Venue: The Chamber - Atlanta, GA
Presented by: Liquid Groove

What was originally scheduled to be a set by the star-studded duo of Sasha and John Digweed turned into them each playing solo on separate nights due to scheduling conflicts Sasha had. The breakup though led to Sasha's first solo appearance in Atlanta in over a year, and were we ever in for a treat!

Upon arriving, the long lines and lack of parking came as quite a surprise based on the interest of recent weeknight parties. They were very good in getting the people inside as quickly as possible though, and once inside, any and all worries were more than forgotten. This party had a great "feel" to it, unlike most other parties lately. The decorations were rather eye-catching, with large sea creatures seemingly hanging from the ceiling in a glowing state, in reaction to the black light. All walks of life were represented due to it being held at the Chamber. Obviously, the Chamber regulars represented, sporting black leather and sparing nothing to show skin (literally, with one woman baring all beneath an unbuttoned flannel shirt) below their gothic garb. Then as usual, the ever-present candy kid could be found in all shapes and sizes. There was Uncle Sam, celebrating Independence Day a bit early with the stars and stripes pants and matching top hat, along with a Viking in effect on this special night. This led to a plethora of light and glow toys throughout the venue as well as the infamous glow stick twirlers that unfortunately took up precious dance space.

Sasha went on around 1:15 AM and shut the place down at 5 AM. Many missed out on his closing it appeared, based on the gradually thinning crowd from within the smoke-filled venue as the night and tracks progressed. There is really only one word to describe the sound system Liquid Groove had setup for this special event. "Powerful" is truly an understatement. The bass literally tickled my eardrum to an almost intolerable level. Sasha really seemed to be enjoying himself in his rather exhausted looking state, pumping his fist and jolting his head to the beat while energizing the crowd. As for his track selection during the night, hopefully one didn't get their hopes up for the anthems we've come to learn and love on his Global Underground, Northern Exposure and Expeditions works, for they were nowhere to be found in his set. At one point, he spun The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" for the bouncing crowd, but played what seemed to be either previously unreleased tracks or rare tunes the majority of the night. This was by no means a let down though, for they were equally as provoking as they were unfamiliar. Let's hope that these tracks are a result of his production efforts as of late, or are from his and Digweed's Communicate which was unreleased at the time.