Sasha & John Digweed @ Club Phazon, Tokyo

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  • Regardless of what one thinks of Japan's somewhat archaic -- some might say liberal -- attitude to tobacco advertising, clubbers in Tokyo can't help but be grateful for the cash injection from cigarette companies like Marlboro, who make events like tonight's Sasha & John Digweed gig possible. Playing for the first time together in Japan, tonight the double billing of two of dance music's most influential faces at Malboro's Club Phazon Womb Mobile Project brought together many of Tokyo's progressive fans, both old and new. And as someone who has religiously listened to Sasha and John Digweed's Northern Exposure CD (with North pipping South by a just a few playbacks) on a regular basis for the better half of nine years, I have to admit that there was indeed more excitement and anticipation than usually reserved for a night out in Tokyo. However with tonight's gig, Sasha's third in ten days and just a few days on from his two-date Fundacion Tokyo residency, for most punters, nostalgia wasn't going to be enough to pay the rent. With the Tokyo progressive scene still in disarray, much of the interest in tonight's gig seemed to lie not only in how the pair had moved on musically from their unequivocally prog, Global Underground days, but also, whether or not, the duo could still create the much talked about magic of the Twilo era. By the time we arrived at La Foret Roppongi, an exhibition and event space on the first floor of a high-rise office building, Sasha was already on the Maven and playing to a large crowd in the main room. As our crew splintered off to the cloak room, the bar, the main room and the lounge (hosting Layo&Bushwacka! and Ben Sims on a somewhat lacklustre sound system -- but in all honesty and without any disrespect, this gig was never really about them), all the signs of corporate sponsorship were on hand. Thankfully though, the creative forces at Marlboro had moved on from their past subliminal cowboy rodeo images and DJs sporting rubber horseheads of just a few years ago. As with Sasha's Fundacion Tokyo sets, it was clear that tonight he wasn't going to be about melodies, huge breakdowns or trancey finishes; tracks like the Cass & Tom Mangan Mix of Tiefschwarz's "Warning Siren", Trentemoller's remix of Fred Everything's "Friday", looped parts of Royksopp's "49 Percent" and a track by the Freemasons all featuring in his 30 minute or so alternate sets with Digweed, and typical of his more recent electro house sound. On the other hand, funky basslines were the order of the day for John Digweed with Bedrock's "Santiago" and the Osamu M remix of Armand van Helden's "Witchdoktor" early signposts in his half hour stints. For me personally, tonight it was Digweed who showed the way forward, steering the good ship into all the right waters and musically piecing it all together; Sasha adding the magic, the 'Wow!' factor, an element of good old-fashioned fun and keeping everyone's eyes pointed in the direction of the DJ booth. Crowd-wise, gone were the heads-down serious, brooding prog clubbers of old; replaced instead, by several thousand punters who had come with open ears and open minds. The vibe in the main room was really quite something special, one I'd not experienced at an event hosting 'prog' DJs in a long, long time and much of that must be attributed to the almost symbiotic relationship between tonight's two main guest DJs. Towards the end the big tunes and remixes came out; Pryda's "Aftermath", Madonna's "Hung Up", Royksopp's "What Else Is There?" and something sounding a lot like a new Depeche Mode remix all causing the main room to erupt ten-fold and become a giant mass of grinning idiots. The final two songs of the night, Gabriel Ananda's brilliant "Ihre Persönliche Glücksmelodie" and Orbital's beautiful "Halycon & On & On" summarised perfectly tonight's performance by Sasha and John Digweed, the former an indication of the German tech, electro and minimal house influences which have crept into both of their sets and the latter a tribute to another of dance music's great duos, much like themselves. For any fan of Sasha or John Digweed or former die-hard proghead, it would be hard to find fault with their set tonight, though one could describe neither of their sets as typically 'Sasha', typically 'Digweed' or typically 'prog'. Together, they showed they are still pushing things forward musically and still have what it takes to keep a dancefloor moving and interested. Photos of Sasha & John Digweed taken by STRO!BO and Masanori Nuse Crowd shots and additional DJ photos taken by Grant Mitchell. Special thanks to Yuuka Tokumitsu at Womb.
RA