A Night with Sasha at the Loft....

Well to say this was the most anticipated event of the year (for me anyway) when the event was posted way back in July is an understatement to say the least. 

After Bedrock 14 the other week,  I was all firing on all cylinders and eagerly awaiting what was going to be a monster  night with Sasha on the decks for a whole 8 hours from start to finish,  something that I don't think will be repeated for some time....!!!!

The day started way up north in Leeds when I met Rob at Leeds station Saturday afternoon and we set off shooting down the M1, full tilt  Mika Hakkonen style in a snappy Hyundai i30, we made great time getting to the end of the M1 in just 3 hours, but in true London style got clogged up in Saturday early evening traffic, queue one detour west and then  south-east on the A40 and we finally headed towards South East London.

  As we were picking up Jody, we had a pit stop in Vauxhall and I can say is, never try and pick someone up from Vauxhall bus station with that ever delightful  ring road and mad traffic coming from every angle.Rob got out to meet Jody, I continued on 30 metres or so and stopped at the lights,  next thing I saw was Rob hot footing it through 4 lanes of condensed traffic... Jody on his coat tails.... doors open chaotic scenes and they both jumped in,  utter madness!!!!! 

We  finally got to our destination an hour later in south east London (Tulse Hill),  after the odd misdirection and wrong turning, queue me going down a red bus route and going through a red (oh fuck it) light, but it would shape the night and day oh yes indeed!!!

      Once we unpacked  and I finally got a beer in my hand, we eased into the evening with Lee (Blue Amazon) and had some pre-Sasha warm up "festivities" to get the night started truly in the mood for the man like later on.

As the night warmed up we finally left and headed towards North West London, however once we got on the Victoria Line, it went all pear shaped, so stage exit Brixton station and we managed to commandeer a cab to North West London, for what would be the final leg... once we arrived in NW10, all I can say is that its somewhat industrial and doesn't feel like you're in London,  but I didn't and don't care.

We eventually found the Loft Studios, kudos to the taxi driver, but  honestly it looked like from the outside as if it was  someones house, with a monstrous Funktion One sound system pulsating out from the walls. Once we got in it was full steam ahead up through the courtyard and up some rather precarious metal stairs, what we met was  a rammed warehouse style  room, dark, dirty and full on with Sasha smashing it 2 hours in...

      
 After hot footing it to the bar (queue open heart wallet surgery£5.50 for a can of cider or £16 for two vodka and mixers with a  bottle of water!!!) we headed  back the front of the club almost we were met with this, Sasha smashing it up right from the word off, even if we were 2 hours late...as Sasha smashed the Funktion 1 sound system, the floor of this dark and dirty warehouse bounced and any second you felt like you were going to fall through the floor as it bounced the fuck up and down, certainly a good way to go if you have too. 

What I have noticed at the Loft and at Bedrock is that the crowd certainly know their music and it was awesome to have some many like minded people there, for one thing and one thing only.... getting twisted with Sasha smashing  it all night long, mind you as always you get the odd baseball,  facial haired twat walking round being an absolute tool, but thankfully they didn't last long to ruin anyone's night!!!


From the moment we settled into Sasha's blistering set at the less crowded part of the dance floor towards the back,  it was plain to see that we were going to have an immense night, with Sasha's twists and turn smashing everyone's mind, body and soul with each track he played. His set began for me (around 0030)

and it drifted into tech house with killer tracks sending the crowd crazy begging for more, each time slowing down the next track set before pushing the boundaries into Spooky/Charlie May esque  territory and killing everyone with that Funktion 1 sound system time  and time again,  it just sent the crowd and myself that bit more messy, deeper into oblivion!!!! :D

In true Sasha style he did play some of the supposedly Involv3r tracks, but as we all know it still remains a mystery,  however there was Hot Chip - Flutes (sasha remix) along with Benjamin Damage and Doc Deneeka -  Battleships,  Kolsch  featuring Troels Abrahams - All that matters and possibly Thermal Bear - U love (Sasha remix) if my hazy chemical mind set remembers!!!

Minutes slipped into hours and the night got better and better, musically and atmospherically with each twist and turn and honestly I didn't want it to end for numerous reasons  but it did.

As the end approached, we had the usual last track which was Moby - Wait for me (Paul Kalbremner remix) from 2010 if my memory serves me right, mind you I would of preffered some edgy tasty Charlie May smasher to end on a massive high, but it  did end for me and everyone else who was there at the end to finish off an amazing night from start to finish. All I can say is anyone who missed it, missed out and you missed a night never to forget!!!

 For for all you train spotters (myself included)

some of the tracks from the night have already been ID'd  and some featured in this blog, I have included all my 15 videos from the night in one handy playlist on youtube  so you can enjoy them all in one hit, but just for the record here is just a small selection of what was played and has been ID'd:- (Big thanks to Rob & Lee for the ID's)

Finally a big shout to Rob M, awesome to meet you mate and hopefully see you at Warehouse Project in Manchester in December once more for Sasha and too Sue Kend...(yes I remember your surname :D !!! ), top girl and had a great night, hope to cross paths again!!!

  A night with Sasha, it certainly was!!!! For anyone missing out, you can check out the official photos here!!!!!!!!!!

Something I found just the other day, a lovely tribute mix to those 8 hours of bliss....

Sasha @ Loft Studios, London, 10th November 2012 - Tribute Mix by DJ Jim Barker by Dj Jim Barker on Mixcloud

Cheers Paul  :D