Every year, a major revolution happens in the dance music industry. Something spectacular – an artist’s change in production, presentation, music or genre. A unique and rare set by a duo or collaboration. When this happens, often Brisbane fans are left to ponder what it must have been like to experience it first hand; except for the time Sasha came to town.

Brisbane’s resident progressive house warm up Cosmo Cater was enlisted for his second appearance warming up for Sasha. In doing so he perfectly balanced the fine line between treading on the headliner’s fingers and an empty dance floor. It was pounding from beginning to end and included Chriss Source Hugs ‘n Kisses (Barany Attila mix) making progressive fans salivate at the realisation that the evening had finally arrived. With a full dance floor provided, Sasha finally slipped on stage and started mingling about behind the decks. It was then that a collective gasp echoed through the club. No Ableton! The Mac running the software that has become so ‘quintessentially’ Sasha was nowhere in sight. Instead, as he leaned over and plugged something into one of two new Pioneer CDJ-2000s he flauntingly invited Cosmo Cater to ‘have a look at his record box’ – his USB stick. This was the first time Sasha had ever used the new Pioneer product and first time since Abelton’s release that he’d played a gig without it. How was he to cope? So unique was his new set-up that his Macbook (whilst still present) was behind him providing a mere extended track selection and the 2000s, a DJM800 and an EFX1000 filled the front table.

After swiftly setting up, chants of his name were enough for Sasha to momentarily acknowledge the crowd before dropping Mat Playford & Tim Deluxe Back 2 The Rocket. The overwhelming response from the crowd showed that no one seemed to mind that he had recycled it from his Triple J set two months ago. As the set moved forward the polarity between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Sasha became even clearer. Without any fuss or attitude, Sasha didn’t meander about with melodies and ongoing synths. Instead, diving straight into the sweaty ears of the solid Thursday night crowd with thumping and driving tracks. It wasn’t too long before his ‘trademark’ wandering began but by that stage the crowd were feeling every beat and happy to oblige. Melodies and sparing vocals were used in moderation in contrast to the dirty underground sound. This cleverly kept fans of old embracing their younger years and fans of new regretting what they’d missed in their younger years. Lighting was minimal but the few lasers existing were used with precision allowing punters to either chase them or focus on the array psychedelic video on the eight plasmas. Mid set classics such as Bedrock Emerald (New Remix) and Invol2ver tracks were sampled generously with Sasha Vs. Ray LaMontagne Eclipse (Butch Remix) the highlight. He used the EFX1000 to perfection to highlight percussion was quick to trim the dynamics and accent the pitch. Who needs Ableton? New tracks Robert Babicz Astor (Shur-I-Kan Remix) and Little Boots Earthquake (Sasha Remix) were used to signal the ‘end’ of the mid-set experiments in preparation for a powerful run home. A slight psy-trance foundation was scattered with tracks like H Foundation Tonight (King Britt’s Sexy Mix) before the classic Lifelike & Kris Menace Discopolis rounded off the set with rapturous cheers.

Nick Galea greeted Sasha briefly before he departed and Galea kept the diehards moving well with his own underground progressive tracks. One of which his own remix of Bjork Hyper Ballad received an astounding response and a copy of which was sure to be slipped into Sasha’s back pocket upon his departure.

Fans have questioned whether Sasha could still push out pounding sets; wondered whether his time would now be better spent at home in bed with a chamomile and a digestive. But, with Pioneer able to incorporate his beloved Ableton features into their new product it has obviously given Sasha renewed energy, skill and creativity, which has revolutionised his career. And we were there to see it.