Saturday the 4th of November will forever be etched in the minds of 1800 privileged punters as Family Nightclub proudly presented one of, if not, the greatest back2back pairing in dance music history, Sasha & (John) Digweed, for the first time ever in Brisbane.

The build up to this event was unheralded as the army of Brisbane progressive die-hards faithfully reclaimed the night as “Sashweed”

2006 so far has definitely been the year of progressive music here in Brisbane. The genre that was once continually overlooked by promoters & nightclubs, is now enjoying a rich honeymoon period throughout the Brisbane dance community. James Zabiela, Petter, Paolo Mojo, Jimmy Van M and Steve Porter are just some of the progressive royalty that has graced Brisbane so far this year, but none of them hold a candle to the superstar status that is Sasha & Digweed.

While both DJs had performed in Queensland over the past year (_Sasha @ Platinum and Digweed @ Family_), they had yet to grace us with their presence as a duo. Luckily for myself I managed to catch them at Godskitchen Global Gathering in 2004 in the UK, where they played 4 hours of progressive heaven in the Bedrock Arena. So unlike most, I was going into this with expectations based on previous performances.

As individual performers, there simply is no bigger names in progressive music worldwide, but this colossal reputation is combined tenfold when they play together. Ever since their legendary Delta Heavy Tour through the United States in 2002, Sasha & Digweed have been the most sought after b2b pairing on the planet. After destroying events and nightclubs worldwide as a b2b pair, they went their separate ways and individually continued to build their reputations with mind blowing productions and DJ performances in all four corners of the globe. This current Australia tour was/is the first time they have played together for a number of years and is the culmination of their latest release together being the DVD of that infamous Delta Heavy Tour in the USA in 2002; which for the record is a must buy for any ’Sashweed’ lovers in Australia.

But enough with the preluding statements and it’s onto the show.

Arriving a little bit after 9pm and we were obviously one of the first ones into the clubbing meccah that is the Family Nightclub. Gracing the decks immediately was a b2b pairing with their own growing reputation, that of Magoo & Scott Walker. Playing at both Big Day Out & Summafieldayze earlier this year, the Sashweed supporting performance was the icing on the cake for a stellar 2006 from two of Brisbane’s favourite local sons.

They played a fantastic chugging set of all things tech, electro, prog, house and anything in-between; criss-crossing and mish-mashing their way through a genre-defying set. Their hour and a half set was a lot more up-tempo than I would’ve thought for so early in the night but I, nor the small contingent of fans that were quickly filling Family minded.

10:30pm arrived and it was time for another one of Brisbane’s versatile yet masterfully progressive DJs, Cosmo Cater, to grace the decks for an hour to warm up officially for Sashweed.

Watching the Delta Heavy DVD on Friday night of Sasha & Digweed’s groundbreaking tour around America, they highlight how big a role their travelling supporting DJ, and world-class performer in his own right, Jimmy Van M, plays in the success of their show & the tour. After hearing the hour of music supplied by Cosmo on Saturday night, I have no doubt that Cosmo, although not of the same international jet setting DJ ilk, is definitely in the same category, and would’ve been perfect if needed to support Sashweed at all their Australian shows.

While Cosmo brilliantly brought the tempo of the music down to a pace & tempo that enabled (Sasha* to start from wherever he wanted when he finally graced the decks, it was his ability to build a thick, deep tension throughout the club was a testament to the excellence of his set.

Kudos must go to the promoters and powers-that-be at Family for selecting Magoo, Scott Walker and Cosmo Cater to play before Sasha & Digweed as it would’ve been easy (and extremely tempting) to put their residents (and themselves) on to support. However, having DJs from the progressive genre of music to play before Sashweed definitely set the tone for the night and made the event a lot more enjoyable; so hats off to Family.

11:30pm and it’s what the audience and Brisbane had waited a long, long time for as Sasha was first to grace the Family decks. We were promised 5 hours of Sasha & Digweed, yet in reality it was to be Sasha, Digweed, Sasha, Digweed and then the pair would finish off together for an hour of b2b tunes.

Sasha, sporting a new haircut, played a straight up bangin’ first hour of progressive heaven on the Ableton Live system. There was no thought of building the set from a deep tempo or pace, it was bangin from the outset and the adoring fans loved every minute of it. Seeing the sea of people move as one on the already full dance-floor was a sight to behold.

Sasha has been at the forefront of the Ableton explosion from respected DJs the world over, and few it seems, have a better grasp, understanding and ability to use the program to its full potential than the great man. The way he was able to filter effects & delays was mind-blowing and it was testament to his use of the system (that is by no means easy to use), that he drew together the attention of a sea of local DJs fixed behind the DJ booth and peering through the perplex glass.

An hour, which felt like 15 minutes, had already passed and this meant it was time for one of the world’s most adored DJs John Digweed to grace the decks. While his now hair-less colleague had started us off with some banging straight up progressive house with a dabble of electro fused sounds, Diggers took the crowd instantly on a new direction which very much so touched on the minimal tip, which seems to be ‘the’ genre of 2006. While Sasha used Ableton, Diggers preferred to use the now ‘international standard’ CDJs and worked them to magnificent effect.

If you thought the first hour had seemingly gone quick, then Diggers dwarfed that, such was the presence and utter brilliance of his set. Their second sets came and went but it was the final hour and a half that really was the icing on the cake, and what most punters had came to see. Playing b2b with near heavenly effect the two superstars utterly destroyed the crowd with a style of music, that to quote another ITMer could only be described “_…as a soundtrack of building skyscrapers. It was always rolling baselines that kicked in an extra gear and added another floor with its jackhammer sounds and crazy spinning power tools_” which basically sums it up. The crowd summed up by the very same person; “_… the best way to describe the dance floor was like 500 Butterfly catchers who had forgotten there nets and jars so instead all there work was being done with catching butterflies with there own bare hands._” A pretty good analogy right there I would’ve thought.

About 4:10am and moving into the final hour and the duo mixed Minilogue – Out Of The Curious (Dzierzek Mix) into Pryda – Remember with devastating effects. This was easily the highlight of the night for me, and as seen from the post-event reports, I wasn’t the only one! In retrospect, the whole last hour was completely off the richterscale!

Making the night even more enjoyable was the fact that although the pair would’ve cost near a mortgage on a lot of people’s first homes, that Family put the punters before profit and capped the tickets at 1800 (capacity closer to 2200-2500), so as to not create a sardine like atmosphere that unfortunately has happened at previous ‘big’ events. This made the night ten-times more enjoyable and Family should be applauded for that. Having the member’s area the whole night as well was extra special as it gave you the option of chilling out in a nicely confined space that wasn’t overly packed.

Sasha & Digweed have come and gone, but the Sashweed night and performance will forever be remembered by the Brisbane faithful that were lucky enough to be there. The Family Nightclub delivered yet again and further pushed it’s claim as the best nightclub in Australia, we are proud to call it our own…