electrobotic.” The Phil Spector wall-of-sound effect got the audience shifting left and right, and the accompanying light show prepped everyone for the Italian invasion that lay ahead of them.

Keeping the venue bumping between sets were residential DJs Carma and Attak, a duo who hosts Tuesdays' “My Best Friend’s Party” at the neighboring Bristol Bar. Surrounded by a small hype crew with fist-pumping arms covered in glowing bracelets, every knob turn and button push ignited a bass and synth breakdown that even had the pair jumping off the floor.

The accompanying laser lights rapidly flashed me into a minor seizure, but between the blinding flashes stood Benny Benassi, who was demure in nature as he set up his Macbook for a set that would surpass the 2 a.m. last call at the Court Street bars. As Carma and Attak wrapped up their set, the star-stricken stage dwellers made way for the prodigy of electronic, and the crowd embraced him by chanting “Benny! Benny!” Benassi wasn’t a man of words that night; he simply let the bombastic set speak for itself.

Snuggled comfortably in a basic blue tee, in contrast to the sweating, humid dancefloor, Benassi’s mix was a time travel of his own classics and today’s club favorites. He opened with The Partysquad vs the Afrojack track “A Msterdamn,” which provided a soft intro to induce the crowd into its later hiccupping and entrancing beats. Next to me was a collection of men flailing vertically and singing along, “If you want me you can find me in the A!”

Benassi seemed to be a fan of Afrojack’s collaborations and remixes, including ones of his own. When the set trickled into one of Benassi’s most notable tracks, “Satisfaction,” he instead played Afrojack’s version, which incorporated tribal drums and Afrojack’s signature hiccupping high-synths. He continued to be a crowd pleaser, mixing classic and surprise songs into his set tracks, including N.E.R.D. and Uffie’s “Add SUV,” Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” and Major Lazer’s “Pon de Floor” – an ACRN favorite, might I add.

As 2 a.m. crested over us Athens denizens, the crew and I had to check out early. The set still continued, but it’s no question that the Benassi and BoMA invasion on Broad Street concluded in a way that had many present talking for days.

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