To many a fan of the progressive genre, the name Sasha means oh so much. On Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning, in a tucked away and recently renovated space in Sydney’s Kings Cross Hotel, the name would become so much more, and due to someone other than ‘that’ Sasha.

Many of us had only heard of Sasha Le Monnier, funnily enough, right here on the progressive forums of inthemix. True story. Previously an unknown, it was a certain Sydney fan, infamous to many, that first posted about ‘this’ Sasha back in August 2009. He described her as: “Too trancey for prog heads and too proggy for trance heads…. too awesome to be ignored.”

Over the next little while, what followed was a slow rising but noticeable appreciation of the kind of sets that she constructed. Finally, she made her way to Australia, and after a few weeks in Sydney and touring the country, and a gig here supporting Guy J a few weeks back, this was finally the chance for it to be all about her. And she delivered in absolute spades.

With the room perfectly warmed up by Garth Linton and Robbie Lowe, an intimate and recently refurbished space that plenty liked, the sound pretty much spot on, cheap drinks and even friendly bar staff, everything was just about right.

Kicking off what would ultimately be a ridiculously well programmed set, she got us all warmed up with some happy and melodic progressive beats. Soon there were lots of arms in the air, with people just taking it all in. The set was proving to be just as good as we’d all hoped. Taking it back a touch in the second hour, we joined her for the ride, knowing that as good as it all was, there was still something else around the next corner, and did it she bring it? Oh yes she did.

If this was a sports car, the final hour was where she really opened her up and gave it all, spoiling with us what was almost trance, but wasn’t, but was almost prog, but wasn’t. Surprising? God no. To some of the old-timers in the crowd, these were the very sounds that first inspired a passion for the sweet spot where the two genres cross.

The crowd was a sea of fun, and what a crowd it was too. No dickheads, except for those that were using the term affectionately, and just a good, honest and up-for-it crowd. There was all sorts of dancing and romancing, and with seemingly a smile on everyone’s face, many of us were blown away that this relative unknown behind the decks was giving us a night to truly remember. Unknown? Not any more.

Those who had listened to Sasha’s set previously weren’t surprised how good she was, nor were they surprised how much their friends, who’d they encouraged to come along, also enjoyed it. It was one of those nights that seemingly went exactly as planned. Hell, even Robbie Lowe in a really nice gesture was happy to finish his set ten minutes earlier, giving us all the chance to experience that little bit more of Sasha.

And as we would all find out, boy did she deliver. Kudos to the Shrug and Golden Cage crews for getting together and putting this special gig together. It meant it was a party that people specifically came looking for, not one that people just stumbled across.

Like so many of the good nights in Sydney, it was one run by purists – even competitors to an extent – put together for the benefit of the Sydney prog faithful. And therein lay one of its many beauties. It was truly a night to remember, and Sasha’s return is already keenly anticipated.