SASHA – Brisbane Show – 2024

Once in a lifetime, an event comes around that brings people of all walks of life together again. That night was Saturday 6 April 2024, at The Warehouse in Brisbane, when the UK’s Sasha returned to that vaguely familiar venue.

Pretty much every old school Brisbane raver with a clue was drenched in sweat at Family Nightclub in Fortitude Valley’s McLachlan St at some point. If you were around in the early 2000s, you would have seen Sasha play there, even performing magic on the decks with John Digweed and truly influencing countless local DJs for decades to come, off the back of a single oft-recalled night in clubland. One of them was Cosmo Cater, who warmed up for Sasha way back then and had the unique opportunity to return to the job at 2024’s event. Though the venue had a new name, many of the people there knew it as home.

Eager punters filed in and down the stairs to the extensive dance floor as the sounds of Brisbane local Tom. filled the venue. He had two hours to get the place into it and he did so with gusto. Who wouldn’t have?

Tom.’s set started out with some deep and tech house favourites, like Fine by Mano Andrei & Azteca and Ornament by Supacooks. He gradually moved into light progressive and organic house, playing Caelestibus by Robert R. Hardy and Milky Way by Amonita. One of his last tracks was Shiratani, by Tim Green, certainly setting a delightful mood.

It had been planned that Sasha would play the middle set and start at 11:00 PM, but he was delayed due to issues with his flight into Brisbane. That meant Cosmo was on for the warmup and for an unclear amount of time at that stage. Still keeping on the house tip, he played Ozone by Hammer, and It Wasn’t Meant to Be by Theo Kottis. Things got a bit more serious when Cosmo dropped Let me by Paul Ursin and Afterwards.

Cosmo Cater loves his indie dance and pumped out Valent by AFFKT and Bedouin Ride by DJ T. He had some more house to play, with I Will Find You by Bora Uzer. Cosmo was the man on the spot, stepping in and taking command, prepping us for what was to come. Thankfully, Sasha had made it, and we were ready.

Sasha began his set with a melodic techno stomper that was unreleased. The crowd immediately succumbed to blissful relief and mutual awe as the piercing vocal and haunting melody washed over the room full of hands in the air. It turned out that the track was Sasha’s Daydream Mix of a new collaboration with German duo Super Flu, called Astra. It was out the following month on Sasha’s label Last Night on Earth.

He had house to play too, like Sernique by Sascha Braemer and When You Need It by Ede. The set was full of unreleased music and forthcoming gems, as is always the case with Sasha. He spent 2024 releasing collaborations on the label, like Glastacy with Sentre, and Phaxon with Jody Barr.

Though his club sets are always a masterclass and a distinctly memorable experience, Sasha has worked on a diverse range of productions for other settings. November saw the release of Da Vinci Genius – The Score, a soundtrack to an interactive art show in Amsterdam. He has since collaborated on a track called Dead Synthy, with Marsh on Anjunadeep, and another one on LNOE with Artche, called Hold On.

Sasha had wowed us for two and a half hours, then Cosmo Cater returned to his station to close out the night. One of the first few tracks in his set was a remix by Melbourne’s Anthony Pappa & Jamie Stevens, of an original by The Journey. Cosmo was playing some classics, with artists featured in the set like Robert Babicz, Paolo Mojo and Oliver Lieb. He played homage to Sasha with his collab with Because of Art, Fused, and Sasha’s classic remix of Burma by Aussies Lostep.

Another epic Sasha event drew to a close, with a crowd of people, some new and some old, knowing they would remember that night for a long time. Brisbane promoter Lemon & Lime had pulled off another brilliant party and the best part was that there would be more to come. Franky Wah & Sasha return to Brisbane on Sunday 16 March 2025 at The Triffid.