Sasha is Coming to New Mexico

Sasha is coming to New Mexico. For a long time, we used to wonder when this day would happen and now that it is one day away, I can’t help but be happy for how far we’ve come as a dance community to get a dj like Sasha to play here. It’s no short of an amazing accomplishment that’s taken decades for this city to make happen, although I don’t think you’d believe me If I’d tell you the whole story.

This isn’t Sasha’s first time coming to New Mexico, so don’t let anybody make you think otherwise, and I was there last time as well. It was for the Delta Heavy Tour when he was traveling America with fellow top-level DJ John Digweed. I can remember I had just turned eighteen and I found myself finally eligible to attend the eighteen and up events that used to seem so much cooler than the underage raves we used to go to every weekend. It’s so funny to think like that now. There was once a time where the club and the music hall were more interesting to us than the rave. It was something new to us, and that’s where we were when we found the tour was coming to the Sunshine Theatre in 2002.

The night itself when it finally arrived, was memorable, to say the least. The show was opened by Jimmy Van M, followed by Sasha and Digweed each taking turns on the decks before finishing with a b2b, which was something that was still very rare at the time. Now, it’s as if every festival or afterparty has to have some special one of a kind b2b, and don’t get me wrong, I love them, but it’s still fun to remember a time when Sasha and John Digweed were the only ones playing like this. Topping that of, they still only played Vinyl, making it a night full of sonic uniqueness at its peak.

To this day, I cannot remember one song they played, and still I stood there on the dancefloor for over four hours absolutely amazed by what I was hearing and seeing. So subtle. So precise. So aware of every single sound they conveyed. I am still altered by that night, and not just because of the DJ’s. I have seen them together again since then, and I have seen them separate as well, but never has it felt quite as good as it did that first time in Albuquerque. I see so clearly now, though, it wasn’t just Sasha and John Digweed that made it special. It was the city as well.

When I’m on the road, and I’m talking to people, and I tell them where I’m from – New Mexico- their usual response is never to label it as a dance music mega city, and I don’t blame them. That’s not something New Mexico is ever going to be, and that is our advantage. New Mexico does not have the size, but it does have the commitment, and the quality. Intimate and connected. So devoted to staying exactly who it is, who it’s always been. When a DJ plays here, they aren’t playing for a crowd, but rather becoming a part of the experience.

We offer them a knowledgeable dancefloor filled with people who will look the DJ in the eye, and still allow them the freedom and space to play in a way I’ve seen them never play in the bigger cities or even at festivals. They’re coming to New Mexico is as much a treat for them as it is for the people lucky enough to get a ticket to a show that should sell out and pack the dancefloor.

This is a chance to hear one of the gods of electronic music in a setting so unique and exclusive that you will never be able to match it again. This isn’t just Sasha DJing for a couple of hours. This is Sasha in the desert wasteland we call home. Sasha in and abandoned old Staples next to the Family Dollar. Sasha in a place more committed to being a rave than club.

What I hope for New Mexico moving forward is a commitment to a safe environment for its dancers and a return to our roots. A reminder of who we really are, and if we’re smart that will start with Friday, October 1st at the Electric Playhouse.

Electronic music belongs in a setting worthy of its creative spirit, and with New Mexico we have that. If you have the chance go and witness the rebirth of a city that deserves it with a DJ that can make you live, and cry, and die on the dancefloor. Get there a little early too so you can catch House Legend, Eldon, play as well. No other DJ could help set the mood right.

Sasha is coming to New Mexico. A night that has taken decades to make happen, and all you have to do is show up, look him in the eye, nod your head as the beat slowly creeps in, and without even thinking twice, let go.

I will be with you in spirit, but not in body, and as someone who knows how long it took and how hard it was to book a musical mastermind like Sasha, I wish to say thank you for this. And good job. And keep going. Don’t let this be just one thing. Let it be the start. The start of what New Mexico is meant to be. A place DJs are already talking about. A place the rave world deserves to know is special.

Rebuild in a warehouse. Rebuild with Sasha. Rebuild the way New Mexico knows how. Pay your twenty bucks and go show respect to a DJ that has seen the world and has helped change it, and now, wants to play for you, and only you.

This night isn’t about Sasha, or the Electric Playhouse, it’s about New Mexico, and the future of raves in our wasteland paradise. Tell me if he plays Xpander, I’ve always loved that one.