Ultra LED Man goes from Salesianum School project to eye-catching Delaware nightclub act

Six years ago as a junior at Wilmington's Salesianum School, the typically shy Spencer Bahnsen made a splash at a school dance when he arrived with glowing LED strips strapped to his shirt and khakis.

His head-turning outfit was the first version of what is now called Ultra LED Man, an 8-foot illuminated party-starter who has been making club appearances across the East Coast for a few years.

While his homemade robot costume has rocked clubs from Atlantic City and Philadelphia to New York and Atlanta, Bahnsen is finding more and more gigs right here at home these days.

Last month, he made his debut at The Queen in Wilmington for its Royal Nightclub DJ dance party and will return for a show Friday night. (Tickets are $12.) Earlier this month, you could have found Bahnsen, 23, in his costume at venues such as Newark's Klondike Kate's and Dewey Beach's The Rusty Rudder.

In fact, his Dewey debut went so well that Highway One Group, the owners of The Rudder, the Bottle & Cork, northbeach and more, are currently in talks with him to make appearances throughout the summer, including at the Cork's weekly Jam Session.

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Vikki Walls, Highway One's director of entertainment, booked Bahnsen after finding him online while doing research. She thought she would have to go out of state to find something out-of-the-box like Ultra LED Man. When she saw his 302 area code, she was pretty surprised, just like her crowd when he first came out.

"I can't even tell you how many pictures were taken," says Walls, who attended Ultra LED Man's performance at The Rudder's DJ Fest last weekend. "It made a difference. It took it from a little light show to something that's more of a spectacle."

With DJ dance parties always looking to add to the sensory overload, Bahnsen's character is a perfect fit, especially since adding a CO2 gun that blasts smoke into the crowd and a laser that shoots from his head.

During his shows, Bahnsen leaves the DJing to the DJs. Instead, he dances on his four-foot drywall stilts and impresses with the costume, which cost about $1,500 to make. But it takes more than money to make a suit. Bahnsen spends countless hours building and improving his suits.

"This really is my passion. I've put blood, sweat and tears into this and have burned myself with the soldering gun plenty of times," says Bahnsen, who now lives in Pike Creek with his girlfriend, Stacey Mitchell, and their 11-month-old daughter, Rylie.

It's been a wild ride for the formerly sheepish Sallies student. He was never much of a dancer and when it came to clubbing, he was never really into that, either. While his classmates may have been out bouncing to beats, Bahnsen was more likely to be home alone working on his LED projects.

He laughs at the memory of his glittering school dance outfit that started it all. He proudly stuck LED strips on his pants and shirt and affixed a CD to the center of his chest, which glowed like an orb thanks to all the lights surrounding it.

When he came downstairs in the costume, his mom had some motherly concerns, asking, "Are you really going to wear that out? You're going to be embarrassed."

He didn't see it: "All I was thinking was, 'Oh crap. Really?'"

Bahnsen survived the dance in his bold eye-catching ensemble, admitting that there were "a lot of stares." But in the end, it boosted him in some social circles. He was no longer the quiet timid student. Instead, he was the kid who rocked a wild glowing suit at a reserved Roman Catholic school for boys.

"It really ignited a fire in me. This was something I wanted to pursue," says Bahnsen, whose first gigs were at the now-closed SoundGarden Hall in Philadelphia and a warehouse party near the University of Delaware, where he first met Stacey.

Since then, Ultra LED Man has continued to push Bahnsen past social boundaries he normally would never cross, including an East Coast bus tour of universities with notorious touring college party company I'm Shmacked. (They are the ones behind a UD party that turned into a near riot in 2013.) He's even partied at Firefly Music Festival as Ultra LED Man, although he has he has not yet been an official performer. 

But Bahnsen's not only doing shows for sweaty ravers. He also books events such as weddings and bar mitzvahs, pulling in up to $1,500 a pop, he says.

Since most of the suit is made of EVA foam, it's not that heavy even though Bahnsen has a battery strapped to his back. However, it doesn't allow for much heat to escape, so he only performs for about 20 minutes at a time so he can take short breaks.

He's also eyeing a bit of a longer break when it comes to performing. Since his real passion is building the costumes -- he has three now -- Bahnsen is toying with having others jump in the suits take over the actual performances. It would free him to do more suit-building, focus on the management of his brand and allow him to book multiple gigs on the same night.

For now, Bahnsen, who also works for UPS and will soon earn his associate's degree from Delaware Technical Community College, is happy to jump inside his creation night after night.

Dressed in his suit at his Pike Creek home earlier this week while his small daughter looked on, he took stock of how his high school hobby has flourished into an in-demand business.

He seems as surprised as anyone.

"Going from being a shy student to doing this now? Quite a change," he says in between demonstrations of his go-to dance moves, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. "I never could have saw it coming."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: Royal Nightclub featuring Ultra LED Man

When: Friday, 9 p.m.

Where: The Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington

Cost: $12 (18 and older only)

Tickets: thequeenwilmington.com